CHADRON, Neb. – With only two rivalry games left on the 2026 schedule, Chadron State football will seek to extend a three-game win streak against Black Hills State in the Battle for the Buckle against the Yellow Jackets from Lyle Hare Stadium in Spearfish. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m.
The Eagles (4-5, 3-4 RMAC), who currently hold "The Buckle," defeated the Yellow Jackets 31-28 in Chadron in 2025 to break what had been a three-year win streak for BHSU in the series. This year's Yellow Jackets (5-4, 3-4 RMAC) have lost two straight entering this weekend, albeit to the league's top two teams in Western Colorado and CSU Pueblo.
Despite an 0-4 start to conference play, Chadron State has rallied to put itself in position for a top-half RMAC finish. The Eagles can finish as high as fourth in the 10-team standings with help, and control their own destiny to place as high as fifth.
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Numbers to know
- 3: Consecutive weeks with an interception by CSC's Liam Blaser
- 9: Blocked kicks in 2026 by the Eagles, leading all divisions of the NCAA
- 10: Turnovers forced in the past three games by the CSC defense
- 61: All-time wins by CSC over Black Hills State
How to tune in
Saturday's game, along with every CSC football game for the remainder of the regular season, will be livestreamed on the RMAC Network.
Fans can purchase monthly subscriptions to the RMAC Network for $25 or annual passes for $130. Those prices are both unchanged from the 2025-26 season, which was the first for the RMAC Network's pay-per-view model.
PURCHASE: RMAC NETWORK
A radio stream of the game will take place on Double Q Country 97.5/105.9 FM and doubleqcountry.com, with Dave Collins on the call. Finally, Eagle fans can follow along via live stats for free or keep track on social media (@cscfootball on X/Twitter and Instagram) for updates.
Looking back
Chadron State put on a show for its homecoming crowd, winning 34-3 over Fort Lewis for the Eagles' fourth consecutive homecoming victory and 21st in the past 26 homecoming contests (since the year 2000).
Three was the magic number for the Eagles against FLC. Chadron State recorded three blocked kicks (blocked punts by Andrew Calderon and Noah Shoemaker plus a blocked field goal by Cedar Amiotte), while the Eagle defense snagged three interceptions (by Liam Blaser, Reese Jacobs and Rylan Wehr) and held the Skyhawks to three points.
Not to be outdone, Aidan Thompson threw for three touchdown passes to lead the CSC offense, finding Garet Schlabs twice and Koye Gilbert once for scores. Reid Sprague provided a special teams highlight when he scooped up Shoemaker's blocked punt and returned it for a 20-yard touchdown.
CSC/BHSU history
By Con Marshall
The Chadron State-Black Hills series dates back to 1912, the second year Chadron State was in operation. Although the rivalry was interrupted by both World War I and World War II, the football teams generally met annually and sometimes twice a year in the 1920s until 1952 before an 11-year lull.
Beginning in 1964 and through 1995, the Eagles and the Yellow Jackets met on the gridiron every autumn. In the early '90s, Chadron State joined the RMAC and soon was playing a full slate of conference games. So, beginning in 1996, the CSC-BHSU rivalry was suspended again until 2012 when the Yellow Jackets also became a conference member.
CSC has won nine of the 13 games since then and holds a 61-18-2 margin in the all-time series. But the Yellow Jackets had won three games in a row before the Eagles, who led 28-0 at halftime, held on to win 31-28 with the help of Wilson Yee's 53-yard field goal in the fourth period last year in 2025.
As many Chadron State fans know, Chadron State Head Coach Jay Long and Black Hills counterpart Josh Breske are well acquainted. Breske was a four-year starter in the Yellow Jackets' offensive line 2006 through 2009. Long was the Jackets' offensive line coach the first three years and the head coach when Breske was a senior and earned NAIA All-American honors. Breske was the first All-American that Long coached.
After three years as the Jackets' head mentor, Long returned to his alma mater as Chadron State's head coach in 2012. That fall, Breske joined the Eagles' coaching staff as a graduate assistant and earned his master's degree from CSC in 2013.
Breske became Black Hills State's head coach in December 2019. Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, the Yellow Jackets played just two games in the fall of 2020, neither of them against CSC. Black Hills had a 4-7 record in 2021, reversed that mark the next year and finished 6-5 each of the next two seasons before dropping to 3-8 in 2025.
NCAA leaders
After swatting three kicks away in the win over Fort Lewis, Chadron State football has now blocked nine kicks this season. That puts the Eagles by themselves in the national Division II statistical lead.
Oklahoma Baptist has eight, while Benedict, Johnson C. Smith and California (Pa.) all have seven. No other RMAC team has more than Western Colorado's six.
