Wildcats falter again


By Eric Maddy
The SCORE

Every football play from the line of scrimmage begins with a snap from the center. Unfortunately for the New Mexico Wildcats, it sometimes ends up in disaster.

Two bad snaps and a lost onside kick on the first play of the game were most of the difference in New Mexico’s 57-34 loss Friday night to the Utah Valley. All three turnovers led to touchdowns by the Thunder, who raced to a 25-0 lead at the Santa Ana Star Center and never looked back.

As a promotional event, the coin toss was conducted by Oakland Raiders running back Lorenzo Neal. The Wildcats won the flip, but that’s about all that went right in the first half for New Mexico.

The Wildcats good fortune on the toss turned bad when the Thunder successfully converted an onsides kick. Former BYU quarterback Michael Affleck then hit Akamu Aki on the first play from scrimmage from 31 yards out and to give Utah Valley a 7-0 lead 30 seconds into the game.

New Mexico’s first actuall possession didn’t go much better. The Wildcats got one first down and drove to the Utah Valley 6, but a horrible snap from center John Sloan sailed a good three yards over the head of quarterback B.J. Hall. Linebacker Chris Bolden recovered for Utah Valley and advanced the ball to the New Mexico 11.

Again, it took the Thunder only one play to score, with Affleck connecting with Tim Simmons. The kick failed, leaving the score at 13-0.

New Mexico couldn’t move the ball on the next series, with Hall throwing three straight incompletions. A 47-yard field goal attempt by Pablo Nava failed, giving Utah Valley the ball at its own 10.

The Thunder moved to the New Mexico 7 in four plays, but a fumbled exchange between Affleck and running back Sete Aulia bounced backward and was recovered at the 22 by Wildcat lineman Landrick Brody. Still New Mexico couldn’t get anything on the scoreboard.

The Wildcats used five plays to gain two first downs, the last one at the Utah Valley 6. Hall took the snap from under center to avoid a fumble, but his pitch hit running back Josh Schleusner in the shoulder pad and Thunder defender 59 recovered.

Utah Valley scored 3 plays later, with Affleck and Aki connecting from 29 yards out. Again the kick was no good, leaving the score at 19-0.

It became 25-0 moments later. Hall hit Gabe Hatchett for a 16-yard gain, but he fumbled and Utah Valley recovered at its own 18. Running back Trent Himalaya capped a six-play drive with a 7-yard run, with a two-point conversion pass falling incomplete.

New Mexico finally got on the board with 5:42 left in the second quarter, with Hall connecting with Andrew Coplin from 14 yards out. Affleck came back with his third TD pass to Aki from 9 yards out before C.J. Davis capped the scoring with a 15-yard strike from Hall.

New Mexico had a goal-line stand to end the half, but any momentum quickly ended when Aulia scored from two yards own to cap the opening six-play drive. The teams kept trading touchdowns throughout the third quarter until Utah Valley had to settle for a 24-yard field goal by Scott Thomsen with 11:49 left. His kick made the score 48-27.

New Mexico cut the margin to 14 on a 2-yard scoring pass from Hall to Hatchett. An onside kick attempt failed, leaving a short field, but the New Mexico defense held and Thomsen missed a 27-yard field goal wide right.

Then a final bad snap killed any hopes for a Wildcats comeback. The snap was so bad that Hall, who was hampered all night from the knee injury he sustained in Saturday’s home loss to Ogden, had to kick the ball out of play for a safety to avoid surrendering another Thunder touchdown. Utah Valley recovered another onside kick attempt and returned it to the New Mexico 8, and Affleck capped he scoring with a 6-yard pass to Simmons with 2:56 left.

Affleck finished 24-of-36 for 266 yards and six touchdowns. Aki had three scores and 121 yards in receiving, and three other Utah Valley receivers had 44 or more yards.

Davis and Hatchett each had two TD catches from Hall, who was 20-of-31 for 216 yards. He threw one interception on the last series of the game.

New Mexico, 1-7, plays its next home game June 5 against Ogden. Utah Valley improved to 7-2, a half-game behind Wyoming in the Western Division standing pending the Cavalry’s result at Ogden on Monday.