Wide receiver Paul Browning finished the game with 172 yards receiving and two touchdowns. Photo courtesy of pueblochieftain.mycapture.com

Nick Jurney

Colorado State University-Pueblo scored 24 points in the second quarter en route to a 47-21 victory against the New Mexico Highlands University Cowboys on Nov. 9 in Las Vegas, N.M.

Despite a slow start, the ThunderWolves marched into enemy territory and came away with their 10th win of the season, clinching at least a share of the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title for the third consecutive year.

The ThunderWolves got off to a 9-0 lead after scoring a field goal on their first drive and recovering a fumble on the ensuing kickoff that led to the first of two Chris Bonner to Stehley Reden touchdown connections on the day.

The Cowboys refused to quit, though, blocking the extra point and answering with a touchdown of their own soon after.

Later in the first quarter, the Cowboys had a chance to take the lead after driving into the red zone before being stopped on a fake field goal attempt.

Things quickly changed in the second quarter, starting with a 53-yard field goal from the ThunderWolves’ Greg O’Donnell, his longest of the season.

Paul Browning and Chris Bonner continued the scoring onslaught and got their big play connection going yet again, connecting for 50 and 66-yard touchdown throws, the first of which came from a flea-flicker trick play.

Bonner finished with 298 yards and four touchdowns, and surpassed the single-season touchdown record set by Ross Dausin last year with his second touchdown of the day.

The ThunderWolves’ rushing attack continued its dominating season as well, with Cameron McDondle returning from a short hiatus to rush for 84 yards on just 11 carries, including one 15-yard scamper for a touchdown in the second quarter.

Defensively, CSU-Pueblo didn’t shy away from the challenge of facing the versatile Emmanuel Lewis, quarterback for New Mexico Highlands. Defensive end Darius Allen added to his impressive sack total with two sacks of Lewis on the day, bringing his total to an RMAC best 12.

With the victory on Saturday, the ThunderWolves are in a position to clinch sole possession of the RMAC title at home with a victory next week against Western State. A win would also likely keep them at the top of the regional rankings, which would give them a first round bye in the playoffs and set them up for at least one home playoff game.

The ThunderWolves will seek a seeking their third consecutive RMAC title on Nov. 16 at 2 p.m.

Greg O’Donnell kicking a field goal against West Texas A&M on Aug. 30, 2012. Courtesy of Gothunderwolves.com.

Nick Jurney

Recently, an editorial was written by a student at West Texas A&M’s student newspaper “The Prairie” suggesting that trophies fuel rivalries, and Colorado State University-Pueblo should consider becoming a “rival” with the Buffaloes and even play for some sort of hardware.

Let me tell you why this should not, and could not happen.

Trophies, rings and other hardware should be reserved for one thing and one thing only: winning championships. The most important trophy that there is, of course, is the national championship trophy, which every school including CSU-Pueblo and West Texas A&M covets every year.

Other respectable trophies include conference trophies, of which the ThunderWolves have two of in the past two seasons, and are on the fast track to a three-peat in the coming weeks. Those are the type of trophies that put fans in the seats and keep the players and coaches working hard day in, and day out.

Furthermore, the best rivalries are those with rich traditions that date back to previous generations. Those are the games that the alumni show up to, reliving their own glory days to their peers and their children. For the ThunderWolves, these are games against conference opponents like Chadron State or Colorado Mesa.

Perhaps the best example of a rivalry for the ThunderWolves, though, is Adams State. The tale of the tape is self-explanatory; two schools separated by just over 100 miles that have met 30 times, with a back-and-forth advantage in the series.

For true rivalry games, hardware is unnecessary. The desire to beat the opponent, no matter where they are from, is enough to fuel the passion and great football that we see from week to week.

West Texas A&M is a respectable football program, a good football program. They came into the ThunderBowl and shocked everyone by defeating the ThunderWolves in the playoffs last December. But West Texas A&M is not our rival.

The ThunderWolves and Buffaloes have met three times, and there is the possibility that they could meet in the playoffs again this year, and in years to come.

Those are the games everyone wants to see; a playoff game, a win-or-go-home environment, between two of the most recognizable teams in Division II in the past few years.

An annual regular season game would water that down. If West Texas A&M wants to play CSU-Pueblo every year, they are going to have to make it into the tournament. And vice versa.

In that game, something much more important than a traveling, painted piece of memorabilia will be on the line: a win.

