Box Score Special teams made the difference in #2 Snow College's 38-37 win over the New Mexico Military Institute Broncos.  After losing the lead on a quarterback sneak late in the fourth quarter, the Badger's special teams came up with a blocked extra point attempt by DB Ben Bergeson and a blocked field goal on fourth down in the final seconds of the game to keep the Badgers' unbeaten streak alive and improve to 6-0.
 
In one of the toughest tests of the season so far, the Badgers found themselves trailing 37-31 with 2:09 left in the game.  Snow's two-minute offense started their final drive with a pair of penalties that kept them pinned inside their own 20 yard line.  Undeterred, QB Stefan Cantwell marched the team 82 yards down the field on 10 plays that ended in a 19 yard pass over the middle to Tamalii Campbell, who shrugged off one defender and sprinted into the endzone to make it 38-37.   The Badgers still had work to do as they left the Broncos 35 seconds with all three timeouts.  New Mexico got a great start to their final drive as they returned the kickoff 40 yards to the Bronco 41 yard line.  Snow held them to a tough 55 yard field goal attempt on fourth down with nine seconds remaining, but the Badgers' special teams left nothing to chance as DB Parker Preator blocked the field goal attempt and kept the Badgers' championship hopes alive.
 
"We talk about it all week long.  We have to make a play on special teams," says Head Coach Britt Maughan in his post-game interview with Mike Traina.  "Those extra points can't be just 'gimmes,' those field goals can't just be 'gimmes.'"  While the special teams made big plays in key moments, the offense got the job done and put points on the board in all four quarters. 
 
In a tight game with five lead changes, Snow was first on the scoreboard with a 64 yard drive on three plays that was capped by a 4 yard Stephen Shepard touchdown run.  Broncos' QB Conner Cramer got his outstanding day started by responding with a 48 yard touchdown pass to tie the game at 7-7.  The Badgers took their ensuing drive 70 yards down field and regained the lead as QB Riley Richmond found space down the left hand side of the field and ran 22 yards for a touchdown. 
 
New Mexico would take the lead early in the second quarter after a 13 yard touchdown pass and 38 yard field goal put them ahead at 17-14.   Snow's special teams were back in the spotlight before the half as Parker Preator returned a punt 61 yards for a touchdown and a 21-17 lead going into halftime.
 
Snow's defense kept the Broncos out of the endzone on their first drive of the second half as DB Justus Brown intercepted Cramer's pass at the Snow 1 yard line and ran it back to the New Mexico 48 yard line.   Cantwell took advantage and connected with Deondre Vines on a 48 yard touchdown pass on the next play from scrimmage to give the Badgers the largest lead of the game at 28-17.  The lead would not last long as Cramer took the Broncos 75 yards on 6 plays with a 32 yard touchdown pass to cut the lead to 4. 
 
A 31 yard field goal from Moose Bingham and another touchdown pass from Cramer to start the fourth quarter tied the game at 31-31 and set the stage for an exciting finish for the Badgers' home crowd, courtesy of a pair of blocked kick attempts by Snow's special teams, a come-from-behind touchdown drive by the offense, and a defense that held the Broncos to 22 yards on their final drive.  "These are the games that teach you what the team is made of," says Coach Maughan.  "Whenever you have a good year, there are always two or three games that you have to find a way to win and show the mettle of your team."
 
 
Snow put up 472 yards of offense with 263 yards on the ground and 209 in the air as Cantwell went 18-33 with 2 TDs.  New Mexico had 509 yards of offense with 189 rushing and 320 passing as Cramer put up impressive numbers at 27 completions on 46 attempts with 4 TDs and 1 interception. 
 
Defensively, Justus Brown had the game's only interception that he returned 51 yards.  Teau Satuala picked up Snow's only two sacks, while Cardon Malan and Kurtis Taufa had tackles for a combined loss of 9 yards. 
 
The #2 ranked Badgers head South to take on Eastern Arizona in another night game on Saturday, October 17^th and Coach Maughan is preparing his team for a tough game.  "Part of being where we are means we are going to have to battle every week because we are going to get everyone's best game every week."