The Fort Lewis College football team had a promising start after the first drive of the game against Western State Colorado University on Saturday afternoon at Ray Dennison Memorial Field. But after the drive stalled, junior punter Max Peets fumbled the ensuing punt attempt and turned it over on downs.
It was the story of the afternoon, as the Skyhawks committed six turnovers – including two first-half – fumbles en route to a 40-13 loss to the Mountaineers in the final home regular season game for Fort Lewis.
“Well, you know, we didn’t do a good job of making the right plays at the right time,” FLC head coach Joe Morris said. “The quarterback has to find the right receiver, and then we couldn’t hold onto the ball at times, as well. Any time you give a team that many extra possessions, they could take advantage of it, and they did. If I had five horseshoes and you had three, I’d probably win at the end of the day, and that’s exactly what happened. They capitalized off of our mistakes.”
FLC sophomore Erik Ornduff started the game at quarterback and had a good start, as he completed his first three pass attempts of the game, and looked steady. However, he was forced to leave the game in the second quarter with an apparent broken hand. He finished the afternoon 10-of-18 for 61 yards.
On the Mountaineers’ (1-7, 1-7 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) first possession, sophomore quarterback Dylan Jacob led his team on a four-play, 27-yard drive after the FLC fumble, which led to a 15-yard strike from Jacob to wide receiver Zach Manchester to give Western State a 6-0 lead after the extra point was no good. Less than two minutes later, Jacob found Elijah Gillespie on a 9-yard pass play to cap a six-play, 77-yard drive, and the Mountaineers led 13-0.
The Skyhawks (1-7, 1-7 RMAC) went to their running game, and Ornduff led the way. He had two crucial long runs on third downs to extend Fort Lewis’ drive that was capped off with a 15-yard rush from sophomore running back Jack Harper, who got Fort Lewis back within one score with 3:08 remaining in the first quarter. The Mountaineers led 13-6 after the first quarter, and the turnover game would only pick up from there.
After the Mountaineers missed a 33-yard field goal attempt, the Skyhawks took over at their own 20-yard line with just more than three minutes remaining in the half. On FLC senior quarterback Nick NcNamee’s first play of the game, he threw a bubble screen to Parker Strahler, who gained a first down before he was stripped of the football, and Mountaineers cornerback Josh Nelson recovered it and ran to the Fort Lewis 6-yard line.
Two plays later, Gillespie was wide open and caught his second touchdown of the afternoon to make it 20-6.
Jacob would have one more passing touchdown before the half, as he found Jordan Barton for a 14-yard score after he led the Mountaineers on a brilliant two-minute hurry-up offense. The drive took eightplays, went 70 yards,took 1:15 to complete and gave the Mountaineers a commanding 27-6 lead at halftime.
Mountaineers head coach Jas Bains thought his quarterback played brilliantly all afternoon, especially in the first half when he went 18-of-24 for 169 yards.
“He was throwing the ball really well today,” Bains said. “Each week, he’s been getting better and better and has been getting more confident, so I was really pleased with him today.”
The Skyhawks showed some fight early in the second half when they pulled within two possessions after McNamee threw a 90-yard strike to senior wide receiver Ta’jon Mondy-Smith, which made it 27-13. The Skyhawks had more momentum after getting a defensive stop on the ensuing Mountaineer possession when the offensive game fell a part.
McNamee scrambled to his left, threw off of his back foot across the field where Nelson was waiting. Nelson took the interception 43 yards to end zoneto effectively end the game. The defensive score made it 34-13 with 7:49 remaining in the third quarter.
The Mountaineers forced three fourth-quarter turnovers including two interceptions, and stripped McNamee and recovered the fumble. Sophomore running back Brayden Lucero scored the Skyhawks’ final points of the afternoon on an 11-yard run late in the fourth quarter to make it 40-20.
McNamee finished 5-of-15 with three interceptions and completed only 33 percent of his throws..
The Mountaineers scored 24 points off of six Fort Lewis turnovers.
While the loss was a tough one to take for the Skyhawks, who dropped to the bottom of the conference with the loss, it was also tough for the seniors.
Durango High alum Isiah Mayberry reflected on the loss, but was thankful for the time he spent at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.
“This field, I’ve got a lot of memories here,” Mayberry said. “It’s just a special place; I’ve grown to love this place, especially growing up here in town, and I’ll continue to keep coming to games long after I finish up here.”
Morris was thankful to the seniors for always being an example to younger players.
“I tell you what, these seniors have given everything they possibly can,” Morris said. “To me, they’re real members of the ’Hawk community and, no matter what, they’ll always be proud to wear the Skyhawks jersey. Our message moving forward is all we can control is what’s right in front of us. We’re going to send the seniors out with the best effort and try to give our freshmen, sophomores and juniors a taste of what the future will hold.”
Fort Lewis will look to rebound from the four-game losing streak, as they will take on No. 13 Colorado State University-Pueblo at noon Saturday at the Thunderbowl.
bploen@durangoherald.com