All season long, head coach John Wristen has preached going 1-0 for the week and gets his players prepared for any team, with signs posted all throughout the football clubhouse saying, “win the week.” Photo courtesy of gothunderwolves.com.

Nick Jurney

Fresh off a 34-6 victory against Colorado Mesa at home, the Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves have set their sights toward a showdown with New Mexico Highlands in Las Vegas, N.M. on Saturday.

With a win Saturday, the ThunderWolves can all but clinch their third consecutive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference title.

Currently sitting at 7-0 in the conference, a win against New Mexico Highlands and a Chadron State win against Fort Lewis will keep CSU-Pueblo’s conference lead at one game, with one to play.

That would mean even with a loss in the final week against Western State, the ThunderWolves would have at least a share of the RMAC title.

Of course, all of that is circumstantial, and the ThunderWolves still have to take care of business against a dangerous Cowboys squad.

All season long, head coach John Wristen has preached going 1-0 for the week and gets his players prepared for any team, with signs posted all throughout the football clubhouse saying, “win the week.”

Though the Cowboys of New Mexico Highlands are sitting near the bottom of the conference with a 2-7 record, they have more than held their own in conference contests. Their most recent three losses to Adams State, Chadron State and Black Hills State respectively, have all been single digit losses.

Quarterbacking the NMHU squad is Emmanuel Lewis, who has been a dual-threat all season. Lewis has thrown for more than 2,500 yards and rushed for 216 more, while scoring 13 total touchdowns on the year.

The ThunderWolves’ defense is proving to be up for any challenge, however, as was proved last week in a gritty win against Colorado Mesa. The ThunderWolves are second in the conference with 30 sacks, and third with 13 interceptions this season.

The ThunderWolves defense has also been effective at stripping the ball, forcing 12 fumbles on the year.

Quarterback Chris Bonner is still on pace to break Ross Dausin’s single-season touchdown mark for the ThunderWolves. Bonner is sitting at 24 touchdown tosses thus far, just one shy of the record that was set by Dausin last season.

Should the ThunderWolves win and clinch at least a share of the RMAC title, fans can expect to be a part of a trophy presentation the following week at home after the game against Western State.

CSU-Pueblo and NMHU kick off from New Mexico at 2 p.m. Saturday.

President Leslie Di Mare cut the ribbon, marking the formal opening of the continuing education campus, which has been holding classes since July. File Photo.

The CSU-Pueblo continuing education campus at 2864 S. Circle Dr. in Colorado Springs, Colo. officially opened on Oct. 24.  More than 50 people including community members, students and faculty, attended the grand-opening ceremony.

President Leslie Di Mare cut the ribbon, marking the formal opening of the new campus, which has been holding classes since July.  Di Mare addressed the crowd, saying CSU-Pueblo is committed to reaching out to those who desire a higher education, not only in Pueblo and Colorado Springs but also across the state.

The new location, on the second floor of the Phoenix Tower building, takes the place of the former Citadel campus and houses six state-of-the-art classrooms, an administration office with advising and a large meeting facility that can be used as classroom space.

Jon Ullmann, program manager for CSU-Pueblo Continuing Education in the Colorado Springs area, said the opening was an important milestone but they are not finished expanding. There are two more floors in the Phoenix Tower that are in the process of being remodeled and will be ready as soon as the need arises.

Ullmann praised everyone involved in the transition to the new campus.

“We started work in May and held the first classes in July. We turned the lights off at the Citadel on June 28 and started classes here at the tower the next Monday,” Ullmann said. “We are very proud of the new facility.”

James Malm, dean of CSU-Pueblo Continuing Education, believes the tower location will attract more students to the program.  It is close to the interstate and there is plenty of parking available.  Although there is a small continuing education center on Fort Carson, soldiers will find the tower campus is convenient to base as well and will host many of the classes they need.

The continuing education program offers general education courses as well as several complete degree programs including history, sociology and criminology.  There is a broad independent study program with credits that are fully applicable towards a degree from CSU-Pueblo.

To accommodate students with difficult schedules, there are accelerated evening and weekend classes.  These flexible options make the continuing education program very popular among the area’s active-duty military and their families.

Malm pointed out that there are several students living in other countries that are currently enrolled in continuing education through the distance-learning program.  The courses are the same as those meeting on campus, but much more accommodating and all work is done online.  These students can earn their degrees from CSU-Pueblo without ever visiting Colorado.