Chadron State also has more blocked kicks than FBS leaders Wisconsin (five), FCS leaders Marist and Valparaiso (seven) and Division III leaders Capital and Marietta (seven), giving the Eagles the most blocked kicks in the entire NCAA entering this weekend.
Individually, Mason Kiewiet and Cedar Amiotte have two blocked kicks each while five other Eagles (Andrew Calderon, Brady Dahlberg, Koye Gilbert, Noah Shoemaker and Reid Sprague) have also gotten their hands on a kick.
2 for 9
Garet Schlabs has been one of the RMAC's most productive receivers, ranking eighth in the RMAC with 507 receiving yards, but circumstances had not led the Cheyenne, Wyoming, native to the end zone until last Saturday.
Schlabs hauled in his first two touchdown receptions of the season against Fort Lewis, with Aidan Thompson connecting with him from 33 and 28 yards out in the third quarter.
Schlabs has stepped up his production over the second half of the season. After putting up 11 receptions for 93 yards through the season's first four games, Schlabs has caught 24 passes over the last five weeks for 414 yards. That production has been consistent, too, with Schlabs tallying between 68 and 93 yards in every contest during this five-game stretch.
The senior's 507 yards are 227 more than the second-highest total on the team (Devon Sundgren's, 283) while his 35 catches are more than double any other Eagle receiver (Camden Walker ranks second on the team with 15).
No ball is safe
Linebacker Jarred Marquez has made ball carriers very uncomfortable throughout the season.
Eight weeks into 2026, Marquez is on pace for what would be a rare double feat – leading the RMAC in both forced fumbles and fumble recoveries.
Marquez, a Yuma, Arizona, native, has forced four fumbles to lead the RMAC by himself. Marquez is in a five-way tie for the Division II lead with four and his 0.44 forced fumbles per game is in a four-way tie for second in the nation.
The Northern Arizona transfer also has three fumble recoveries on the season, putting Marquez in a 14-way tie for the Division II national lead and a two-way tie with Colorado School of Mines' Mo Russolillo for the conference lead.
Beyond the fumbles, Marquez ranks second on the team and 11th in the RMAC with 63 tackles this season.
Stat selections
- Chadron State's defense ranks fourth in scoring (21.3 points allowed per game) and fifth in total defense (348.0 yards allowed per game) in the RMAC.
- CSC's offense ranks seventh in scoring (27.8) and total (338.7). The Eagles rank eighth in the league in rushing yards (138.2) and sixth in passing yards (200.4).
- CSC's defense ranks third against the pass, allowing only 192.3 passing yards per game to opponents.
- Shay Prichard ranks fifth in the RMAC in scoring, averaging 7.7 points per game. Prichard is averaging 1.6 field goals per game, fifth in Division II but fourth in the RMAC.
- CSC has not been a highly penalized team. The Eagles lead the RMAC in fewest penalties per game (4.78, 10th in Division II) and rank third in fewest penalty yards per game (44.78, 19th in Division II).
- Aidan Thompson ranks sixth in the RMAC in passing yards (1,291).
- Garet Schlabs ranks eighth in the RMAC with 507 receiving yards. Devon Sundgren's team-high four receiving touchdowns are in the conference's top 15.
- The 88-yard pass completion from Aidan Thompson to Devon Sundgren from Week 1 against Nebraska-Kearney remains the longest play from scrimmage in the RMAC so far this season.
- Devon Rivers is tied for third in the RMAC with seven rushing touchdowns. Rivers (325 rushing yards) and Daytuawn Pearson (254) rank 16th and 21st, respectively, in the league.
- Cooper Walton ranks seventh in the RMAC with 66 total tackles while Jarred Marquez is in 11th with 63.
- Aiden Kuester is tied for fourth in the RMAC with 33 solo tackles, followed closely by Marquez (31, sixth) and Walton (29, eighth).
- Marquez leads or co-leads the RMAC in both forced fumbles (4) and recovered fumbles (3).
- Liam Blaser is tied for second in the RMAC with three interceptions. He has returned two of them for touchdowns and is the only RMAC player with multiple interception TDs.
- William Stemler ranks tied for sixth in the RMAC with four sacks while Ryder True is tied for 11th with 3.5.
- Chase Nelson leads the conference by averaging 29.7 yards per kickoff return and ranks third by averaging 9.9 yards per punt return.
- Triston Hite has placed 21 punts inside the 20, seven more than any other RMAC punter.
Scouting the Yellow Jackets
By Con Marshall
Both of Saturday's opponents have lost to Colorado School of Mines, Western Colorado and CSU Pueblo and defeated Adams State and Fort Lewis. The Eagles also downed New Mexico Highlands 59-17, while the Cowboys handed Black Hills a 44-36 setback.
