Far West Roundup : Wyoming Defense Stops Air Force in a 23-17 Win

Greg Worker kicked two second-half field goals, and the Wyoming defense held Air Force without a first down in the second half as the Cowboys upset the Falcons, 23-17, Saturday in Western Athletic Conference game at the Air Force Academy in Colorado.

Worker, a reserve kicker until he won last week’s game against Pacific with a last-second field goal, broke a 17-17 tie with a 32-yard field goal midway through the third period. A roughing-the-passer penalty against the Falcons kept that drive alive.

With seven minutes left, backup quarterback Randy Welniak, replacing the injured Scott Runyan, drove the Cowboys from their 15-yard line to the Air Force 16, and Worker converted a 38-yarder with 51 seconds remaining.

Sophomore linebacker Mike Schenbeck, who earlier intercepted a pass and returned it 17 yards for a touchdown, thwarted Air Force’s final threat with another theft inside the Falcon 20 in the closing seconds.

The Wyoming defense, which came into the game yielding 537 yards per game to rank 102nd among the 105 NCAA Division I teams, limited Air Force to 24 yards in the second half.

Both teams are 2-1 overall and 1-0 in WAC play.

Colorado St. 46, Northern Colorado 14--Running back Steve Bartalo ran for four touchdowns en route to his 21st 100-yard rushing game to lead the Rams over the Bears at Fort Collins, Colo.

Bartalo, who rushed for 168 yards in 29 carries, scored 3 of his touchdowns in the second half as the Division I Rams of the Western Athletic Conference came back from a 14-3 first-half deficit against the outmanned Division II team from Greeley, Colo.

Colorado State is 2-1, while the Bears of the North Central Conference are 1-2.

Bartalo’s 21 games over 100 yards ties Marcus Allen for sixth place in NCAA history.