Along with the Pueblo campus, which is housed in the University Village at Walking Stick, the Fort Carson Army Education Center and the new Colorado Springs tower campus are able to serve a large number of students in classrooms and online, making the division of continuing education one of the largest areas of potential growth at the university.

five steps and can benefit students in their future careers. Photo courtesy of colostate-pueblo.edu

Today Contributor

Creating a student organization at Colorado State University-Pueblo can be done in five steps and can benefit students in their future careers.

“Employers want to see that their employees are going to engage themselves in the work environment,” said Patty Witkowsky, director of Student Engagement and Leadership. “Being part of a student organization at CSU-Pueblo demonstrates that type of engagement.”

Witkowsky also said the faculty and staff that students meet while in an organization can become references for future employment.

The first step in the process of creating an organization is deciding the subject matter that will be the focus of the group.

According to the Student Organization Handbook, there are six categories of student organizations: academic, cultural, campus-life, honor society, specific interest and limited membership.

Academic groups, such as the art or psychology club “promote development in a particular area or discipline.”

PRIZM is a cultural organization that encourages and supports students’ interests in areas such as “race, background, personal identity, sexual orientation and gender.”

The anime club is considered a campus-life organization that provides social and media outlets for on-campus projects or causes.

Honor society organizations are affiliated with a national, professional, or academic society in a particular career or academic discipline. An example of an honor society organization is CSU-Pueblo’s chapter of Phi Alpha Theta .

Specific-interest organizations such as the CSU-Pueblo Young Dems focus on general interest topics or social, political and religious issues.

Alpha Sigma Alpha is an example of a limited-membership organization which is affiliated with national fraternities and sororities recognized as Greek-letter.

Once the theme is decided, the creator of the organization needs to find four voluntary members who will act as the executive board. The board consists of a president, a vice president, a secretary and a treasurer, although the structure of the board could vary, according to the handbook.

The president is the “primary contact and face of the organization,” while the vice president acts as a fill-in for the president.

As described in the handbook, recording minutes and managing membership information are the responsibilities of the secretary. The treasurer is in charge of the organization’s spending and the management of incoming funds.

After creating the board and finding a faculty or staff member who will act as the organization’s adviser, a mission statement and a constitution need to be composed.

The mission statement provides the purpose, goals and ethical principles that the group adheres to. An example of a mission statement can be found in the handbook.

The constitution describes the group’s rules and how the organization will be governed, Witkowsky said. SEAL can provide an example of a constitution.

After the group creates the mission statement and constitution, the next step is to officially register the organization through OrgSync. Each board member must create an individual account in order to register the organization through OrgSync.

In order for a group to be registered, three minimum requirements must be met. A three-page Student Organization Registration Form, which can be found on the OrgSync Portal, must be filled out.

After the form is completed an organization must ensure that an updated constitution is on file with SEAL. At least one officer must attend a Student Organization Workshop every month.

The last step for a new organization is to secure money for itself. One way to do this is applying for a Student Organization Funding grant. This is not mandatory but is a good experience for student organizations, Witkowsky said.

The Student Organization Funding grants are available to registered student organizations at CSU-Pueblo as long as they meet certain requirements, which are listed in the handbook.

Money provided by the Student Organization Funding grants may be used for day-to-day expenditures, event programming, fundraising and travel funds. The rules, restrictions and amounts awarded for each use are provided in the handbook, as is the process of applying for Student Organization Funding grants.

When an organization is awarded an amount of money through the Student Organization Funding grants, the amount the organization actually receives depends on attendance at the student organization summits and trainings. Organizations are placed in a three level classification systems that is based on attendance at those training sessions.

The dates, times and locations of the summits and trainings can be found on the SEAL website under the Student Organization tab.

A description of the three levels and the amounts awarded in each classification is available on OrgSync in the 2013-2014 Student Organization Standing Policy.

Changing the university’s domain name to CSUPueblo.edu, updates on technology issues and the visibility of the ASG on campus were topics for discussion at the Colorado State University-Pueblo Associated Students’ Government meeting on Oct. 31. File photo

Christine Wiabel

Changing the university’s domain name to CSUPueblo.edu, updates on technology issues and the visibility of the ASG on campus were topics for discussion at the Colorado State University-Pueblo Associated Students’ Government meeting on Oct. 31.

