Post by 50yardfan on Feb 27, 2012 13:34:51 GMT -5
www.reporterherald.com/loveland-sports/ci_20051129
RIO RANCHO, N.M. -- A costly turnover and a questionable call in the final minutes of the fourth quarter added up to a frustrating season-opening loss for the Colorado Ice to the expansion New Mexico Stars on Sunday at the Santa Ana Star Center.
Trailing by two touchdowns with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Ice quarterback David Knighton connected on a 4-yard scoring pass to Reynard Reynolds to get Colorado within a touchdown with 40 seconds left. Colorado then appeared to recover the ensuing onside kickoff, but officials ruled that an inadvertent whistle was blown during the play, forcing the Ice to kick a second time, which the Stars were able to recover before holding on for the 46-39 win.
"It's definitely frustrating. I never like to lose, and to lose the way we did today, I'm embarrassed at this point," first-year Ice coach Heron O'Neal said. "So I mean we're going to come in on Tuesday, look at the film, go from there. Clean up the things we need to clean up, and move forward. That's all you can do at this point."
After taking a 9-0 first-quarter lead on a safety and an Andre Harris rushing touchdown, New Mexico outscored Colorado 32-13 in the second and third quarters. The Stars then extended their lead to 46-32 with four minutes to play on an Arkelon Hall touchdown pass to Ryan Bugg. That proved to be the decisive score and came just three plays after Colorado turned it over at the New Mexico 12 on a fumble by Harris.
"We fought all the way to the end. That's the thing I will take away from it," said O'Neal, whose team now focuses on its home opener on Sunday against Wyoming at the Budweiser Events Center. "We had some high points. We just have to clean up some of the self-inflicted mistakes, and just get better overall as a team."
RIO RANCHO, N.M. -- A costly turnover and a questionable call in the final minutes of the fourth quarter added up to a frustrating season-opening loss for the Colorado Ice to the expansion New Mexico Stars on Sunday at the Santa Ana Star Center.
Trailing by two touchdowns with three minutes left in the fourth quarter, Ice quarterback David Knighton connected on a 4-yard scoring pass to Reynard Reynolds to get Colorado within a touchdown with 40 seconds left. Colorado then appeared to recover the ensuing onside kickoff, but officials ruled that an inadvertent whistle was blown during the play, forcing the Ice to kick a second time, which the Stars were able to recover before holding on for the 46-39 win.
"It's definitely frustrating. I never like to lose, and to lose the way we did today, I'm embarrassed at this point," first-year Ice coach Heron O'Neal said. "So I mean we're going to come in on Tuesday, look at the film, go from there. Clean up the things we need to clean up, and move forward. That's all you can do at this point."
After taking a 9-0 first-quarter lead on a safety and an Andre Harris rushing touchdown, New Mexico outscored Colorado 32-13 in the second and third quarters. The Stars then extended their lead to 46-32 with four minutes to play on an Arkelon Hall touchdown pass to Ryan Bugg. That proved to be the decisive score and came just three plays after Colorado turned it over at the New Mexico 12 on a fumble by Harris.
"We fought all the way to the end. That's the thing I will take away from it," said O'Neal, whose team now focuses on its home opener on Sunday against Wyoming at the Budweiser Events Center. "We had some high points. We just have to clean up some of the self-inflicted mistakes, and just get better overall as a team."