COFFEYVILLE, Kan. — Plagued by six turnovers that resulted in 21 points for the opposition, No. 7 ranked Northeastern A&M dropped a 37-19 decision Saturday to arch rival Coffeyville Community College in the 11th annual Border Battle at Veterans Stadium.


"We've got to spend these next four days going back and fix the things that we messed up on," Golden Norse head coach Sherad Poteete said. "It's no time to panic because all of the mistakes that we made are definitely fixable."
Much like last week when then No. 7 ranked Kilgore College suffered a 27-16 loss at Dodge City, Kan., the Golden Norse stubbed their toe North of the border. With the loss the Norsemen are 1-1 on the season while the Red Ravens have a 1-2 record.
"I just want to say that we had a tremendous crowd at the game," NEO athletic director Dale Patterson said. "Anytime you can take four school buses of band, Norse Stars cheerleaders and student fans to a game, that's quite an accomplishment. Then, you add onto that the number of fans that came on their own and we had just as many people as Coffeyville did."
Poteete echoed Patterson's acknowledgment of the crowd support by saying, "It was great to be able to look up into the stands as we came out onto the field and get that kind of reception."
After deferring to the second half on the opening coin toss, the Golden Norsemen allowed the Ravens to cover 69 yards in five plays on their first possession.
Sophomore tailback Andre Allen (from the other Miami, Fla.) rushed for 44 yards on four of the plays before Coffeyville quarterback Dakota Collins found wide out Dijuan Ussery open for a 25-yard touchdown pass.
The extra point by Toshi Hayashi sailed wide left as the Ravens built a 6-0 lead with 12:52 left in the first quarter.
Consecutive field goals of 44 and 37 yards by freshman placekicker Tyler Cortez rallied the Golden Norsemen to a 6-6 tie with 3:24 remaining in the first 15 minutes.
Sophomore strong safety Jakii Moore intercepted an errant Collin pass and returned it 21 yards to give NEO a scoring opportunity with less than two minutes left in the first quarter.
Sophomore tailback Sheldon Wilson concluded the 18-yard drive with a 5-yard touchdown run at the 1:58 juncture. Cortez kicked the point-after as the Norsemen built a 13-6 margin.
"We talked all week to the kids that Coffeyville was a pretty good ball club despite their record," Poteete said. "They didn't have things bouncing their way the first two games and coach (Aaron) Flores and his staff did a great job of getting their kids ready to play."
Coffeyville's defense began to make an impact of the game as Tuscaloosa, Ala., sophomore cornerback Jamarcus Howard scored the first of his two touchdowns with 9:36 left in the second quarter.
Howard stepped in front of a pass thrown by NEO quarterback Mitch Manley and returned it 59 yards for a TD. The PAT by Hayashi created a 13-13 tie.
"We didn't play well on three straight possessions," Poteete said. "Manley threw two straight interceptions and (Tony) Kiefer came back in and threw one pick.
"Those weren't necessarily all the quarterback's fault because two of the interceptions should have been caught," Poteete said. "We've got to do a lot better job taking care of the football by catching it, wrapping it up and securing the ball and not giving the opponent a free opportunity to put points on the board."
Although Manley's second interception didn't lead to any Coffeyville points, Kiefer's pick by Junior Williams resulted in a 34-yard field goal by Hayashi for a 16-13 Raven lead with 6:53 before halftime.
With Kiefer back at the controls of the Golden Norse offense, the true freshman fired a strike over the middle to freshman wide out Dakota Warrington on a crossing route. 
As Warrington was headed toward the ground after a four-yard gain, Jamarcus Howard knocked the ball loose and scooped up the fumble to race 35 yards for a touchdown. Hayashi kicked the extra point with 1:43 left until half to give Coffeyville a 23-13 cushion at intermission.
"Obviously, we did do a good job of wrapping up and making the tackle," Poteete said. "We weren't doing that on defense or special teams either.
"Those things are going to be seen by people because we were on offense," Poteete said. "But, we also had several balls go threw our hands that should've been caught and were turnovers instead."
Not only did NEO experience breakdowns on offense and defense, but their kicking game led to two Coffeyville touchdowns in the second half.
The first miscue came following a short nine-yard punt by Kiefer that shortened the field.