President Vanessa Emerson said she and several other members of the ASG attended a conference in Denver last week.  Student government officials from colleges around Colorado met to discuss current legislation on higher education and share successes from their individual schools.

Sessions that were held included financial aid, student debt and how to help, school debt and fees, and how to strengthen the relationship between school administration and student government organizations.

Emerson said members proposed the creation of a board of presidents that would consist of student government presidents from all the four year colleges in Colorado.  They would meet periodically to go over legislation and other issues pertaining to higher education in Colorado.  She stressed that this is in the developmental stage and nothing concrete has been established.

Emerson also gave a short update on the childcare center issues.  There will be a meeting next week where voting members of the childcare board will be decided, and topics such as waiting lists, scholarships for childcare and fees will be discussed.

Vice President Michael Weiner also attended the conference in Denver and said it was very helpful to network with student government officials from other schools.  He received feedback from them on the proposed biweekly pay changes at CSU-Pueblo and found that most of the schools have biweekly pay schedules.

Weiner is still working to organize a housing committee, but the specifics are still being discussed.  If formed, the housing committee would consist of resident advisors from dorms, officials from the housing department and ASG members.  They would work together to improve on campus living areas and resolve problems.

Director of Information Technology Chalin Fernando said he is working to get programs updated and software licenses renewed. He said there are many software issues on campus and an overall need to upgrade systems to Windows 7 because some programs are not functioning properly in Windows XP.

The university is working on changing the domain name from colostate-pueblo.edu to CSUPueblo.edu, because the hyphen is not always a recognized symbol. There was some discussion about the cost of the change, which would affect websites, email addresses and university-related paperwork.

There was no information on who proposed or approved the change, which will take approximately five years to completely implement. The cost should be listed in the school budget, which is released in the spring.

Director of Public Relations Jordan Boehme followed up on a complaint from the CSU-Pueblo confessions page about the first-year advising program.  She contacted Derek Lopez, director of first-year programs, who said the purpose of the program is to help first year students navigate registration in a timely manner.

While those with declared majors have specific advisers, undeclared students are advised alphabetically and placed in generic core classes.  Boehme will contact the student and try to resolve the issue.

Boehme proposed some events to make the ASG more visible on campus.  Ideas included revising the CSU-Pueblo YouTube channel to show students actively participating in meetings and activities on campus, a Rev 89 monthly ASG spot, and a meet-and-greet luncheon where students could come and meet ASG members.

Discover CSU-Pueblo day is Friday, Nov. 8. Boehme said the ASG would have a table set up to talk with prospective students.  She hopes it will help new students get involved on campus, and she encouraged everyone to follow the ASG Facebook and Twitter pages to stay informed about what’s happening.

Speaker Pro Tem Michael Linsenman gave an update about the $15,000 grant given to CSU-Pueblo by U.S. Bank.  Part of the funds will go toward purchasing and installing water-bottle-filling stations, which will dispense cold, filtered water.  The stations are expected to decrease the amount of disposable water bottles students purchase.  The stations are inexpensive, and a large portion of the grant money will be left over.

Next year’s ASG elections were discussed. Some suggestions to increase student voting were to increase the number of polling places on campus, give “I Voted” stickers or candy incentives, and publicize more actively. Increasing voting in the elections will be a focus next semester. ASG hopes to increase the number of students from the 400 it has been in the past.

The next meeting of the ASG will be Thursday, Nov. 7 at 4 p.m. in Room 201 in the OUC.  Attendance is open for all to attend.

The article that featured the Rev concentrated on the idea that college radio is dying out, and profiled four campus radio stations, including Rev 89, that were enjoying a high level of success. Photo courtesy of http://chass.colostate-pueblo.edu

Sarah Matott

Colorado State University-Pueblo’s student-operated radio station, Rev 89, KTSC-FM, was featured in Billboard Top 40, a premiere source for the nation’s radio industry news, analysis and chart information. 

The article concentrated on the idea that college radio is dying out, and profiled four campus radio stations, including Rev 89, that were enjoying a high level of success.

Rev 89 uses its college station as training for those pursuing radio careers. It focuses on the top 40 format, which is a contrast to the stereotypical alternative or Indie formats that are often used at college stations.

Former Rev 89 manager Sam Lovato, now a faculty member in the mass communications department, changed the station’s normal block programming format to a modern rock station in 1995 in order to mimic a commercial station, said Jenna Mangino, the station manager. Rev 89 has followed a strict programming style ever since.

