NMMI Sports Press
Kobe Muasau completed 10-of-12 passes for 196 yards and five touchdowns Saturday night as the Broncos opened their season with a 75-17 win over the visiting St. George Prep Eagles at the Wool Bowl.
"Kobe played great," said third-year head coach Kurt Taufa'asau. "There were a few things to clean up, but he looked pretty good out there. That's what we expect from a guy that took a lot of reps at the position last year. We're excited about what Kobe and the guys up front can do this year."
The game was well on its way to a blowout by the end of the first quarter, but the first 13 seconds of 2023 Bronco Football were not pretty.
After a touchback on the opening Eagles kickoff, NMMI running back Montahj Joseph fumbled on the first play from scrimmage, setting St. George up with a short field which they promptly took advantage of as Emery Thorson found Bailee Davenport for 20-yard touchdown strike.
The Broncos responded with a three-minute drive featuring four-consecutive first downs and the first of three touchdown passes from Muasau to top returning wideout Treyvion Beamon. Beamon caught just one non-scoring pass on the night and totaled 75 yards.
From there, the Eagles would hit a field goal on their next drive to take a 10-7 lead and wouldn't score again until garbage time. Despite the dominating win, Taufau'asau wasn't very happy with his team's performance against a new squad playing their first real game.
"Respect to St. George. We're grateful they came all the way to Roswell to play us. Coach (Greg) 'Cro' (Croshaw) has a lot of history behind him and it's great that there's a new junior college football program out there," Taufau'asau explained. "I'm happy we got the win, but not satisfied with the way we got it. Too much sloppiness and hopefully it was just shaking the rust off."
The Broncos fumbled five times and lost three of them, but the defense made up for it with four picks, two of which were converted into touchdowns — one for freshman linebacker Sampson Alofipo at the end of the first quarter and the other for freshman defensive back Marcus Works to close the NMMI scoring in the fourth quarter.
"This group is young and I'm excited for the guys that stepped up and made those plays, but we still have a long way to go," said Taufa'asau. "I hope this film will teach us a lot, because Snow is a different beast. They are ranked every year for good reason and after we handed it to them here last year, you can bet they are waiting for us."
Joseph recovered from the early fumble to gain 59 yards on six carries, including a 43-yard run in the third quarter. Freshman back Zahir Favors matched his teammate's yardage total and six others contributed to the Broncos 134 rushing yards on the night.
Sophomore wide receiver Andre Hall led all NMMI pass catchers with 88 yards on just three grabs, including a 60-yard touchdown early in the third period. Isaiah Stephens, Julius Quinones and former Goddard Rocket Diego Nunez each had scoring snags.
Special teams looked sharp, as Beamon returned four punts for 108 yards and kicker Joseph Newton-Grain hit all 10 PATs and nailed a 43-yard field goal in the fourth quarter.
Works and linebacker Blake Corner each had seven tackles, defensive lineman Sila Unutoa added five and had the only sack for the Broncos and defensive back Jamarquis Johnson had two pass breakups and an 11-yard tackle for a loss.
The Broncos will make the 752-mile bus trip to Ephraim, Utah for next Saturday's primetime ESPN+ matchup with the No. 4 Snow College Badgers at 7 p.m.