NMMI Sports Press
9-Sept-23

CORSICANA, TEXAS – In their Southwest Junior College Football Conference opener, the Broncos walked away with a 50-30 win on the road vs. Navarro College.

NMMI's offense exploded for the half-century point mark thanks to five end zone strikes by sophomore quarterback Koby Muasau. Muasau, who currently sits atop the NJCAA D1 leaderboard with 12 TD tosses, connected with three different receivers for the touchdown passes. Treyvion Beamon – currently No. 1 in the nation in TD receptions with eight – had three. For the other two, Muasau connected with his pair of veteran tight ends: sophomores Noah Armijo and Manual Gomez.

But in the 80-point shootout, it was the play of NMMI's 'Black Swarm' defense that really helped the Institute get – and stay – in front. The Broncos were in the Bulldog backfield the entire night, recording 10.5 tackles for losses, including a trio of sacks: one by sophomore Aipolo Mahoni, one by freshman Leon Muller, and one by frosh Sampson Alofipo. The D-line also put constant pressure on Navarro's quarterbacks, collecting seven Quarterback Hurries as a unit.

That persistent pressure led to seven turnovers created by the Broncos' defense: five interceptions and two fumble recoveries. Freshman inside linebacker Damon Mayberry had two of those picks, along with a team-leading 11 tackles. The other aerial takeaways came from three redshirt freshmen: defensive lineman Joshua Washington, and defensive backs Sonny Mitchell and Alex Pope.

Soph DB Churchill Williams forced both the fumbles for the Broncos; one was recovered by freshman DB Motulalo Tafisi, the other by freshman DB Stephen Odusola-Stephen.

"It's always tough to come out here and play in Corsicana," said NMMI head coach Kurt Taufa'asau, relieved at getting the win. "We had a lot of mishaps, especially in that first quarter, and we were down 14-6. But I'm proud of the way our guys responded and adjusted to what we need to fix."

"I challenged the defense this week to pick up their play," continued Taufa'asau about the large number of turnovers the Broncos created. "We didn't come away with one [turnover] last week against Snow. They responded well, thanks to the preparation that had during the week. We saw picks in practices, and that just transferred over to the game. And it's always s a plus to give more possessions to our offense."

With the win, NMMI improves to 2-1 overall and 1-0 in conference play. Next up will be a conference match at home against the No. 3 team in the nation, Kilgore College. NMMI is currently sitting at No. 14, as of last week's poll, which doesn't yet reflect the Broncos' road win on Saturday vs. No. 15 Navarro.