NMMI Sports Press

"I hope everybody recognizes."

That's what a confident NMMI head football coach Kurt Taufa'asau had to say after his defending national champion Broncos took care of business against No. 5 Snow College 38-7 Saturday night at the Wool Bowl.

"When I took this job and I said yes to these guys, I told myself, and my wife, that I wanted to make New Mexico Military a stronghold in the NJCAA. Snow's a good football team, so hopefully this win sends a message, but we still have a lot of work to do."

The Broncos did the work against Snow, racking up 460 yards of total offense while allowing 260 from the Badgers.

NMMI got it done on the ground and through the air as sophomore quarterback Koby Muasau completed 24-of-34 passes for 317 yards and four touchdowns with no picks, and sophomore running back Jeiel Stark carried the ball 17 times for 114 yards.

"I thought Koby had a good week of preparation, he learned from his mistakes over the past week and I think he came out and did what he's supposed to do," Taufa'asau said. "We told them we had to pound the rock and (Stark) came out and ran his butt off. Credit goes to our offensive line and our offensive coaches who put together a good game plan. And our guys came out and executed."

Muasau spread the wealth, completing passes to seven different receivers, but his favorite target was freshman wideout Treyvion Beamon, who recorded eight grabs for 155 yards and two scores, including a 49-yarder.

"In order for us to be successful this year, we need to share the ball around," Taufa'asau said. "We need a balanced attack with a good passing game that can help us in certain situations. We had good balance tonight."

Defensively, the Broncos shut down the Snow passing game, allowing just 73 yards with four pass breakups and an interception by sophomore defensive back Darius McClendon.

NMMI had 10 penalties for 102 yards, but Taufa'asau said he could live with a few, as long as his guys are going hard.

"I think some of those are guys being overly aggressive, but I like that part," he said. "I'll take some of those, but not too many. We'll clean it up and get it fixed for next week."

The Broncos begin Southwest Junior College Football Conference play next week as Navarro comes to town for another ESPN+ matchup at the Wool Bowl Saturday at 4 p.m.

"We have to focus on us and show up every day to work, because in this conference, you can lose any week," Taufa'asau said. "This conference is very good. Even the teams at the bottom can beat you. Our guys stepped up big time this week, but Snow is over and it's on to conference play and Navarro."