OPENING KICKOFF: Coming off a 36-14 victory, the Snow College Badgers will turn their attention to the top team in all the land as they take on No. 1 New Mexico Military Institute Saturday in Roswell, New Mexico.

The Badgers took care of business against Trinity Valley Community College Thursday in the first game of the National Junior College Athletic Association football season.  

"It wasn't the way we had planned for things to go, but we got the win all the same, and that's what matters," Snow College Head Coach Zach Erekson said. "We had a lot of different guys step up to get the job done."

TVCC was unranked in the matchup against the No. 5 Badgers, but the Cardinals did receive votes in the preseason NJCAA Division I Football Top 15.  Snow College will now face a larger test as it takes on the top ranked and defending national champion Broncos.

BY THE NUMBERS: Snow College amassed 355 yards of total offense against the Cardinals and moved the ball very well throughout the night.  The Badgers cumulated a total of 26 first downs compared to just nine allowed defensively.  

Because of the disparity in first down conversions, Snow College also dominated in the time of possession battle with a near two-to-one ratio throughout the night.  

Perhaps the most impressive stat was Snow College's defense against the run.  The Cardinals were only able to manage two rushing yards against the Badgers all night.  This was aided in part due to Snow College's impressive defensive line play.  The Badgers had a total of 10 tackles for losses including seven sacks for a total of 63 yards lost.  The defense was led by Cole Bowers who totaled 10 tackles on the night including two sacks of his own and a forced fumble.

This win marks the third straight year under Erekson that the Badgers have won their season opener.  Snow College defeated No. 2 Iowa Western Community College on March 27, 2021 in Erekson's first game as head coach 31-30.  Last season the Badgers crushed Gordon's Fine Arts and Sports Academy 85-0 for the most lopsided final score in the Erekson era.

Snow College is 13-2 under Erekson coming off a win in the previous week.  That stat bodes will for the Badgers if they want to take down No. 1 NMMI.  The Badgers are 3-3 all time when facing a ranked opponent while also being ranked.  The last time Snow College faced a ranked team while also being ranked was in last years NJCAA semi final game against No. 1 IWCC in which the Badgers suffered a heartbreaking 30-29 overtime loss.

KNOW YOUR FOE: As mentioned, NMMI is coming off a win in the NJCAA Division I national title game against IWCC, a game in which the Broncos won 31-13.  NMMI was the preseason favorite to repeat as champions.

The Broncos handled their business in their first game of the season defeating the Pagago Pumas 44-13 Saturday in Roswell.  NMMI put up 404 yards of total offense in the contest and used a 30-point outburst in the second quarter to put the game to bed.  The Pumas didn't score any points until the waning minutes of the fourth quarter where they notched two touchdowns within the final two minutes and change of the game.

The Bronco offense was led by quarterback Koby Muasau who went 10-12 for 157 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions.  The Sophomore from Puyallup, Washington was starting is his first game with the Broncos 

Snow College has had success in previous meetings with the defending national champs.  The Badgers own a 4-1 series lead over the Broncos with it's last win coming October 10, 2015 in a 38-37 victory in Ephraim.  The Badgers lone loss came September 28, 2014 in a 23-20 overtime defeat at home.  Saturday's match will mark the first time the two schools have met each other since 2015.

"We had a really good week of practice," Erekson said. "Our guys came away from our last meeting, and we felt like we had a really good game plan and felt great about how things went this week.  Now it's just about going out and executing what we have put in place for this week."

The top-five matchup will be the featured Game of the Week on ESPN+ Saturday.  Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. inside the Wool Bowl.  For additional information, visit snowbadgers.com.

LAST TIME OUT: Rain didn't stop Snow College from racing past Trinity Valley Community College Thursday night.  The Badgers started their season off with a bang defeating the Cardinals 36-14 in their season opener.

The game didn't start out in the Badgers favor, though, as each team started with a three-and-out.  On Snow College's first play in its second drive, Badgers starting quarterback Donovan Smith's pass was picked off by Michael Brown, who took it 77 yards the other way for the score.  The PAT gave the Cardinals a quick 7-0 lead three and a half minutes into the game.

The Badgers would respond quickly as they would take their next drive into the end zone.  New quarterback Kamen Best led the Badgers on a nine-play, 75-yard drive that culminated with a 1-yard touchdown run by Targhee Lambson.  Bradford Willis' extra point was true and Snow College drew even with TVCC, 7-7.

Snow College got the passing game going on its next drive as Best found Elijah Ervin for an 11-yard touchdown to give the Badgers a 14-7 edge.  Best and Ervin would prove to be a good combo as they would once again connect three drives later for a nine-yard pitch-and-catch that resulted in another Badger touchdown.

Lightning struck, figuratively, on the next TVCC drive as John Taumoepeau forced, recovered and took to the house a 50-yard fumble.  The Cardinals would recover quickly and score on a 75-yard touchdown from quarterback Darion Peace to wide receiver Trent Hudson.  The Badgers would take a 28-14 lead into halftime.

