Flames narrowly escape the desert

After a wild, gritty and ugly 30-24 comeback win over the New Mexico State Aggies Sept. 7, the Flames have begun their season 2-0. They came back from being down 17-3 to winning the game in dramatic fashion for their first CUSA victory of the season. 

“It was one of those (games) that just nothing seemed to be going your way,” Flames Head Coach Jamey Chadwell said. “I thought, obviously, the first half was just atrocious, and then (we) had opportunities to get points on the board and touchdowns, and we just had to settle with the field goals.”

The Flames started cold against the Aggies, with their first two drives of the game going for a combined 36 yards and zero points. Their first points came late in the first quarter on a field goal from senior kicker Colin Karhu. Meanwhile the Aggies, whom the Flames played and defeated twice last season, opened the game with back-to-back-to-back scoring drives and sprinted into a 17-3 lead. 

The Flames were able to score twice more before the end of the half with two more Karhu kicks, but they went into the half down 17-9. In the first half, it seemed like the Aggies had an answer for every punch and counterpunch the Flames had to offer, holding Liberty to just 51 rushing yards on 18 rushing attempts for an average of 2.8 yards per attempt. In their two bouts last season, the Flames ran for 250 and 393 yards against the Aggies, and by halftime of Saturday’s matchup, Liberty was on track for just 102 yards on the ground, more than 100 yards shy of their last two outings. 

The second half began uglier than the first, with the Flames and the Aggies going for five straight three-and-out drives. Liberty broke the streak with a six-play, 53-yard drive that ended with a missed field goal from Karhu. After the Flames’ missed kick, the Aggies began to run the clock down, taking more than seven minutes off the clock over their next two drives and forcing the Flames to be the aggressors. 

With 11:15 left to play in the desert, the Aggies had possession at their own 37-yard line with 5 yards to go on third down. The two previous run plays had gone for just 5 total yards, which forced the Aggies into a passing situation. 

At the snap, the Aggies’ sophomore signal caller Parker Awad dropped back and was instantly smothered by the baby blue blur that was senior safety Quinton Reese. The hit from Reese was enough to spring the ball free from Awad, and Flames junior edge rusher CJ Bazile Jr. was able to scoop the ball and score the Flames’ first touchdown of the game. 

“Offensively,” Chadwell said, “It took us a while, but the whole ‘strike the stone’ is a mentality that we talk about all the time in our program. I told them in the fourth quarter, I said, ‘Hey, this is it. … The character that we have is going to need to show up.’ And boy, it did.”

After Bazile Jr.’s touchdown, both offenses began to heat up, with the Aggies and Flames both scoring a touchdown on their following drives. The Flames forced a punt from New Mexico State with just under three minutes left to play.

Six plays later and with just 1:05 left to the game, the Flames had the ball with only 44 yards between them and pay dirt, and the Aggies blitzed. Against a pass, that blitz may have ended the game for the Flames, but Liberty had called a run. Senior running back Quinton Cooley broke through the trenches in a blaze and ran virtually untouched to the end zone to give the Flames their first lead of the night with less than a minute remaining. 

“(Bazile Jr.’s touchdown) gave us hope,” Chadwell said. “Offensively, we were terrible. Let’s just be honest. We were terrible until the last two drives. It gave us some hope, which our sideline needed. But then (the Aggies) go score and we answer, and it gave our defense hope. But we cannot wait. … We cannot wait to play good defense until we’re (frustrated).”

After two more New Mexico State penalties and three consecutive incomplete passes from Awad, the Flames took the field in the victory formation, their comeback complete. 

The Flames emerge victorious from two sloppy and yet successful outings to begin their season. Next up for the Flames are the 0-2 UTEP Miners, who will visit the Flames at Williams Stadium Sept. 14 at 6 p.m. The game will air on ESPN+.

Palsgrove is the sports editor for the Liberty Champion.