New Mexico

Bulldogs Sweep New Mexico 38-21

Published

1 year ago

September 22, 2024

The late, great, F1 champion Niki Lauda once said that the goal of racing is to win going as slowly as possible. Fresno State apparently adopted that ethos against New Mexico this week, as they finished a 2 week sweep of the state 38-21 and shutting out NMSU 48-0. I believe that legally makes Mikey Keene governor, but I’ll have to check the state bylaws.

All 3 wins for the Bulldogs this year have featured incredibly fast starts, even though this game took all the way until the 2nd drive to get points on the board. New Mexico’s first drive was derailed on their 3rd play as Malachi Langley forced the ball free, and Jahzon Jacks fell on the ball at the Lobo 39yd line. Fresno would push it into the redzone before Mikey Keene found Josiah Freeman for a 5yd touchdown catch, his first of the season. As they did two weeks ago, the Dogs ran a trick 2pt play with Jayden Mandal threw a quick pass to Brock Lium to go ahead 8-0.

New Mexico responded with a 14 play drive down the field, but the Bulldog defense stood tall at the end, and forced the Lobos to settle for a field goal to narrow affairs to an 8-3 margin. In response, Fresno ran down an 11 play drive before local product Bryson Donelson punched in the first touchdown of his young career stretching the lead to 15-3. Malik Sherrod wasn’t able to play after testing a lower body tweak during warm-ups, which meant that Elijiah Gilliam and Donelson would shoulder the load for the Dogs Saturday night. The two would combine for 86 yards on 26 carries, but the Dogs did not need to rely on the running game too much.

The next Fresno State drive got all the way down to the New Mexico 18 aided by a targeting penalty on the Lobos before Dylan Lynch needed to come in and kick a 36 yard field goal moving the Bulldogs ahead by 15. New Mexico’s next drive looked to be moving well until Devin Dampier’s pass sailed over his receiver, and right into the hands of Alzillion Hamilton setting up another Fresno touchdown. This one would be a little bit different than usual, as the Dogs again went into their bag of tricks with a double pass, and Raylen Sharpe throwing a 26yd strike to Kamron Beachem in the side of the endzone. This now gives Sharpe a passing, receiving, and rushing touchdown so far this season, a great start for the transfer receiver from Missouri St.

As the clock ticked down towards halftime, New Mexico put together what looked like their best drive of the game, as they went no-huddle to move the ball down the field quickly and get a touchdown on the board to narrow the margin to 25-10. If the Lobos had stuck to that version of the offense, they might have made it a true game. Bronco Mendenhall’s squad might be young, but they are feisty and will win games this year as they put the pieces together.

After the half, the Lobos began with the ball but could not get moving and punted after 6 plays and 1 first down. The punt landed deep in Bulldog territory, forcing Fresno St to take a long drive over 15 plays including a 4th down conversion pass from Keene to Sharpe, but they ran out of gas at the New Mexico 23, and Dylan Lynch sent through another field goal to go ahead 28-10. Devin Dampier would try to engineer the next drive, but it ended with his 2nd INT of the game, this time Julian Neal coming down with the ball for the Bulldog defense on their 3rd turnover (see picture at top).

Unfortunately, the defense couldn’t turn this turnover into points, and sent the ball back to the Lobos. They would answer with points of their own, as an 11 play, 65yd drive resulted in a field goal kick by Luke Drzewiecki from 32yds out to open to the 4th quarter. The next New Mexico drive would go poorly for them, as they tried running on 4th and 1 from their own 12 yard line. Devin Dampier tried stretching the ball to the edge, but was pushed back and the Bulldogs took over deep in the redzone. 3 UNM penalties on this round of plays would move the Dogs to the 2 yard line, where Mac Dalena would take a jet sweep to the 1, and Elijah Gilliam would punch it in from 1 yard out to get ahead 35-13.

New Mexico would answer with a touchdown drive of their own similar to how they scored at the end of the half. This shows that UNM is capable leading quick touchdown drives and getting their offense moving, they just aren’t quite together enough yet to consistently do that. That will come with time, and they played better in the 2nd half against the Dogs than they have previously.

Fresno State would send through one more field goal after the Lobos’ attempt at an onside kick failed to set the final score of 38-21. New Mexico would have one more drive as the clock wound down to 0, but their final play was a failed 4th down conversion as Dampier was tackled for no gain at the 26yd line. The Bulldogs moved to 3-1 and won their first conference game of the season, while the Lobos fall to 0-4 and 0-1 in Mountain West play.