Mangino, was quoted in the story in the Oct. 24 issue, “Institutions of Higher Learning…About Top 40.”

A recent graduate of the CSU-Pueblo, Mangino spent almost two years as a promotions manager for the local Clear Channel station before returning to CSU-Pueblo.

Despite news sources reporting that student interest in the radio industry is declining, Mangino says interest is still high at CSU-Pueblo.

“You’d be surprised at the number of students enrolling,” Mangino said, “Our radio program has never been more popular. Students love the learning experience, and apply it to a variety of occupation options including journalism, advertising, public relations, television and new media as well as radio.”

Rev 89 is licensed by the Federal Communications Commission and celebrated 43 years of operation on Oct. 12, 2013. The radio station is part of the electronic-media curriculum in the mass communications department and is operated by mass communications majors or minors.

CSU-Pueblo is the only university in Colorado that offers on-campus, applied experiences in public television, public radio stations, print publications and online publications.

To be eligible for a shift on Rev 89, any student majoring or minoring in mass communications must complete an introductory radio course and enroll in a three-credit-hour, hands-on media lab.

Josh Sandoval was able to put his name into the CSU-Pueblo record book for most receptions all-time midway through the second quarter. Photo courtesy of gothunderwolves.com

Nick Jurney

CSU-Pueblo’s defense outdueled one of the top defensive units in the nation in a 34-6 victory against Colorado Mesa Saturday night. 

Despite surrendering three turnovers offensively, the ThunderWolves were willing and able to make plays on defense from the start. Stephen Dickens led the way with a forced a Maverick fumble on the first play from scrimmage to set up a ThunderWolves’ touchdown less than two minutes into the game.

Shortly after, following a blocked punt by Colorado Mesa, the ThunderWolves’ defense held the Mavericks to virtually nothing and disrupted a field goal attempt, which kept the Mavericks off the board and ultimately set the tone for the game.

“Our defense had a great plan,” said head coach John Wristen. “I’m just really proud because we had about eight or nine guys attacking the ball every play.”

Dickens continued to make plays later in the first quarter, stripping a Colorado Mesa receiver of the ball that ultimately landed into the arms of Nick Henderson for an interception, giving the ThunderWolves advantageous field position for the second time early in the game.

“That’s part of Pack football,” Wristen said. “That’s the way Pack football is played.”

The ThunderWolves’ offense saw its fair share of struggles early on, particularly in the passing game, though hometown star Josh Sandoval was able to put his name into the CSU-Pueblo record book for most receptions all-time midway through the second quarter.

“I was aware of it today,” Sandoval said. “It’s a great honor, but I really wasn’t trying to break it. I was just out here trying to do my job.”

Chris Bonner uncharacteristically threw three interceptions in the game, compared to just one touchdown to tight end DaVaughn Thornton.

The story offensively for the ThunderWolves came from the quick and powerful rush attack led by Chris Ashe. Ashe finished with 170 yards and two touchdowns on the night, while emerging weapon Darius Millines contributed 99 yards and a touchdown out of the tricky wildcat formation.

Millines has been a huge part of the ThunderWolves’ offense of late, and when asked if he will continue to see extended action, Wristen had only one thing to say:

“What do you think?”

The victory extended the ThunderWolves streaks of consecutive regular season wins and consecutive Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference wins to 35 and 29, respectively, both of which are RMAC records.

With only two games remaining in the regular season, the ThunderWolves essentially control their own destiny heading towards the playoffs.

CSU-Pueblo can remain in the top spot of the regional rankings with two more wins and head into the playoffs with a first round bye and the prospect of having at least one home playoff game.

The bathroom faucets, showers and water fountains have all been out of commission for the last week, causing students to shower and use the restroom in the other residence halls. Photo courtesy of colostate-pueblo.edu.

Jasmin French

The water outage, which residents of the Belmont Residence Hall experienced on Wednesday, Oct. 24, is in the process of being fixed.

The bathroom faucets, showers and water fountains have all been out of commission for the last week, causing students to shower and use the restroom in the other residence halls.

Craig Cason, associate vice president of facilities, and his team have been working toward solving the problem over the last week.

“We have a contractor over there right now that’s replacing the waterline,” Cason said.

A fire hydrant is providing water to Belmont until the pipe is fixed, Cason said.