Coffeyville covered 41 yards in six plays after the punt as Collins connected with wide out Myles White for a 29-yard pass play. The extra point by Hayashi with 6:03 left in the third quarter gave the Red Ravens a 30-13 cushion.
Manley returned under center for the Norsemen and guided NEO 73 yards in 12 plays for their final touchdown. 
After completing five passes for 52 yards and rushing for 20 yards on six carries, Manley  scored on a one-yard plunge with 1:03 left in the third quarter. Cortez missed the PAT wide left for a 30-19 deficit
Coffeyville relied on the running of Allen through most of the fourth quarter before surrendering the ball to NEO at the NEO 47 yard line.
With time dwindling down to 3:21 left in the game, the Golden Norse drive stalled at the Red Raven 12-yard line and Poteete opted for a 29-yard field goal try.
The snap sailed through holder Kiefer's hands and was eventually picked up by Coffeyville's Junior Williams who dashed 81 yards for the touchdown. Hayashi's extra point created the final score.
"This game was an example of a total lack of concentration and not being dialed in on our part," Poteete said. "We just didn't take care of the little things. The fundamentals that we practice every day.
"Coffeyville didn't come out and just whoop us," Poteete said. "We didn't take care of our business.
"Give Coffeyville a lot of credit because a week ago they got 72 points hung on them by Trinity Valley and they could have folded," Poteete said. "But, they rallied around coach Flores and came out and put it on us."
Even with the six turnovers, NEO out performed Coffeyville on offense. The Norsemen rushed for 230 yards on 49 carries while gaining 143 yards through the air.
Kiefer paced the ground game with 72 yards on 12 carries while Wilson and Manley both added 57 yards and one TD each.
Manley completed 13 of 22 passes for 132 yards with two interceptions and Kiefer managed only 6 of 12 completions for 11 yards and one interception.
NEO's defense limited the Red Ravens to 305 yards in total offense including a mere 60 yards via the pass.
Allen churned out 167 yards on 27 carries while veteran tailback Richie Dyer added 89 yards on 13 carries.
NEO opens a four-game homestand on the newly installed synthetic turf at Robertson Field next Saturday. The Golden Norse begin defense of their Southwest Junior College Football Conference regular season crown by hosting the Blinn College Buccaneers at 7 p.m. Blinn (1-2) crushed the Houston Southeast Prep 55-7 last Saturday in Brenham, Texas.
NEO;13;0;6;0 19
CCC6;17;7;7; 37
Scoring summary
First quarter
CCC Ussery 25 pass from Collins (Hayashi kick), 12:52
NEO FG, Cortez 44, 7:54
NEO FG, Cortez 37, 3:24
NEO Wilson 5 run (Cortez kick), 1:58
Second quarter
CCC Howard 59 interception return (Hayashi kick), 9:36
CCC FG, Hayashi 34, 6:53
CCC Howard 35 fumble return (Hayashi kick), 1:43
Third quarter
CCC White 29 pass from Collins (Hayashi kick), 6:03
NEO Manley 1 run (kick failed), 1:03
Fourth quarter
CCC Williams 81 fumble return (Hayashi kick), 3:21
Team statistics
NEO;CCC
First downs;22;20
Rushes-yards;49-230;51-245
Passing yards;143;60
Return yards;41;194
Passes-com-att-int;19-34-3;3-12-1
Punts-avg;3-30;4-23
Fumbles-lost;5-3;1-0
Penalties-yards;10-85;11-75
Individual statistics
RUSHING NEO, Kiefer 12-72;Wilson 8-57;Manley 13-57;Hawkins 9-21; Meyers 1-8; Wrenn 3-7; A. White 1-6; Vester 1-4; Collier 1-(-2); CCC Allen 27-167; Dyer 13-89; Davis 2-8; Collins 3-(-19).
PASSING NEO Manley 13-22-132-2; Kiefer 6-12-1-11; CCC Collins 3-12-1-60.
RECEIVING NEO Collier 6-45; Vester 4-23; A. White 2-27; Braxton 2-13; Warrington 2-11; Berry 1-9; Lawrence 1-8; Shepard 1-7; CCC M. White 1-29, Ussery 1-25; Booker 1-6.