A massive contest now looms for the Bulldogs, as they travel next Saturday to Las Vegas for a noontime tilt against the undefeated Rebels in what very well could be an elimination game for both the conference title and the G5 representative in the College Football Playoff. The Rebels had a bye week to prepare, while Fresno will have their bye week after next Saturday’s game. We’ll have to hope for good health and a consistent offense against the Rebels if the Dogs want to maintain their spot atop the conference standings. Playing UNLV and Washington State, both undefeated, in back to back weeks will either derail the dreams of the Dogs, or put them in the driver’s seat in the Group of Five. New Mexico will make the short trip to Las Cruces for the huge in-state rivalry game with New Mexico St Saturday night. For coverage of both games, keep it here on MWC Connection.

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New Mexico

New Mexico Dominates Distance Events On Day One Of 2026 Credit Union 1 MW Indoor Track & Field Championships

Published

10 hours ago

February 27, 2026

Press Room

Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championship Central | Live Results

RENO, Nev. – The 2026 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships opened competition Thursday with six events at the Reno-Sparks Convention Center.

New Mexico raced out to day one leads on both team leaderboards thanks to dominant efforts in Thursday’s distance events. Both Pamela Kosgei and Habtom Samuel won repeat 5,000-Meter gold and broke their respective Mountain West Championships records.

Kosgei’s time of 15:32.15 led a top-four sweep in the event as she was followed in order by Mercy Kirarei, Christina Nisoli, and Nicola Jansen. The performance paced the Lobo women to 41 points on the night, leading Fresno State (19 points) and GCU (18) early on.

On the men’s side, Habtom Samuel captured the 5,000 Meters in 13:30.40, breaking his own meet record for the second year in a row, for a 14-second victory over Wyoming’s Jacob White. Lobo teammate Evans Kiplagat took third, pacing the New Mexico to 29 points for an early lead over Air Force (13 points) and Utah State (12).

New Mexico also swept both Distance Medley Relays. First up, the Lobo women cruised to gold in 11:02.09, 22 seconds better than runner-up Boise State. The New Mexico men’s DMR held off Utah State and Colorado State at the end, the Lobos’ winning time of 9:39.63 besting the Aggies by 0.69 of a second and the Rams by just over two seconds.

The meet’s first champion was crowned in the women’s pentathlon as Fresno State’s Ella Spaulding took gold, using a second-place effort in the 800 Meters to clinch. Nevada’s Johanna Haas took an early lead with a win in the 60-Meter Hurdles and a fourth place in High Jump, holding on at the end to take silver.

Wrapping up the medals for the night, conference newcomer GCU captured its first Mountain West podium finishes in Pole Vault as Eva Lowder (4.29 meters) and Tatum Moku (4.09 meters) went 1-2.

The men’s Heptathlon will wrap Friday with the 60-Meter Hurdles and Pole Vault. Through four events, Colorado State’s Mateo Munoz, with 3,199 points, holds a 49-point lead over Boise State’s Landon Helms.

The preliminaries for the 200 meters also took place Thursday. Nevada’s Annalies Kalma paced the field with a time of 23.37 to qualify for Friday’s final, while on the men’s side Air Force’s Jett Rose ran a 20.82 to top the eight qualifiers.

Day Two’s competition gets underway at 10 a.m. MT with the men’s heptathlon 60-meter hurdles.

The Mountain West Network will provide live coverage of the 2026 MW Indoor Track & Field Championships. Fans can watch the indoor track & field championships on their phones or connected TVs via the Mountain West app.

Watch every moment of the MW Indoor Track & Field Championships LIVE on your own TV through Apple TV, Android TV, Amazon Fire TV or Roku. Mobile applications are available through the iOS App Store and Google Play. Visit TheMW.com/app for more information.

For more information regarding the Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Championships, including live results, visit the championship central page or follow the Mountain West on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram.

2026 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Champions – Day One

Women

Pentathlon: Ella Spaulding, Fresno State – 4,022 points

5,000-Meters: Pamela Kosgei, New Mexico – 15:32.15

Pole Vault: Eva Lowder, GCU – 4.29 Meters

Distance Medley Relay: New Mexico – 11:02.09

Men

5,000 Meters: Habtom Samuel, New Mexico; 13:30.40

Distance Medley Relay: New Mexico; 9:39.63

2026 Credit Union 1 Mountain West Indoor Track & Field Team Leaderboards – Day One

Women

1. New Mexico – 41

2. Fresno State – 18

3. Grand Canyon – 17

4. Nevada – 16

T5. Air Force – 1 4

T5. Boise State – 14

7. Utah State – 13.5

8. San Diego State – 11.5

9. Wyoming – 7

10. Colorado State – 4

11. San José State – 0

12. UNLV – 0

Men

1. New Mexico – 29

2. Air Force – 13

3. Utah State – 12

4. Wyoming – 12

5. Colorado State – 6

6. Boise State – 3

7. San José State – 2

8. Grand Canyon – 1

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New Mexico

NMSP release details on capture of Fort Sumner shooting suspects

Published

22 hours ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

NMSP release details on capture of Fort Sumner shooting suspects

DE BACA COUNTY, N.M. (KFDA) – New Mexico State Police have released new details on the capture of both Fort Sumner shooting suspects.

