ALVA, Okla. -- It's hard to say which will be more sore tomorrow – Kyle Jech's arm or Andrew King's hands. The two set Northwestern Oklahoma State single-game records – Jech for most completions (43) and passing attempts (69) and King for most receptions (14) – though ultimately in a losing effort.
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Colorado State – Pueblo (ranked sixth in this week's NCAA Division II rankings) pulled away late for a 41-24 victory Saturday night at Ranger Field.
Northwestern looked like an entirely different team than the one that took the field in week one. After falling behind 20-0 midway through the second quarter, the Rangers responded with 21 unanswered points.
In the final minutes of the second quarter, Jech led a 14-play march, converting four different times on third down to keep the chains moving. With 22 seconds remaining in the half he hit Javari Liggins for a five-yard touchdown.
The magic continued in the third. On the Ranger's opening drive, Jech completed 9 of 11 passes. Faced with third-and-21, Jech found Tavian Parnell for 16 yards and King for 9 to again keep the offense on the field. Two plays later, Taylor Hooper hauled in a 14-yard touchdown pass. Edgar Colmenares added the extra point to pull the Rangers within 20-14.
Pueblo went three-and-out on its next possession, and the Northwestern offense again moved swiftly into Thunderwolf territory. From the Pueblo 31, Jech zipped a pass that actually deflected off a defender and into the arms of a wide open Hooper for a touchdown. Colmenares' extra point gave Northwestern its first lead, 21-20, with 5:41 remaining in the third quarter.
That seemed to wake up Pueblo. Just as they did in last week's emotional win over 24th ranked West Texas A&M, the Thunderwolves finished strong. They found the end zone on their next two drives and did it quickly, needing just 8 plays to regain and rebuild the lead at 34-21.
Jech led Northwestern one more time into Pueblo territory before stalling at the 14. Colmanares' drilled a field goal from 35 yards to make it a 34-24 game with 12:41 to go.
Again Pueblo answered, scoring a touchdown on their third straight possession on quarterback Ross Dausin's 10-yard draw to create the final margin.
While Jech was threw early and often, Dausin put quality over quantity. He completed just 16 passes but totaled 303 yards through the air. Running back J.B. Matthews established the ground game with 168 yards on 23 carries.
CSU-Pueblo (2-0) continues on the road next weekend against Western New Mexico.
Jech threw for 362 yards – another career-best, topping the 315 yards he put up in October of 2011 against Southwestern Assemblies of God.
Jech's 44 completions shatters the old mark of 31 which was shared by Victor Williams (1989 vs. Northeastern) and Craig Chestnut (1992 vs. East Central). Chestnut's record 453 passing yards in that contest still stands as Northwestern's single-game mark. Williams' 63 passing attempts against Northeastern was the previous record, bested by Jech's 70 attempts.
Nine different Rangers caught passes, led by King's 14 catches, 111 yards. Jared Jackson (6-34), Parnell (5-55), Hooper (4-61), Jerami Anderson (4-24) and Justin Laureano (4-24).
King actually shares the single-game receptions record with Korey Williams, who also grabbed 14 passes in a 2010 game against Texas Western. Each of them was thrown by Jech, then a sophomore.
Northwestern (0-2) now plays its next four games on the road. They travel to Kirksville, Mo. on Sept. 15 to face Truman State.
