Nothing has been fluky about the four-game winning streak for the Fort Lewis College football team.
Off to their best start since 2006, the Skyhawks dominated start to finish Saturday in a 34-13 homecoming win against the Western New Mexico Mustangs at Ray Dennison Memorial Field in Durango.
Sophomore running back P.J. Hall scampered his way down the field for 190 yards and one touchdown, senior quarterback Jordan Doyle passed for 129 yards and two touchdowns to go with 115 rushing yards, and the defense forced six turnovers against the best passing attack in Division II to give FLC (4-1) a four-game winning streak.
“It’s hard to put in words because our team is just developing and coming together, and I’m very proud of that,” said Fort Lewis third-year head coach John L. Smith, who took on the rebuilding project with the Skyhawks after six Division I stops including Arkansas, Louisville and Michigan State. “We came out in a fashion to take care of business and to get it done.”
Western New Mexico (2-3, 1-2 RMAC) entered the game with the leading passer in all of Division II, with Mitch Glasmann averaging 400 yards per game. But the Skyhawks held Glasmann to 23-of-42 passing for 188 yards and one touchdown while coming up with three interceptions.
Two of those takeaways were by FLC senior defensive back Michael Benabides, who went to the ground to secure one interception early in the game before jumping a deep pass by Glasmann in one-on-one coverage to come up with another big third-quarter interception that set up a 25-yard touchdown run by Allen Thigpen one play later.
“We went out there as a unit just trying to get better every play and basically win every down,” Benabides said.
The Skyhawks’ leading tackler Andrew Ike came up with the team’s other interception.
Fort Lewis’ defense was only truly beaten twice. The first came on a 92-yard touchdown run in the second quarter by Marques Rodgers, who was the lone bright spot for the Mustangs’ offense. Rodgers finished with 202 rushing yards. The other came on a screen pass to Rodgers, who slipped one tackle and walked into the end zone for a 25-yard score in garbage time of the fourth quarter.
The FLC defensive line was a dominant force once again, coming up with four sacks and three fumble recoveries. Junior lineman Kohlton Tegeler earned two sacks and planted Glasmann in the ground on a quarterback hurry early in the game. O.J. Thompson added a sack, and Antwon Whitehead put the cherry on top with a strip sack of Glasmann to send the Mustangs off the field for good. Juan Hull scrambled to scoop up the fumble on what was nearly a 30-yard loss even before the fumble.
Hull was all over the field with eight tackles.
And all the pressure FLC generated came without needing to blitz, as a solid rotation of linemen blew up the opposing offensive line all game.
“As a defense, we came out ready to dominate,” Tegeler said. “We don’t really think about it, it’s just about getting to the quarterback.”
Western New Mexico head coach Adam Clark was frustrated by his team’s inability to convert on third down, going 3-of-14 on third and 1-of-3 on fourth down attempts.
“The pass rush had something to do with it, but they played good team defense overall,” Clark said of the FLC defense. “They don’t make a lot of mistakes and force you to execute. They got turnovers and played better than us.”
FLC converted 6-of-14 third-down-conversions and was 1-of-2 on fourth down thanks to another fake field goal run by junior holder Jordan Gillen, who scored on a fake field goal three weeks ago against Oklahoma Panhandle State.
Gillen’s conversion helped set up a spectacular one-handed touchdown grab by FLC senior wide receiver Juquelle Thompson, who reached over his head and snagged the ball with his left hand before walking in seven yards for the touchdown.
“We’ve got a kid in there who is very smart and intelligent enough to know when to do it and when not to do it,” Smith said of Gillen. “I’ve given him freedom as far as that goes. Any time you can keep a drive alive and get seven points out of it, it’s big.”
FLC has had four big special teams plays during its four-game winning streak, a staple of Smith’s teams with his emphasis on the game’s third phase.
“We talk to special teams a lot about them having to gain us an extra possession for us, and it’s one of our goals to come up with a game changer and get that extra possession, so that’s huge,” Smith said.
FLC also received big contributions for Kipp Castanha, who converted on field goals of 47 and 39 yards. The 47-yarder matched his season long.
FLC’s first score of the game came on its opening drive, setting the tempo for the rest of the first half. Doyle marched the team down the field going 80 yards in 14 plays and capping it off with a six-yard strike to Esley Simmons for a touchdown.
With 5 minutes, 36 seconds to go in the first half, Hall ripped off a 31-yard run to put a bow on a four-play, 75-yard scoring drive.
“Coach really got us in good plays, and our O-line blocking was really good up front,” said Hall, who went over 100 yards rushing in the first half. “All I had to do was find the cutbacks and it made it real easy. I felt fast, and everyone was moving around well. (The Mustangs) were over-pursuing and made it real easy to run on ’em.”
With four wins, FLC is one win away from matching its best win total since 2006 when it went 7-4. That was the last winning season the Skyhawks have had.
The season’s biggest test looms the next two weeks with visits to No. 10 CSU-Pueblo (4-1, 3-0 RMAC) and No. 11 Colorado Mines (5-0, 3-0 RMAC) coming back-to-back.
FLC was the only team to beat CSU-Pueblo last year in a bizarre game played in Durango. The ThunderWolves, who beat Adams State 56-0 on Saturday, never lost again in 2014 on their way to a national championship.
“Next week will take care of itself. We’re playing the guys at Pueblo, and we’re looking forward to that,” Smith said. “It will be a hostile environment. We have to take pride in going into someone else’s house and kick down the door.”
The win against CSU-Pueblo a year ago made the Skyhawks believe in the program Smith is building. It was a turning point for the season and the program, but the Skyhawks know they won’t be overlooked this time around. But they also expect to compete in every game no matter who it is against.
“We have a really good tempo. Everything in the locker room, it’s hyped,” Hall said. “We can get things done now.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
