GUNNISON, Colo.  More than just a Homecoming Weekend, it was also the 77th version of the Colorado Classic and No. 14 Western Colorado made it four in a row over Adams State, shutting out the Grizzlies 38-0 Saturday night in a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football clash at Mojo Field in Mountaineer Bowl at The Rady Family Sports Complex.

The victory under the lights at the Bowl lifted the Mountaineers' overall record in the Classic to 44-32

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western def. Adams State, 38-0
Records: Western 3-0, Adams State 0-3
Location: Mountaineer Bowl at The Rady Family Sports Complex, Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The way Western's defense played, the game-winning score came on the Mountaineers' second possession, an eight-play, 50-yard drive that resulted in 4-yard touchdown run by Braedan Hogan.
• Adams State had six possessions in the first half and gained a total of just 50 yards. In Western's seven first-half possessions, it scored three touchdowns and totaled 186 yards of offense.
• The second touchdown drive was a clock-eating 14-play, 85-yard drive, culminated by another 4-yard Hogan touchdown run, that used 6 minutes and 55 seconds of second-quarter action.
• The third drive took just nine seconds, coming after a fumbled snap by Grizzlies punter Trevor Allen, turning the ball over on downs to Western at the Adams State 14 yard line. Royce Pao took a handoff from Drew Nash on first down and raced to the right pylon, elevating the Mountaineers' advantage to 21-0.
• Western's opening drive in the third quarter ended with an Adam Tasei 24-yard field goal, and its next possession was a 10-play, 65-yard drive that ended with a 23-yard Nash to Elias Zarate touchdown pass.
• The final score came on the first play of the fourth quarter from Josiah Roy's arm, the second-string quarterback tossing a 7-yard TD pass to Jaydon Green in the right corner of the end zone, coming after a Kevondrick Carr block of an Allen punt that Kylan Wilson recovered and with a 2-yard return, gave Western the ball at the ASU 9 yard line.
• Adams State drove down to the Western 18 yard line with its final possession of the game, but a fourth-down sack by Ryan Downard preserved the shutout for the Mountaineers.

MOJO NOTES

• Western's defense limited ASU to 100 yards of total offense, a figure that included minus-12 yards on the ground. The Grizzlies accumulated just 10 first downs in the game—3 by penalty—compared to Western's 20 first downs.
• The Mountaineer ground game piled up 231 yards, led by Hogan's 85 yards, Tyliq Bowers' 66 yards and Pao's 48 yards, making it easy on Nash who needed to put up just 94 yards through the air.
• Western scored on five of six red-zone opportunities, while the defense allowed Adams State to reach the red-zone just that one time late in the game but blanked by Downard's sack.
• The rivalry between Adams State and Western Colorado is the second longest continual rivalry in the state of Colorado. Adams and Western have been playing each other every year since 1950.

THEY SAID IT


UP NEXT
The Mountaineers head to Las Vegas, Nevada, for their next game, an RMAC contest on Sept. 28 against host New Mexico Highlands University.