Are you ready for some football? Colorado Mesa sure as heck is.
The Mavericks open their season at 6 p.m. on Thursday at Texas A&M-Kingsville. They face a pivotal third season under coach Miles Kochevar, one in which they’ll try to keep pace with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s big three — No. 5 Colorado School of Mines, No. 15 Western Colorado and CSU-Pueblo — while staving off the rest of the conference.
The Mavericks’ defense figures to be its strength, with a slew of returning starters and promising young talent. On offense, Kochevar wants balance driven by a strong running game.
“It’s been a great camp. These guys came out and worked hard,” Kochevar told a small crowd of local media on Tuesday. “We’ve been able to be successful at this camp and developed depth where we needed it … I felt we accomplished what we set out to do and now it’s time to go and put this plan into action.”
The defensive secondary may be the Mavericks’ best position group but corners and safeties need a strong front seven in order to survive.
The Mavericks’ defensive line oozes potential but will need to earn its recognition.
Rifle High School alumni Kade Street and Troy Mataia are starting on the defensive line on Thursday, per the team’s two-deep depth chart. Street will line up on the edge and Mataia will line up on the interior.
Mataia is one of seven true freshmen to make Colorado Mesa’s two-deep roster. He was a game-wrecker for Rifle last season and helped them reach the Class 2A state title game.
“Troy, he’s strong as a horse. He explodes out of his stance, has a quickness. I won’t say he’s fast when we’re running sprints but left to right, that short span, that short burst, he’s a guy who’s very quick,” Kochevar said. “Relentless motor as it goes and he gets underestimated for how strong he is. He can move people around at a very efficient rate and very quickly. He has a knack for getting to the football and some natural instinct things you can’t coach.”
You’d be hard-pressed to find a lineman with a more intimidating size than Street, who checks in with a 6-foot-7, 270-pound frame.
Street was roughly 50 pounds lighter as a freshman. He started five games in 2023, played in 11 and tallied 23 tackles and 2½ sacks. Steamboat Springs native Ben Bogan will line up opposite Street.
“The growth that Kade has had, he’s one of those guys who started this game last year at about 220 pounds, now he’s over 270 pounds,” Kochevar said. “Being able to push the pocket with that extra weight is going to go and pay dividends for him as he continues on in his career … It’s just going to be instrumental in his growth as a football player. Now he’s learning how to use it.”
Freshmen David Ives and Hunter Hamilton are listed as reserve linemen, as is redshirt junior Ryan Randall.
Corbin Throgmorton is listed as the backup left guard on offense but will see snaps on the defensive line, Kochevar said. Throgmorton played on the defensive line in 2023.
Of course, it remains to be seen if this youth will have a drawback against a loaded Texas A&M-Kingsville.
LINEBACKERS
The linebackers were hit hard in the offseason when key starters Cam Nathan graduated and Hudson Metcalf transferred to reigning Division I FCS champion South Dakota State.
But the group returns Levi Krebs and Colin Stuhr. Krebs battled injuries in 2023 but was a difference maker when on the field. He was selected the RMAC Defensive Player of the Week after notching 15 tackles and two sacks in the Mavericks’ win over FCS San Diego.
“They’re better, they’re bigger, they’re stronger and they’re faster. They’re also seeing the game a lot better. Last year, they were young. That was Levi’s first year of actually starting,” Mesa’s linebackers coach and special teams coordinator Levi Suiaunoa said last week. “Now we want them to take control of it instead of having us tell them. They should be able to see things and have them run it on their own. It’s just the progression of our defense … Seeing the keys better, identifying and making the checks, getting in and out of fronts.”
The other linebacker starters are George Soppe, a true freshman from Green Mountain High School, and Chuck Smith, a sophomore from Arvada West who made two starts last season.
Smith is the vocal leader whereas Krebs leads by example, Suiaunoa said.
The reserves are: Cooper Connelley (freshman from Elizabeth), Payton Wainwright (redshirt freshman from Columbine), Noah Williams (redshirt freshman from Legacy) and Rick Weimer (a junior transfer from Monterey Peninsula College in California).
“At its best, this group could be probably one of the top linebacking corps in the RMAC. That’s the expectation. Obviously you don’t get there overnight. It’s been a process, two years in the making. This is year three and we expect them to make that jump,” Suiaunoa said. “(We’re challenging them to improve in) leadership is a big one, being more vocal and having to be better tacklers. We’re getting in our spots but our tackling isn’t where we want it. A one-yard gain needs to be a one-yard gain, and not make contact at one yard and he falls forward for another three. It’s a game of inches.”
A YOUNG MAN’S GAME
As mentioned, there are seven freshmen on Mesa’s two-deep depth chart. Excluding aforementioned players, those guys are: Jack Burke (wide receiver from Skyridge in Lehi, Utah), Quezon Villa (wide receiver from Timpview in Provo, Utah) and Brent Harris (safety from Broomfield).
“The moment hasn’t been too big,” Kochevar said. “They’ve taken advantage of the opportunity that’s been at hand. That’s the biggest thing I can say, those guys come out with great motors every single day and put in the work … They’ve adjusted to the speed of the game. The biggest adjustment coming from high school is you might have been at the top but now everybody is coming from the same realm. So how do I elevate my game every day so I can continue to get better?”
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Publish date : 2024-08-27 19:15:00
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