It was the Badgers defense that was the story throughout the entire game.  The Cardinals were only able to manage two rushing yards the entire night against the Snow College front.  The Badgers were able to get to Peace on a regular basis recording seven sacks for a total loss of 63 yards, two of those sacks coming from Cole Bowers.

In contrast, the Badgers running attack was what carried the offense for much of the day.  Snow College managed to amass 184 yards of rushing carried mostly by Lambson and Carson Manookin.  Lambson got a bulk of the carries getting 34 touches for 121 yards and a touchdown.  Lambson also caught a pair of passes out of the backfield for a total of 26 yards.  Manookin provided a good second punch getting 14 carries for 63 yards.  

Rain became a factor in the second half as the heavens opened up at halftime.  It didn't take long before it affected the Cardinals.  On 4th and 7 from their own 17, the snap went over the head of TVCC punter Jake Gaster.  Gaster then committed a penalty by kicking the ball on the ground out of the back of the end zone to prevent a Badger from recovering the ball for a touchdown.  The infraction resulted in a safety and gave the Badgers a 30-14 lead.

Snow College would salt the game away for good early in the fourth quarter as Marquis Montgomery leaped high into the air to snatch down the 27-yard pass from Best in the end zone.  The extra point dinged off the left upright, but the Badgers had claimed all the cushion it would need as they would continue to clamp down defensively and claim the victory, 36-14.

Best led the Badger offense going 14-28 for 171 yards and three touchdowns.  Taylor Larsen caught three passes for 56 yards.  Montgomery finished with 36 yards receiving while Ervin had 35 yards through the air and two touchdowns on three catches.  

Bowers paced Snow College defensively with 10 total tackles including two sacks. Kohl Hogan had seven solo tackles while Taumoepeau and Zach Nowatzke each had five tackles and a total of 3.5 tackles for loss to aid the Badgers in the victory.

COACHING STAFF: Zac Erekson (Brigham Young University, 2007: 30-18 overall record) is entering his third season at Snow College (15-3), second as the head football coach and his 13th year overall in coaching. In Erekson's first season as Head Football Coach he led the Badgers to an 8-0 regular season finish and a trip to the National Championship game. Prior to coming to Snow College, Erekson served as the athletics director and head coach at Skyline High School in Salt Lake City. Before his tenure at Skyline, Erekson coached high school football throughout Texas for 8 years. Erekson coached at 5A Abilene Cooper in Abilene, TX where his team went 12-2 in 2011.

Erekson is joined on the sidelines by Defensive Coordinator Jordan Pulou (Missouri S&T; 1st season), Special Teams and Wide Receivers coach James Dye (Brigham Young University; 1st season), Defensive Backs coach Dustin Pressley (Arkansas Monticello; 1st season), Offensive Line coach Trever McFalls (Southern Utah University; 1st season), Running Backs coach Ryan You (Arizona State; 4th season), Defensive Line coach Kyle Murray (Dixie State; 1st season), and Linbackers coach Devon McKinney (Louisiana Tech; 1st season).

BREAKING DOWN THE SCHEDULE: Snow College will play a total of 11 games this season including six home games and five road games.  The Badgers will play host to Trinity Valley Community College (8/25; 7 p.m.), Gila River Community College (9/17; 7 p.m.), Georgia Military College (10/1; 1 p.m.), ASA College (Miami) (10/15; 7 p.m.), Community Christian (Detroit) (10/29; 7 p.m.), and Monroe College (11/12; 12 p.m.), while playing road games against New Mexico Military Institute (9/3; 4 p.m.), Butler Community College (9/10; 1 p.m.), Iowa Western Community College (10/8; 12 p.m.), Us Air Force Academy Preparatory School (10/21; 1 p.m.), and Lackawanna College (11/19; 11 a.m.).

The Badgers biggest tests will come against No. 1 New Mexico Military Institute and No. 2 Iowa Western Community College, both of which were in the NJCAA national title game last season. The reigning national champion New Mexico Military Institute Broncos finished the season 12-1 and culminated the season defeating IWCC 31-13 in the National Title game.  IWCC defeated Snow College in last years semi-final game 30-29 in overtime and finished the season 10-1 with its lone loss coming at the hands of the Broncos. Snow College will also face three other opponents currently ranked inside the NJCAA DI top 15.  In addition to facing NMMI, and IWCC, the Badgers will also take on No. 10 Butler Community College September 10, No. 13 Monroe College November 12, and No. 15 Lackawanna College November 19.  Snow College's matchup against MC will be the only home match up against ranked opponents. 

UP NEXT: The Badgers will continue their brief two-game road swing as they travel to El Dorado, Kansas to take on No. 10 Butler Community College. 

Butler had a tough 2021 campaign as it went just 1-9 with its only win coming against Coffeyville in its penultimate game of the season.  The Grizzlies opened their 2022 campaign with a 35-28 victory victory over Garden City.  The Badgers have only faced off with BCC once in the past, a 36-17 loss August 31, 2019.  Snow College will look to even up the series Saturday, September 10 at 12:30 pm MST inside the BG Products Veterans Sports Complex in El Dorado.