As of right now, the issue has been resolved and students can return living as normal, because a fire hydrant is providing water to Belmont until the pipe is fixed, Cason said.

“The whole water break has been addressed and fixed. They’re filling the hole right now, which I expect may take another day or so. We’re going to put some gravel over it then we’ll come back and fill it in with concrete at a later date when we’re not disrupting students,” Cason said.

The outage was caused by a break in the waterline, which occurred right outside of Belmont. Shifting ground, according to Cason, caused the break.

Many factors can cause a break to occur, according to vienna.patch.com, but extreme fluctuations in temperature are the main contributors.

The pipe, fittings, dirt and asphalt all expand at different rates. When there is a sudden change in the temperature, either high or low, the materials change shape quickly, causing stress and eventually a break, according to the website.

Belmont is the only resident hall at CSU-Pueblo that has a community bathroom. The students rely entirely on the bathroom faucets and showerheads to provide water for them.

“I feel as though we should be compensated somehow for going days without water and weeks without being able to drink from the water fountain,” said Charles Evans, sophomore political science major.

Students have been warned to not drink the water in the building because the water department advises against drinking water from a fire hydrant.

“There’s nothing like living in a building where you have to run your water through a coffee maker in order to not get sick,” said Doug Bell, senior sociology criminology major.

The third-ranked Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves return home on Saturday to take on Colorado Mesa University, the only Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponent that holds an all-time series advantage over the ThunderWolves. Photo courtesy of gothunderwolves.com.

Nick Jurney

The third-ranked Colorado State University-Pueblo ThunderWolves return home on Saturday to take on Colorado Mesa University, the only Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference opponent that holds an all-time series advantage over the ThunderWolves. 

Despite the losing record against the Mavericks all-time, the ThunderWolves have won the past three meetings and seem primed to make it four-straight on Saturday underneath the lights of the Neta and Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl.

Adding significance to the matchup was the release of the initial NCAA Division II Super Regional Rankings, which placed the ThunderWolves at the top of the Region 4 for the third consecutive season.

The ThunderWolves can essentially run the table for the remaining schedule and set themselves up in great position heading towards the playoffs. A win Saturday against the Mavericks would increase the likelihood of a first-round bye.

“The national ranking means nothing for the playoffs at all,” said head coach John Wristen. “But the regional rankings are very important to us. We’re aware of that, and hopefully our guys realize that we control our own destiny.”

Looking to play spoiler for the Mavericks will be senior linebacker Jake Edmiston, who is at the top of the Division II leaderboard in tackles, averaging 15.5 per game. Edmiston is the anchor of a stingy CMU defense that is ranked 12th in the nation and is tops in takeaways with 27 on the year.

“(Edmiston) flies around,” Wristen said. “He leads the nation in tackles, their defense leads the nation in interceptions, so we have to make sure we don’t turn the ball over and that we get turnovers.”

The CSU-Pueblo offense, led by quarterback Chris Bonner, has yet to find a worthy adversary thus far, posting an astounding 363 points so far on the season. Bonner has a chance to set the single season touchdown record for the ThunderWolves in the game, needing three to break the mark of 25 set by Ross Dausin last season.

One of Bonner’s many targets, sixth-year senior Roger Pfanneschmid, has found himself in the CSU-Pueblo record books as well, becoming the school’s all-time reception and yardage leader for a tight end.

For Pfanneschmid, those records were never anything he thought about, and his sole focus this week is to help the team notch their ninth victory of the season.

“We’re not going to change the way we do things,” Pfanneschmid said of playing the tough Maverick defense. “We have confidence in all of our guys to get our jobs done, so we’re just gonna go out and play our style of football.”

On the other side, the ThunderWolves’ defense has been no pushover on the season either; with an attack style of play that has led to 13 fumble recoveries and 29 sacks on the season.

Sophomore linebacker Ben Estica has proven to be the defensive lightning rod, amassing over eight tackles per game to go with four sacks and two interceptions.

“It’s a dream come true to play on a defense like this,” Estica said. “I trust in the coaches, I trust in the gameplan, and we come out there ready to play every game.”

The ThunderWolves and Mavericks are scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. on Saturday, which will be the third game under the lights for CSU-Pueblo.

“It’s tough sitting around all day waiting for six o’clock to come around,” Pfanneschmid said. “The days always go by slow and you wake up ready to get going right away, so there’s a little bit (of extra build up).”