On Feb. 23, NMSP Investigations Bureau agents were requested to investigate an officer-involved shooting involving a NMSP Sergeant on US Highway 285, south of Vaughn in Guadalupe County, New Mexico.

Agents learned that the NMSP Sergeant conducted a traffic stop on a black Kia Sportage on US Highway 285, near mile marker 185, after learning the car was reportedly stolen.

Officials say during the stop, the female driver identified as 26-year-old Makaela Johnson, exited the car. As the Sergeant was placing Johnson in handcuffs, the male passenger, identified as 40-year-old Jovan Martinez, exited the stolen car with a rifle and fired at the Sergeant.

Police say Johnson ran back to the stolen car while still handcuffed and entered the passenger seat as the Sergeant took cover behind his police unit and returned fire with his duty weapon.

Martinez and Johnson fled from the scene and officers lost sight of the car.

While responding to the incident, NMSP officers encountered a couple near mile marker 166, who reported that their car had just been stolen at gunpoint.

The couple stated that Martinez and Johnson were standing in the roadway and Martinez fired a least one shot at the ground, forcing the couple to stop.

According to officials, the couple was ordered out of their car, which was a grey Kia K5 passenger vehicle.

Martinez and Johnson then took the second Kia and continued fleeing.

Officials say the original stolen Kia Sportage involved in the traffic stop was later located near the intersection of US Highway 285 and New Mexico State Highway 247.

The car left the roadway and drove through two barbed wire fences before coming to a rest in an open field.

According to police, the second stolen Kia K5 was found abandoned east of the intersection of River Road and Lone Wolf Road, south of Fort Sumner, New Mexico.

On Feb. 25, following a two-day manhunt, Martinez and Johnson were located hiding in a shed and taken into custody outside of Fort Sumner.

They were booked without incident on the following charges:

jovan Martinez:

Attempt to commit a felony, to WIT: first degree murder(willful or deliberate)
Aggravated assault upon a Peace Officer (deadly weapon)
Receipt, transportation or possession of a firearm or destructive device by a felon
Conspiracy to commit receiving or transferring stolen motor vehicles
Armed robbery
Harboring a felon
Aggravated fleeing a law enforcement officer (no injury or great bodily harm)

Makaela Johnson:

Conspiracy to commit first degree murder (willful or deliberate)
Conspiracy to commit aggravated assault upon a Peace Officer (deadly weapon)
Conspiracy to commit armed robbery
Harboring a felon
Receiving or transferring stolen motor vehicles
Escape or attempt to escape from Peace Officer
Larceny ($250 or less)

Officials say no officers were injured during this incident.

This incident remains under investigation by the New Mexico State Investigations Bureau.

The identity of the NMSP Sergeant will not be released until interviews are completed. The Sergeant has been placed on standard administrative leave.

New Mexico State Police act solely as factfinders in their investigation and conduct an unbiased and impartial investigation. In officer involved shootings, NMSP thoroughly documents the scene, collects evidence, and interviews officers, subjects, and witnesses.

The New Mexico State Police does not determine whether an officer’s actions were justified, this determination rests solely with the district attorney’s office.

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New Mexico

Smug New Mexico State Police Killer Gets Death Penalty Case in South Carolina – ABQ RAW

Published

1 day ago

February 26, 2026

Press Room

Smug New Mexico State Police Killer Gets Death Penalty Case in South Carolina – ABQ RAW

Albuquerque, NM and Florence, SC –

Today, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of South Carolina announced that it filed a notice of intent to seek the death penalty against Jaremy Alexander Smith, 35, of Marion, South Carolina, for the 2024 kidnapping, carjacking, and murder of a Marion County EMS Paramedic. A federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment on Feb. 24 charging Smith with kidnapping resulting in death, carjacking resulting in death, using a firearm during a crime of violence in a manner constituting murder, possession of stolen firearms, and being a felon in possession of firearms.