The New Mexico Military Institute Bronco football team notched their first win of the season, downing the Islanders 40-18, on the road in Herriman, Utah.
It was just the second game at the helm for NMMI head coach Oliver Soukup, but his Broncos looked solid on both offense and defense, dominating every quarter except the third.
NMMI started the game with an impressive nine-play, 75-yard touchdown drive, eating up almost five minutes of the clock. Soph QB Elliot Paskett-Bell completed a trio of passes in the series for 42 of those yards, then capped the drive for his first of two rushing TDs in the game, from seven yards out.
The Bronco defense then went to work and forced an Islander punt after giving up just 14 total yards.
NMMI's next drive was a clock-consuming 20-play, 91-yard affair, spanning just over nine minutes. Paskett-Bell again got the TD on a third-and-goal from the Islander 1, but it was a clutch pass on fourth down from Paskett-Bell to his 6-foot-4 tight end Karl Peterson that kept the drive alive back on the NMMI 48 yard line. Zahir Favors, who led the Institute in rushing yards with 83, was the workhorse of the drive, grinding out 42 yards of those yards on nine carries.
Utah went three-and-out on their next offensive series, and the Broncos needed only two minutes and five plays to again enter the end zone. Paskett-Bell threw four passes, completing three, including a final 29-yard strike to wide receiver Diego Nunez — and with 8:02 still left on the clock in the second quarter, NMMI was up 20-0.
Two plays later and the Islanders were on the board, with Keondre Polanco ripping a 74-yard TD rush, but NMMI's Stilton McKelvey blocked the PAT kick.
NMMI responded with yet another touchdown drive, this time with Willie Hamilton in at quarterback and Alvin Johnson III at tailback. The skill-back combo combined for 65 yards on the ground, with Johnson III completing the 10-play series with a five-yard carry into the end zone, to make it 27-6 with just under two minutes left in the first half.
The Islanders' hurry-up offense took the ball all the way down to the NMMI 2, but Bronco sophomore LB Samson Alofipo got a sack and a forced fumble (recovered by Utah) as the final seconds ticked off the clock to end the second quarter.
Mistakes cost the Broncos in the third quarter, allowing 12 unanswered Utah points. The first came on a punt block, recovered in the endzone for an Islander TD to make it 27-12 with 10:49 left in the stanza.
The next came after a Paskett-Bell pass was intercepted at the NMMI 18 yard line. Utah needed just one pass of their own to hit paydirt, and it was 27-18 (Utah tried for two and failed after both TDs) with 2:59 still on the clock.
After the rocky third, the Institute regrouped and took over the final fourth period. Damon Mayberry and Alofipo both had interceptions in the quarter, which quickly led to NMMI scoring drives. Johnson III earned his second rushing TD at the 7:38 mark to make it 34-18, and Favors put the final points of the game on a TD carry with 48 ticks left.
"I think our offense did a really good job in the first half, just completely owning the line of scrimmage and doing what they needed to do," said NMMI's first-year head coach Oliver Soukup. "I was very pleased with the rushing effort between Za [Zahir Favors] and Alvin Johnson, and our quarterbacks with Elliot and Willie both running the ball well. It's something that I want us to continue to improve on."
"This was a situation where we got to play a lot of guys – get some guys in there to try and build some quality and depth for the rest of the year," continued coach Soukup. "From here on out were in the conference schedule and the grindhouse is going into the grindhouse. We're back on the road next week: we're war dogs and road dogs and that's what we do."
That next game will be against Kilgore College, currently ranked No. 3 in the nation in last week's NJCAA poll.
It will be the third-straight road trip for the Broncos.
NMMI's first home game will be on Saturday, Sept. 21 against Blinn College: 6 pm MDT at the Wool Bowl stadium in Roswell, NM.