One of the Yellow Jackets' big wins was a 21-13 triumph over South Dakota Mines, the team the Eagles will host next week. The Jackets also opened their season by defeating other South Dakota rivals Sioux Falls and Dakota State.
Black Hills also played Pueblo close last week. The ThunderWolves led 24-10 at halftime, but the Yellow Jackets scored two touchdowns in the third quarter to tie the score. Pueblo posted the next two touchdowns to regain the lead 38-24, before the visitors scored with about five minutes remaining to pull within the final seven points.
Pueblo had the ball for the next two minutes before having to punt. Black Hills took over at its 25-yard line, but never reached the 30 before losing the ball on downs.
Pueblo scored four of its five touchdowns against the Yellow Jackets on pass plays of 70, 46, 56 and 45 yards, in that order. The Pack threw for 356 yards and Black Hills for 156. The Yellow Jackets rushed for 187 yards and Pueblo for 117.
Senior quarterback Kade Weber, a 5-11, 198-pound junior from Worland, Wyoming, is both the leading passer and rusher for Black Hills. He has completed 140 of 233 passes for 1,626 yards and 10 touchdowns while being intercepted just four times. Weber also has rushed 116 times for 432 net yards and eight touchdowns.
Weber's top receiving targets include Jayden Williams (40 catches, 539 yards, 4 TDs) and Joseph Randle (24 catches, 362 yards, 5 TDs).
The second leading rusher for the Jackets is Wyatt Trembly, a 5-9, 200-pound junior from Dubois, Wyoming, with 379 yards. He's the first cousin of CSC Track Coach Creighton Trembly.
Defensively, sophomore linebacker Jayshon Liles has 58 tackles, 9.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks, leading the team in all three categories. Cornerback Joshua Faulkner has snagged three of BHSU's six interceptions.
In the polls
In the RMAC Preseason Coaches Poll, released July 22, Chadron State was picked to finish fourth out of 10 RMAC programs. The Eagles received one first-place vote, one second-place vote and three third-place votes in the poll.
CSU Pueblo finished in first place in the poll, with eight first-place votes, followed by Western Colorado (one first place vote), Colorado School of Mines and Chadron State. Chadron State faced the three teams picked ahead of them in the preseason standings in the first three weeks of the conference season.
Behind CSC, Colorado Mesa was fifth while New Mexico Highlands, South Dakota Mines, Black Hills State, Fort Lewis and Adams State rounded out the poll.
Last year, the Eagles were picked seventh in the preseason and went on to finish second in the conference standings.
The RMAC has two nationally ranked programs – CSU Pueblo, ranked No. 3 in the AFCA Coaches Poll and No. 4 in the D2Football.com media poll, and Western Colorado, ranked No. 5 in both. Both programs moved up a spot after previously undefeated Kutztown lost.
NPI check-in
For the first time this season, the field for the NCAA Tournament in each sport for Division II and Division III is being determined by the NCAA Power Index (NPI).
NPI is a mathematical formula instituted to remove the human subjectivity around the previous system of regional rankings committees. To learn more about the NPI system and how it is calculated, click here.
As of the October 31 data, Chadron State football is rated No. 24 out of 43 teams in Super Region 4, which is comprised of the RMAC, Lone Star Conference (LSC), Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association (MIAA) and Great American Conference (GAC). Eight teams from Super Region 4, the top eight in the NPI rankings at the end of the season, will qualify for the NCAA Tournament.
The Eagles have an NPI number of 48.003 and are ranked immediately above Pittsburg State and immediately below Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Eagles rank sixth in NPI in the RMAC so far, behind CSU Pueblo (64.918), Western Colorado (61.450), Colorado School of Mines (55.747), Colorado Mesa (50.736) and Black Hills State (49.948).
Chadron State's NPI number ranks ahead of South Dakota Mines (47.574), New Mexico Highlands (43.823), Fort Lewis (41.597) and Adams State (29.152).
There are two RMAC teams in the current top eight of the latest rankings update – CSU Pueblo at No. 2 and Western Colorado at No. 5. Harding leads the rankings, with MIAA schools Northwest Missouri State and Emporia State at No. 3 and No. 4. Central Washington, Central Missouri and Southeastern Oklahoma State round out the top eight. Colorado School of Mines is the next-closest RMAC team at No. 14.
Because NPI values strength of schedule and weights home and away results differently, the formula rankings can certainly change between now and the end of the regular season.
RMAC update
With three consecutive wins, Chadron State has pulled into a three-way tie for fifth place with the two schools remaining on the schedule – Black Hills State and South Dakota Mines. Wins over both will guarantee a top-five finish in the 10-team RMAC.
Two schools remain undefeated in CSU Pueblo and Western Colorado – they don't meet until the final week of the regular season. The first big domino in the title race will fall this Saturday when third-place Colorado School of Mines travels to Gunnison to face Western Colorado.
