No. 24 CSU Pueblo football drops home opener to No. 5 Grand Valley State

On a damp and rainy Saturday night at the ThunderBowl, No. 24 ranked CSU Pueblo took on No. 5 Grand Valley State looking to snap their 3-game losing streak against the Lakers

In what turned out to be a bit of a messy game, the Lakers had other ideas, spoiling the Thunderwolves' home opener with a 35-10 win.

First half, missed opportunities

It was an up-and-down first half for the Thunderwolves. Their offense wasn’t humming like it was in the previous week, when they set records.

Grand Valley scored on their first possession of the game, marching down the field with relative ease. The Thunderwolves followed with a huge gain on a scramble by quarterback Steven Croell, which put the offense deep into Laker territory. But the drive stalled out and led to a missed field goal.

After a bobbled Lakers punt, the Thunderwolves added a field goal to make it 7-3 before forcing a fumble on the ensuing kickoff. But penalties killed the drive and their best early chances slipped away.

“I thought that we had some opportunities early on and we didn't take advantage of them,” said CSU Pueblo head coach John Wristen. “We didn't seize the moment.”

Grand Valley scored again to make it 14-3 and really put the pressure on the Thunderwolves, who weren't out of it. On their next possession, Croell tossed a 34-yard strike to wide receiver Andrew Cook to bring the Pack to within 14-10.

The next series for the Lakers was a defining one, chewing up almost five minutes off the clock in the second quarter and ending with another rushing touchdown for a 21-10 halftime lead.

“I thought our defense went out and played as hard as they could,” senior offensive lineman Sean Johnson said. “Our offense at the beginning felt like we could move the ball whenever and then we started to slow down a little and I think that was kind of the demise to the game. We just need to keep that first-quarter energy and keep it going throughout, and I think we'll find that next week.”

Second Half, more miscues

The Pack started off the second half with a quick three-and-out series and then couldn’t really stop the Grand Valley offense in the third quarter.

If anything, the Lakers' offense was the only thing stopping itself from scoring on every possession. The Thunderwolves gave up a long pass midway through the third quarter, which would later result in another rushing touchdown for a 28-10 Lakers lead.

“We got to get something going in the second half,” Wristen said. “We kind of sputtered and had a little trouble stopping them in the second half. We didn't do much on offense.”

Croell was picked off by Grand Valley State early in the fourth, slamming the comeback doors mostly shut.

With just under five minutes left in the game, the Lakers mounted their final scoring drive to complete a dominant road effort.

“I think that we lost the game worrying about other stuff,” linebacker Makeah Scippio said. “We were never in a position where we were getting beaten or dominated, we were missing a couple of assignments here and there and missing out on plays that we should have made.”

Thoughts after the game

CSU Pueblo coaches and players both agreed that the team did not perform at its highest level in this game. However, it wasn't all doom and gloom.

“The positives are that we had a chance to make some plays but we didn't and we still rallied to the ball defensively in the second half a little bit,” Wristen said. “I thought some guys stepped up and our punting game, Jon Lujan did a great job in the punt game and changing the field position.”

“We're a young team and we got a lot of people filling positions that weren't there last year,” Scippio added. “But I know that we have a whole lot of heart and we never quit and I'm proud of my boys.”

Wristen said they have to respond quick, fix the mistakes and be ready to go against another big opponent next week.

“I just think we got to work on whenever we have a moment, we got to go seize it, we got to make sure we have those opportunities,” Wristen said. “We got to come back and go get ready to work against a great Western state team. I think it's a great learning curve against a great opponent and we got a chance to go get better next week.”

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Johnson also spoke on what the team needs to work on for next week against a tough conference foe.

“I think our aggression,” Johnson said. “We have it, we know what we're doing, I think we're just in our heads a little bit too much and I think once we get the aggression out will be a dominant team. They're our RMAC competition, so we have to win. ... It’s a necessity. We wanted to win this one, but we can't lose to Western and that's the main goal is to go in with confidence and understand that we have to win.”

Christopher Abdelmalek is a sports reporter for the Pueblo Chieftain and can be reached at cabdelmalek@gannett.com or on Twitter: @chowebacca

This article originally appeared on The Pueblo Chieftain: CSU Pueblo football loses to Grand Valley State in home opener