The Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football coaches don’t have a lot of faith in Fort Lewis College heading into this season after last year’s 0-10 mark.
The Skyhawks were picked to finish 10th out of 10 teams in the RMAC, two points behind Western State, when the preseason poll was released Monday, and no Skyhawk was selected to the preseason all-conference teams.
Defending champion CSU-Pueblo, with six first-place votes, edged Chadron State, which received the other four votes for the top spot, for the first-place nod in the poll. The ThunderWolves and Eagles were followed by New Mexico Highlands, Adams State and Colorado Mines (tied for fourth), Colorado Mesa, Western New Mexico, Black Hills State, Western State and FLC.
“If you’re not on the other end of the scale, 10th is as good as place as any,” first-year FLC head coach John L. Smith said in a news release. “We want to be at the other end of the scale next year and have the bullseye on our back. Being 10th is motivation for our players to get the nasty taste out of their mouth from last year.
“The kids at this level play for the love of the game and for the right reasons. They’re playing hard for their education. They have to sacrifice a little bit more to play the game.”
Smith was hired back in January after a season as head coach at Arkansas to try to turn around a program that’s gone 6-25 the last three seasons.
Chadron State running back Glen Clinton, the RMAC’s leading rusher last season, was tabbed the league’s Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, with CSU-Pueblo defensive end Darius Allen as his defensive counterpart and Allen’s teammate, punter Brandon Kliesen as the top special teams performer.
The Skyhawks open the 2013 season Sept. 7 at Southern Utah before diving into the home portion of the schedule Sept. 14 against Oklahoma Baptist at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.
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