PUEBLO, Colo. — CSU Pueblo scored touchdowns on both overtime possessions to defeat Chadron State 30-27 in double overtime Saturday, earning the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference championship in a winner-take-all finale.

Both teams entered the game unbeaten in RMAC play after overtime victories the previous week. CSU Pueblo (10-1, 9-0 RMAC) clinched its second straight conference title and an automatic berth in the NCAA Division II playoffs. Chadron State (8-3, 8-1 RMAC) now awaits Sunday’s selection announcement after winning eight straight league games before the narrow loss.

Chadron State’s defense kept one of Division II’s top offenses in check through regulation, forcing two turnovers and holding the ThunderWolves to 17 points in four quarters. Senior kicker Wilson Yee made field goals of 58 and 50 yards, drilling his longest kick since a school-record 61-yarder in 2023.

The Eagles led 14-3 late in the first half following a 15-play, 80-yard drive capped by a 3-yard keeper from quarterback Wyatt Sprague. CSU Pueblo answered before halftime and added a third-quarter touchdown to move ahead 17-14. Yee tied the game early in the fourth.

With the score 17-17, Chadron State’s AJ Scurlock intercepted a pass at the goal line with eight seconds left to force overtime. Both teams traded touchdowns in the first extra period.

Yee opened the second overtime with a 40-yard field goal, but a pass interference penalty extended Pueblo’s possession. On 3rd-and-9, quarterback Roman Fuller found Marcellius Honeycutt on a 19-yard slant for the game-winning touchdown.

The Eagles will play in the NCAA postseason for the first time since 2012 when they travel to Pittsburg, Kan. Saturday to play the No. 4 Gorillas. 

CSC Football Earns NCAA Bid, to Face Pittsburg State

CHADRON, Neb. – The Chadron State Eagles football program will play in the NCAA tournament this upcoming Saturday for the first time since 2012. 

The Eagles officially received a bid to the 32-team Division II playoff with the unveiling of the bracket by the NCAA on Sunday evening as one of eight selections from Super Region Four. Chadron State will hit the road to Pittsburg, Kansas to take on region No. 4 seed Pittsburg State. 

Kickoff is scheduled for 1 p.m. local time (12 p.m. MT) on Saturday, November 22.

The postseason berth, which is Chadron State's 11th all-time in program history and ninth at the Division II level, continues a season of defying outside expectations for the program. The Eagles were picked seventh out of 10 teams in the RMAC preseason poll but won their first eight conference games this season before falling last Saturday in the RMAC championship game to No. 5/7-ranked CSU Pueblo in double overtime.

Chadron State will enter the postseason with an 8-3 overall record, an 8-2 record against Division II opponents, and an 8-1 record in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference. The Eagles will have a chance at their first postseason win since 2008. Chadron State is 3-8 all-time in NCAA Division II playoff games.

Pittsburg State, the automatic qualifier from the Mid-American Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA), is 9-2 and will enter Saturday's game having won nine straight. The Gorillas began the year with losses to No. 1-ranked Ferris State and conference foe Central Oklahoma, then started a nine-game win streak by knocking off then-No. 3 Grand Valley State. 

The Gorillas, who themselves were ranked No. 7 in last week's AFCA Coaches Poll, defeated No. 12-ranked Northwest Missouri State 27-14 last weekend to earn a share of the MIAA title and the conference's automatic qualifying bid. That also moved Pitt State up from No. 5, the position they occupied in last week's regional rankings, to a top four seed. 

The Chadron State/Pitt State winner will face the winner of undefeated Harding, the region's No. 1 seed and the country's No. 2-ranked program, and Northwest Missouri State. 

The other half of the regional bracket features RMAC teams in both matchups, with RMAC champions CSU Pueblo earning the No. 3 regional seed and hosting UT Permian Basin and No. 2 regional seed Central Washington hosting Western Colorado.