PUEBLO, Colo. --- The Western Colorado football team stayed within striking distance of No. 10 CSU-Pueblo, but late turnovers that either directly or indirectly led to touchdowns helped the ThunderWolves pull away late as the Mountaineers dropped their season finale 34-7 Saturday at Neta and Eddie DeRose Thunderbowl.

WCU finishes the season at 5-6 overall and 5-5 in RMAC play - the most wins for the Mountaineers since going 7-4 in 2016.

The Mountaineer defense held the ThunderWolves (10-1, 9-1) to 329 yards of offense, but five turnovers by WCU - two being returned for touchdowns and another leading to an extremely short field for CSU-Pueblo - along with the Mountaineers managing just 250 yards of offense against a stingy ThunderWolves defense was the difference.

The score was tied 0-0 midway through the second quarter before a pair of CSU-Pueblo touchdowns (one an interception returned for a score) within a three-minute span made it 13-0 with 2:04 left in the first half. The Mountaineers, however, were able to put a quick 11-play, 65-yard scoring drive together capped with a Luke Nethercot 1-yard touchdown pass to Chase Starman with a second left in the first half to make it 13-7 at the break.

The score remained that way until CSU-Pueblo put together its longest touchdown drive of the game - kept alive by a WCU penalty on an incomplete third down play - as it drove 80 yards on 10 plays to make it 20-7 with 1:49 left in the third quarter.

Thanks to a strong defensive effort, the Mountaineers stayed within striking distance before a lost fumble gave the ball to CSU-Pueblo at the WCU 28 and five plays later the ThunderWolves scored to make it 27-7. The scoring was capped with a 74-yard interception return for a touchdown by CSU-Pueblo with 2:39 remaining to make the final 34-7.

Nethercot finished 21-for-38 for 200 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. James Bryant led WCU with eight catches for 69 yards, but the Mountaineers struggled to get things going on the ground - rushing for only 38 yards on 37 attempts. Josh Cumming led the ground attack with 37 yards.

Lane Farris led the Mountaineer defense with 10 tackles while Will Lydle at defensive tackle had nine tackles, including four solo tackles, and Robert Garlock had eight tackles. Dominick Fletcher added an interception.