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Turnovers help Fort Lewis football tame Western New Mexico Mustangs

Coleman-Gillen connection big Saturday

Fort Lewis College’s football team entered Saturday’s game losing the turnover differential this season by 12. They won it by four Saturday, and that resulted in the Skyhawks’ first home win of the season.

So many games have gone against FLC by the narrowest of margins this season, and turnovers were largely to blame for blown fourth-quarter leads. The Skyhawks (2-6, 1-6 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) didn’t let it happen Saturday in their lone non-conference game of the season in a 52-14 demolition of the Western New Mexico Mustangs, a former RMAC team that moved to the Lone Star Conference this season.

“Any time we can give our offense a chance with good field position, we know they’re going to convert,” said FLC sophomore defensive back Dre Cortez, who recovered a fumble and had an interception, his second in as many games. “We gotta keep grinding on defense to get those turnovers and let the offense go get points.”

Saturday’s game wasn’t a blowout from the start. FLC went down 7-0 early, as the Mustangs went 74 yards on two plays on their opening drive. Tracy McNair gashed the Skyhawks for a 66-yard run, and quarterback Javia Hall hit wide receiver Xavier Ayers on an eight-yard touchdown pass one play later.

After a few drives that produced nothing, the Skyhawks finally got their offense going thanks to great field position caused by a poor Western N.M. punt. FLC drove 44 yards in six plays and scored on a 5-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Bo Coleman to tight end Jake Reader, who exited the game on FLC’s next drive with a left hamstring injury.

FLC made it 14-7 early in the second quarter when running back PJ Hall got into the end zone from 10 yards out to cap off a seven-play, 62-yard drive. That ended a seven-play, 62-yard scoring drive.

The Skyhawks forced their first turnover on the Mustangs’ next drive, as Malcolm Wright came up with an interception. The Mustangs’ bench was livid as it appeared the ball may have hit the ground, but the turnover went to FLC, and the Skyhawks converted it into three points on a 22-yard field goal by Joseph Cavale, who was perfect on extra points and field goals Saturday, a department FLC has struggled in this season.

The Mustangs raced down the field to score before halftime on a 12-yard pass from Hall to Ayers that ended an eight-play, 77-yard drive that took only 1 minute, 19 seconds.

But it was all Skyhawks from there, as Coleman settled in and began to torch the Mustangs’ defense with four second-half TD passes. He finished with 238 yards on 20-of-29 passing with five touchdowns.

“The receivers made play after play, so I had confidence in them to put it out there and let them make the play,” Coleman said. “Our O-line did a great job giving me some time to go through my reads and progressions.”

Coleman hit Arealous Hughes on a 14-yard TD pass on the team’s first drive of the third quarter. After Cortez’s recovered fumble that was forced by OJ Thompson on the ensuing Mustangs drive, Coleman needed only one play to hit DJ Robinson on a 28-yard TD pass.

Tyrell Thomas came up with an interception for the Skyhawks on the next defensive stand, and Coleman orchestrated a seven-play scoring drive of 44 yards that ended in a 12-yard TD pass to Robinson. That score put FLC in front 38-14 with 4:19 to go in the third quarter.

Thompson came up with a big sack for the FLC defense, as he finished with 1½ sacks in the game. Up against the down and yards to go, Hall aired out another ill-advised pass that was intercepted by Cortez and returned 21 yards to the Mustang’s 31-yard line.

Coleman then hit Gillen on a 30-yard TD pass to give the Durango High School alum a cherry on top of his 11-catch, 138-yard day.

“We knew coming in they would run man,” Gillen said of the Mustangs defense. “Our goal as a receiving group is when you get man, win. They were confused a lot. We ran crossing routes and would end up with two of their defenders on one guy with another guy wide open. I got lucky a lot getting wide open, and Bo found me.”

The running of Drake Griffin helped put the game away, as the FLC running back finished with 104 yards on 23 carries. Hall added 55 yards and the TD on 13 carries, and Coleman ran for another 30 yards.

After Coleman checked out, backup QB Larry Cutbirth III added an eight-yard TD run to put FLC over the 50-point barrier.

“We run the ball a lot, so we were able to put the game away,” said FLC head coach Ed Rifilato, noting his team’s 27-minute advantage in time of possession. “The seniors did a good job leading the young guys, who got a lot more reps under their belt. Before you know it, it’s going to be 2017, and all we’re trying to do is get better for that.”

FLC will travel to Rapid City, South Dakota, to face South Dakota Mines at 1 p.m. Saturday before wrapping up the home schedule at noon Nov. 5 against New Mexico Highlands. The final game of the year is Nov. 12 at Dixie State.

jlivingston@durangoherald.com



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