Cisco, TX – Just a week after suffering their first loss in the Southwest Junior College Football Conference, the New Mexico Military Institute Bronco football team bounced back in big way, wrapping up the Cisco College Wranglers on the road, 44-7.
NMMI played a complete game, compiling 423 total yards on offense, while giving up just under 150 total yards on the defensive side.
The offensive attack was a balanced affair: 193 yards from the ground game, with another 230 yards via the passing attack.
Three backs had 10+ carries each for the Broncos: sophomore Jeiel Stark led the way with 82 yards on 10 carries; freshman Au'mhryaun Brown had 11 rushes for 46 yards, including two TDs; and soph Tyrian Cassie also crossed the end zone plain twice on 11 of his attempts for 32 yards.
Freshman QB Koby Muasau avenged his lackluster performance last week against Tyler with a stellar statistical day: 14 completions on 17 attempts for 173 and zero INTs. Soph QB Mason Myers also looked solid in relief, rushing for one TD, and throwing for another on 5-of-6 passing for 57 yards.
That improvement on offense is exactly what followers of the Broncos have been waiting for and was the first time NMMI broke the 400-yard offensive mark since their game vs. Snow College on Sept. 3.
But as good as the offense was this week, the defensive side of the ball was perhaps even better.
The 'Black Swarm' defense gave up just 140 total yards to the Wranglers, forced three fumbles of which they recovered two, and gave Cisco a goose-egg in passing yardage: zero yards on 6 attempts with two sacks.
"It all goes back to the preparations our guys made during the week," said head Bronco football coach Kurt Taufa'asau. "We went back to the basics, instead of trying to be so exotic with our plays. Our coaches put together a good game plan that played more to our players' strengths, and we were able to go out and execute that game plan."
"Last week stung," continued Tuafa'asau about the 20-12 loss at Tyler. "Just proud of the work everyone put in this week and getting back into the winning column."
When asked about his thoughts about the 'What-Ifs' regarding the NJCAA rankings and play in the postseason, Taufa'asau said simply: "We'll worry about the conference standings and the conference playoffs later."
"Right now we just need to take it one game at a time," continued the coach. "We've got NEO next and they are not a team we can take lightly with some serious talent on both sides of the ball. We'll need to put together a good, solid game plan against them as well. All the rankings and all of that stuff, it'll take care of itself in the end. We just need to focus on what we can control and that's NEO this week."
That game vs. NEO (Northeastern Oklahoma A&M) is slated for a 2:00 pm MDT start at the Wool Bowl stadium in Roswell, NM on Saturday, Oct. 22.
The Bronco football team's record stands at 6-1 overall with a 4-1 mark in the SWJCFC. They are currently ranked No. 5 in the nation and are tied with Tyler JC for second place in the conference. Trinity Valley CC is atop the SWJFC standings with a 4-0 record. NMMI travels to play Trinity Valley on Oct. 29.