BADGERS ROLL OVER NO. 12 MESA
by Greg Dart

Snow Wins 48-17 In The NJCAA Game Of The Week

The Snow College football team went up against No. 12 Mesa Saturday and defended its national No. 1 ranking 48-17.

The win moved the Badgers to 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Western States Football League. The loss was Mesa’s first on the year.

“We knew this was going to be a battle,” said Snow head coach Steve Coburn. “We are happy to come away with a victory.”

With Snow starting quarterback Jon Eastman sidelined for the game with a broken foot, backup Houston Erbstoesser stepped in to go 16-24 for 192 yards and three touchdowns. Erbstoesser also ran for a touchdown.

“Houston did a nice job managing the game,” said Snow offensive coordinator Tyler Hughes. “It is important to have a quarterback with poise and he definitely had that tonight.”

The game was never really in question for the Badgers. The No. 1 ranked defense in the country held Mesa to only a field goal in the first half and 17 points for the game, limiting the Thunderbirds to 221 total yards.

The Badgers scored first on the Erbstoesser run and then tacked on another touchdown on a Tu Tui fumble recovery in the endzone to give Snow a 14-3 lead.

The Badgers took a 21-3 lead into halftime following a Erbstoesser late second quarter touchdown pass to receiver Adam Frandsen.

Snow continued to put points on the board in the second half with a Soni Sotele 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter, before giving up its first touchdown of the game. The Badgers bounced back quickly with a 48-yard Erbstoesser to Sam Thomas touchdown pass to make it 35-10.

The Badgers tacked on two more touchdowns and Mesa added another to finish the game 48-17.

Sotele was the game’s leading rusher with 154 yards and a touchdown on 25 carries.

The Badgers handed Mesa it’s first loss of the season to remain unbeaten in conference play. Snow heads into next week's conference home opener, preparing to host Phoenix Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Badger Stadium in Ephraim.