(Mesa, Ariz.) Even in a game when they were without the services of their #1 quarterback, Snow College didn’t miss a beat as the top-ranked Badgers ambushed the #12 Mesa Thunderbirds, 48-17 Saturday evening at Riggs Stadium. Houston Erbstoesser, in his first-ever collegiate start completed 16 of 24 passes for 192 yards and three touchdowns for the Badgers who behind a stout defensive effort (they only surrendered 221 offensive yards to Mesa) built a lead early and coasted to the win. Additionally, Tu Tui scored a touchdown on a fumble recovery in the Mesa end zone while Soni Sotele and Niu Takai each added touchdown runs for the Badgers. Snow, which in all likelihood should retain its lofty ranking atop the national polls, improved to 5-0 and will entertain the Phoenix Bears this upcoming Saturday, Oct.6 at 1:30 p.m. at Badger Stadium at Stoddard Field. The game can be heard live on KMTI-AM 650 or online at www.kmtiradio.com. Box Score (Final)

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score

Badgers.............  7 14  7 20  - 48       Record: (5-0,2-0)
Thunderbirds........  0  3  7  7  - 17       Record: (4-1,1-1)

Scoring Summary:                                                             SNOW - MESA

1st 05:01 SNOW - Houston Erbstoe 10 yd run (Ryan McNamara kick)
                                            7 plays, 60 yards, TOP 4:07         7 - 0
2nd 12:15 MESA - Dominic Gamboa 37 yd field goal
                                             4 plays, 2 yards, TOP 1:03         7 - 3
    09:50 SNOW - Tu Tui 0 yd fumble recovery (Ryan McNamara kick)
                                                                               14 - 3
    02:52 SNOW - Adam Frandsen 6 yd pass from Houston Erbstoe (Ryan McNamara kick)
                                           10 plays, 80 yards, TOP 4:56        21 - 3
3rd 04:37 SNOW - Vili Soni Sotele 1 yd run (Ryan McNamara kick)
                                           11 plays, 73 yards, TOP 6:40        28 - 3
    03:35 MESA - Terrance Moore 61 yd pass from Brian Libby (Dominic Gamboa kick)
                                            2 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:02        28 - 10
4th 14:38 SNOW - Sam Thomas 48 yd pass from Houston Erbstoe (Ryan McNamara kick)
                                             1 play, 48 yards, TOP 0:09        35 - 10
    10:22 SNOW - Troy Cummings 8 yd pass from Houston Erbstoe (Ryan McNamara kick failed)
                                            6 plays, 40 yards, TOP 2:10        41 - 10
    09:34 MESA - Ronald Young 62 yd run (Dominic Gamboa kick)
                                            2 plays, 58 yards, TOP 0:48        41 - 17
    06:56 SNOW - Niu Takai 21 yd run (Ryan McNamara kick)
                                            5 plays, 63 yards, TOP 2:38        48 - 17
FIRST DOWNS...................       24       13
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   45-241    25-68
PASSING YDS (NET).............      192      153
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  24-16-1   23-9-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   69-433   48-221
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............      2-2     2-11
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........    4-117    8-119
Interception Returns-Yards....      1-0      1-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............   4-41.5   7-38.7
Fumbles-Lost..................      0-0      3-2
Penalties-Yards...............    12-99     9-88
Possession Time...............    35:00    19:51
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     6-26      1-7

SNOW     MESA

RUSHING: Badgers-Vili Soni Sotele 25-154; Niu Takai 10-67; Tanner Brown 5-16;
Houston Erbstoe 3-6; Mike Jensen 2-minus 2. Thunderbirds-Ronald Young 3-68;
Jay Leal 12-25; Kevin Morris 1-2; Wallace Lebrane 2-0; Brian Libby 7-minus
27.

PASSING: Badgers-Houston Erbstoe 16-24-1-192. Thunderbirds-Brian Libby
9-22-1-153; Jay Leal 0-1-0-0.

RECEIVING: Badgers-Adam Frandsen 6-55; Joseph Sawyer 3-35; Kimball Burton
2-34; Sam Thomas 1-48; Niu Takai 1-9; Troy Cummings 1-8; Peter Tuitopou 1-6;
Vili Soni Satel 1-minus 3. Thunderbirds-Terrance Moore 4-101; Brice Wilkins
3-33; Spencer Perkins 1-15; Raymond Rivera 1-4.

INTERCEPTIONS: Badgers-Andrew Rich 1-0. Thunderbirds-Devon Cox 1-0.

Stadium: Riggs Stadium         Attendance: 4500
Kickoff time: 7:00      End of Game: 10:07     Total elapsed time: 3:07
Officials: Referee: Mike Traina; Umpire: Bob Trythall; Linesman: Gary McKenzie;
Line judge: Gary Chidester; Back judge: Jason Ah You; Field judge: Mike King;
Side judge: John Hunter; Scorer: Brad James;
Temperature: 88        Wind: Breezy    Weather: Clear

Badgers vs Thunderbirds (Sep 29, 2007 at Mesa, Ariz.)

SACKS (UA-A): Badgers-Shane Hunter 2-0; Coleby Clawson 1-1; Tevita Hola 0-1;
Nate Pope 0-1; Josh Sharp 1-0; Skye Povey 0-1. Thunderbirds-Michael Darring
1-0.

TACKLES (UA-A): Badgers-Josh Sharp 4-2; Shane Hunter 3-2; Coleby Clawson
2-3; James Freed 1-3; Tevita Hola 1-2; Braden Frampton 1-2; Andrew Rich 0-3;
Jake Palmer 1-1; Jared Galvin 1-1; Skye Povey 0-2; John Tauteoli 0-2; A.J.
Van Valken 1-0; Chris Finch 1-0; Weston Sampson 1-0; Joey Schrader 1-0; Tu
Tui 1-0; James Aiono 1-0; Nuku Fevanga 1-0; Aaron Doolin 1-0; Stephen Paea
1-0; Mike Price 1-0; Sam Thomas 1-0; Tysean Thrash 0-1; Casey Davis 0-1;
Josh Andersen 0-1; Nate Pope 0-1; Dejay Lester 0-1. Thunderbirds-Nick
Anderson 6-4; Alex Matthews 5-4; Michael Darring 4-3; Jamichael Hall 5-1;
Gabe Hernandez 3-3; Devon Cox 2-3; Dariel Haynes 3-1; Avery Fennell 0-4;
Joseph Dozier 3-0; Andrew Centner 2-0; Forest Washingt 1-1; Marcos Esquivel
0-2; Dominic Gamboa 1-0; Julian Hunsaker 1-0; Terrance Moore 1-0; Michael
Kush 1-0; Jeremy Hernande 1-0; Jason Lopez 1-0; Diego Romero 1-0; Terence
Rainey 0-1; George Allums 0-1; Rudy Perez 0-1; Stephen Wily 0-1; Gannon
Conway 0-1; Zach Hernandez 0-1; Preston HaleIII 0-1; Brice Williams 0-1.