Football's return lights a fire
School's president leads a boisterous student body into historic event.
CHIEFTAIN PHOTO/MIKE SWEENEY -- Colorado State University-Pueblo's Chase Vaughn celebrates the ThunderWolves' 24-13 win over Panhandle State on Saturday at the Neta & Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl. Vaughn was a force on defense, collecting 4 of the team's 10 total sacks.
‘I think I played this game about 40 times before we had a chance to play it. I was really proud of our kids. the way they came out and played, proud of the community and proud to have CSU-Pueblo on our jerseys. This victory is for all those people who sacrificed to get this done.' - JOHN WRISTEN CSU-Pueblo head coach
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By JEFF LETOFSKY
THE PUEBLO CHIEFTAIN
Not that the crowd needed pumping up, but during Saturday's
pregame ceremonies, Colorado State University-Pueblo President Joe
Garcia gave the fans something to remember.
Garcia led the ThunderWolves' football team onto the field riding a
Harley-Davidson motorcycle with the Pack mascot in tow. Garcia
circled the stadium on the track to a thunderous applause.
"Somebody came up with the idea of me leading the team onto the
field by riding a motorcycle," Garcia said. "I wanted to give the
crowd some energy."
Garcia went on to say that he was especially impressed with the
student turnout.
"We've rarely had students on campus during the weekend," he said.
"To see students involved is very exciting." PACKING THE 'BOWL: A
university attendance mark of 9,219 was set Saturday night at the
Neta & Eddie DeRose ThunderBowl. The previous attendance mark
was set Nov. 7, 1980, of 9,147 when then University of Southern
Colorado hosted Adams State College at the 13,000-seat Dutch Clark
Stadium . . . The largest crowd ever to watch a Pueblo collegiate
football game was Sept. 10, 1983 when 12,500 watched USC play the
University of Idaho at Moscow.
The ThunderBowl has a capacity of 6,500 but thousands of
standing-room only tickets were sold and nearly 3,000 either stood
or sat on the turf in the north endzone, called ThunderHill.
Fans also were treated to fireworks before and after the game.
GETTING A HANDLE: Oklahoma Panhandle State is one of only five
Division II football programs in the country to be classified as
"Independent". Of those five, only Panhandle and Southwest Baptist
(Bolivar, Mo.) can be found west of the Mississippi River . . . The
Aggies have faced an RMAC team in the preseason at least once since
1999, the first season they competed as a Division II school.
Panhandle has never defeated an RMAC team . . . Since joining Div.
II in 1999, OPSU has had only one winning season, having compiled a
record of 17-79 - 1-31 the past three seasons.
WINNING IS THE ONLY THING: Asked if beating Panhandle 24-13 was how
he envisioned Saturday's ending, head coach John Wristen said: "We
won. That's how I envisioned it. That's all that matters."
BY THE NUMBERS 0 The number of turnovers CSU-Pueblo had in its
first football game in 24 years
1:44 The time it took for Panhandle State to score on the game's
first possession
37 The number of total yards that 10 sacks by the CSU-Pueblo
defense provided
9,219 The announced attendance at the Neta & Eddie DeRose
ThunderBowl for Saturday's first-ever game
Turning Point. . . With CSU-Pueblo clinging to a 10-7 lead
early in the second quarter, the Pack's Markus Turner returned a
punt 61 yards for a touchdown for a 17-7 advantage.
QUOTABLE: ‘I think I played this game about 40 times before
we had a chance to play it. I was really proud of our kids. the way
they came out and played, proud of the community and proud to have
CSU-Pueblo on our jerseys. This victory is for all those people who
sacrificed to get this done.'
- JOHN WRISTEN
CSU-Pueblo head coach
