Fort Lewis College’s football team finished the season on a positive note with Saturday’s win against Chadron State, but things got even better for the Skyhawks on Monday.
In the last week of conference awards for the regular season, FLC junior quarterback Allen “AJ” Thigpen was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference’s Offensive Player of the Week.
In his second start of the season, Thigpen was all over the field leading the Skyhawks back from a 15-0 deficit to beat Chadron State 47-34. Thigpen filled in for injured quarterback Jordan Doyle.
The dual threat quarterback racked up four touchdowns, three of which came in a fourth quarter that saw FLC score three times. He finished 9-for-12 with 200 yards and a touchdown passing the ball and led the Skyhawks’ ground attack with 157 yards.
Thigpen’s 31-yard touchdown run gave Fort Lewis the lead for good. He finished the season finale in style by grabbing an onside kick and returning it for a touchdown to ice the game. Thigpen even served as the team’s punter for much of the season and punted four times in Saturday’s win.
The clutch performance by Thigpen was instrumental in Fort Lewis beating Chadron State for the first time since 1971. The win capped off a 7-4 season for Fort Lewis which made the 2015 season the most successful at FLC since 2006.
There isn’t much that Thigpen didn’t do this year on the football field. The junior finished the season with 529 passing yards and six passing touchdowns to go along with 415 rushing yards and six rushing touchdowns. He also had six catches for 17 yards, and two kick returns for 21 yards and a touchdown. Thigpen also punted the ball 31 times for 1,312 yards.