While the standard is for RMAC teams to have two nonconference games in addition to their nine conference contests, that won't work out perfectly this year. Fort Lewis had a nonconference game against William Jewell ended prematurely and canceled due to a medical emergency, giving the Skyhawks just one nonconference game, while Colorado School of Mines had a nonconference game against Washburn end in a tie due to an unplayable heat index and turf temperatures at the start of overtime.
Here is a look at the current RMAC standings:
- #3/#4 CSU Pueblo – 7-0 RMAC, 9-0 overall
- #5/#5 Western Colorado – 7-0 RMAC, 9-0 overall
- (RV) Colorado School of Mines – 6-1 RMAC, 6-2-1 overall
- Colorado Mesa – 4-3 RMAC, 5-4 overall
- Black Hills State – 3-4 RMAC, 5-4 overall
- South Dakota Mines – 3-4 RMAC, 5-4 overall
- Chadron State – 3-4 RMAC, 4-5 overall
- New Mexico Highlands – 1-6 RMAC, 3-6 overall
- Fort Lewis – 1-6 RMAC, 2-6 overall
- Adams State – 0-7 RMAC, 0-9 overall
*For ranked teams: first # = ranking in AFCA Coaches Poll, second # = ranking in D2Football.com poll; RV = receiving votes in top 25; NR = not ranked.
RMAC weekly matchups:
- Colorado Mesa at Fort Lewis
- Adams State at New Mexico Highlands
- Colorado School of Mines at Western Colorado
- CSU Pueblo at South Dakota Mines
RMAC championships (most recent)
- Western Colorado – 19 (2021)
- Colorado School of Mines – 16 (2023)
- Colorado Mesa – 12 (2017)
- CSU Pueblo – 10 (2025)
- Chadron State – 8 (2008)
- Adams State – 7 (1989)
- New Mexico Highlands – 2 (1999)
- Fort Lewis – 1 (1984)
- Black Hills State/South Dakota Mines – 0
Preseason plaudits
The RMAC released a Preseason All-RMAC team alongside its preseason polls back on July 22, based on the leading vote-getters from last year's all-conference voting who return to the league.
Chadron State had four players honored, tied for the third-highest total in the RMAC – quarterback Aidan Thompson, offensive lineman Dominic Castanon, linebacker Cooper Walton and defensive end/edge rusher William Stemler.
Stemler also made an appearance on the D2Football.com Elite 100 watch list as a "squad" member of the defense, one of six RMAC honorees across the national 100-player listing.
Stemler's selection marks the fourth consecutive year that an Eagle defensive player has made the Elite 100 preseason list, joining alumni Dax Yeradi (2025) and Hunter O'Connor (2023, 2024).
5-for-5
Under a new eligibility ruling passed by the NCAA this summer, all NCAA student-athletes will have five years of eligibility while developmental redshirts and medical waivers that previously could grant another year of eligibility have been eliminated.
To accommodate this new system, Chadron State is changing how student-athletes are labeled on the football roster – using the term "freshman" for a player in their first year of college, "sophomore" for a player in their second, "junior," "senior" and "fifth-year," regardless of whether the player has previously received a redshirt year.
For example, a player now being referred to as a "junior" has been with Chadron State or another college football program for two seasons (regardless of if they played or not during those seasons) and has three years of eligibility remaining, including 2026.
Coaches' corner
Head Coach Jay Long returns for his 15th season at the helm of CSC football in 2026. In his previous 14 seasons at Chadron State, Long boasts a 70-68 record. He is 85-83 overall in his 17-season head coaching career.
Notably, the Eagles' 8-4 record in 2025 was a substantial turnaround from a 3-8 record in 2024. Chadron State's eight wins in 2025 is tied officially for the most in a single season during Long's tenure, alongside eight-win seasons in 2013 and 2014.
For his efforts last season, Long was voted by his head coaching peers as both the RMAC Coach of the Year and the AFCA Region Five Coach of the Year, each for the first time in his career. Coach Long was one of only five AFCA award recipients in Division II and one of only 25 recipients among all levels of college football.
Chadron State's head coach (Jay Long) and all three coordinators – Micah Smith (offense), Clint Sasse (defense) and Mitch Collicott (special teams) – are all Chadron State football alumni.
Quarterbacks coach and recruiting coordinator Tommy Wilson also returns for a fourth season at CSC, while coaching assistant for defensive backs Deunte Moody returns for a second season.
In year one on the CSC staff are coaching assistants Cole Cartwright (running backs), Reed Henkel (linebackers), Abe Hestdalen (defensive line), Seth Moore (offensive line) and Fred Pillivant (wide receivers). Henkel makes a move to the coaching staff after playing for the Eagles from 2022-25.
