November 29, 2024 9:15 am

By Chris Abdelmalek, The Pueblo Chief

The Colorado State University Pueblo ThunderWolves football team is back in the playoffs, hosting the Minnesota State Mavericks at home in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs.

The ThunderWolves finished the season as RMAC champions with a record of 9-1 and were named the No. 1 seed in the Super Region Four. They received a bye in the first round of the playoffs.

Their matchup against Minnesota will look familiar as it is the same opponent they faced ten years ago in the national championship game, which CSU Pueblo won.

Coach Philip Vigil spoke about the upcoming duel.

“It’s a very well-coordinated team. Mankato is a consistent powerhouse in the country every year,” Vigil said. “They have been in the playoffs the last three years. Apparently there is some history there as CSU Pueblo states that this was the team that beat CSU Pueblo 13-0 in the national championship 10 years ago. So there is some history between our two teams. But they are a very well-coached team, even last weekend they were down by nine points with less than two minutes to play and then came back and found a way to win that football game.

Ideally, everyone will be healthy and ready to play next Saturday. The ThunderWolves host the Mavericks in the ThunderBowl on Saturday at 1 p.m.

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