The Fort Lewis College football team was off to a strong start in 2019. The only force stronger was the weather.
With a 7-0 lead early in the second quarter on Saturday, the Skyhawks and host New Mexico Highlands University were pulled off the field for the second lightning delay of the game. The first delay came with 12:57 to play in the second quarter and lasted 3 hours, 4 minutes. The teams got back on the field, warmed up and resumed action but were pulled off again with 6:19 to go in the first half with Highlands again threatening to score. After waiting another 2 hours, 19 minutes, the game was canceled.
“It was obviously a pretty big letdown not to be able to finish the game,” said FLC first-year head coach Brandon Crosby, who said there was never a discussion about moving the game time up from 1 p.m. to avoid afternoon weather in the forecast. “Me and the head coach of Highlands (Marty Fine) sat there an extremely long time and went back and forth. The teams would come out, go back in, come out, go back in. In the end, both parties felt it was beneficial for both teams to care more about the kids than getting our football game done.”
The FLC players hadn’t eaten since 9 a.m. Coaches ran to the grocery store to get more food during the delay. After sitting around for so long, the concern was the potential risk of injury to players.
“It’s really tough on the guys to go get warmed up, loosen up and then go sit in the locker room again,” Crosby said. “To play after that, you’re risking injury in a situation like that. We wanted to play and stayed as long as we could. The storm was not backing down whatsoever, and any other alternatives weren’t really an option.”
FLC got off to a fast start thanks to an interception from senior linebacker Darrian Stickney. He returned it 51 yards down to the Cowboys’ 4-yard line. Running back Jeff Hansen then punched in a touchdown on a 4-yard run.
When the first lightning delay hit, Highlands was driving deep in FLC territory. The defense came back on the field and didn’t allow any points after a Highlands penalty and three defensive stops that led to a turnover on downs.
“The defense showed up,” Crosby said. “Even after the second time we came out, they were in our territory, and we got a big stop after a three and a half hour wait. It was a testament to the team and the kids we have. They wanted to play and were ready to go and enjoyed every moment of it.”
Offensively, the Skyhawks weren’t able to do much. Jake Lowry faced pressure at quarterback, and Crosby said the team was never able to get into a rhythm.
“We didn’t get a lot of plays and weren’t able to open the playbook,” the coach said. “It’s all things we gotta fix moving forward.”
FLC will welcome Dixie State University to Durango at noon Saturday at Ray Dennison Memorial Field. The Trailblazers, which will make a transfer to Division I next season, lost 36-7 to No. 9 CSU-Pueblo on Saturday.
Crosby said there are not currently any plans to reschedule with Highlands. It is possible the team’s schedule, which is made up entirely of Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference games, will be reduced to nine games.
“As far as rescheduling, if we can come to an agreement at the end of the season, maybe we can reschedule. That would be ideal,” Crosby said. “We only get to play 10 games, and only nine is a disservice to the kids who are missing the opportunity to play a game they love and work so hard to prepare for. In a perfect world, we reschedule, but I don’t know the logistics of how that would work, where it would be.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
