Despite a lot of improvement over the last year, the Fort Lewis College football team is still learning what it takes to win close games. The Skyhawks blew a fourth-quarter lead at South Dakota Mines on Saturday and lost 22-21.
The loss dropped FLC to 1-3 overall and 0-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference; the Skyhawks have lost their two conference games by a combined seven points. South Dakota Mines improved to 1-4 overall and 1-2 in the RMAC.
“There's parts of the game that they did really well,” FLC football head coach Johnny Cox said. “Then, as a collective team, there's areas that we had to learn from, and so unfortunately, we had to learn in a lost. But, we teach the different areas of where we need to improve pretty well.”
Cox said the key going forward for FLC’s players is knowing the details of their assignment and executing the simple things throughout the game. Cox knows execution and communication need to continually improve for the Skyhawks to be successful.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Stone Walker is still out with an ankle injury. Redshirt sophomore quarterback Jacob Morris got the start against South Dakota Mines and finished 13/29 passing for 191 yards and a touchdown.
It was a very windy game, according to Cox, which affected the Skyhawks’ passing game. FLC hasn’t had the chance to practice in a lot of wind, which affects the quarterback and the receivers.
The Skyhawks had 181 rushing yards; redshirt quarterback Jake Jones led the team with 65 yards and redshirt junior running back KB Broadus finished with two rushing touchdowns.
Junior wide receiver Zachary Gaumont led the team with three receptions for 129 yards and a receiving touchdown.
South Dakota Mines took a 7-0 lead into the second quarter after a 10-play, 81-yard scoring drive. FLC responded with an 82-yard touchdown pass to Gaumont in the second quarter and FLC trailed 10-7 at the half.
The Skyhawks took control of the game with two touchdown runs in the third by Broadus to give FLC a 21-10 lead going into the fourth.
South Dakota Mines kicked a field goal early in the fourth and then connected on a 38-yard touchdown pass with 8:10 left to cut the FLC lead to 21-19.
FLC had the chance to increase its lead late in the fourth after a blocked Hardrockers field goal and an interception. Redshirt sophomore kicker Kuba Betlinski missed a 31-yard field goal with 1:07 that would’ve increased FLC’s lead to 24-19 and forced South Dakota Mines to score a touchdown to win.
Instead, South Dakota Mines drove down the field and hit a field goal from 30 yards out with nine seconds left for the win.
“The wind factor had a huge part to play with it,” Cox said about Betlinski’s missed field goal. “We got down in there and we tried to make sure they had to score a touchdown … but that doesn't mean that was the moment (that decided the game); we had other situations where we had catches or contain or certain execution things that were not in that situation.”
FLC returns home to play Western Colorado on Saturday at noon. The Mountaineers are a top-seven team in each of the Division II polls. Last season, FLC lost at Western Colorado, 44-7.
The CSU Pueblo men’s soccer team has been a constant thorn in the side of the Skyhawks men’s soccer team. The ThunderWolves have won the last three matchups, including a 2-1 win at CSU Pueblo on Sunday.
Ranked No. 5 in Division II at the time, FLC lost its first game of the season and dropped to 4-1-2 overall; CSU Pueblo, No. 8 in Division II at the time, improved to 4-0-4 overall.
CSU Pueblo took a 1-0 lead in the 10th on a pass to the far post, where CSU Pueblo’s Will Boyle was waiting for the tap-in finish. CSU Pueblo extended its lead to 2-0 in the 72nd minute when Nick Cenek finished a shot from 12 yards out.
FLC had a big chance in the 77th minute with a penalty kick. CSU Pueblo was already down a man at that point and FLC was fouled inside the 18-yard box. Freshman forward Lorenz Guintini took the kick, but it was stopped. Freshman Mathias Valverde scored in the 81st minute for the Skyhawks, but it was too little too late for FLC.
The Skyhawks look for their first shutout at home against Colorado Christian on Friday at 7 p.m.
FLC women’s soccer is almost done with its toughest part of its schedule. Unfortunately for Skyhawks fans, FLC has lost four consecutive games.
The latest was a 1-0 loss at No. 9 Colorado School of Mines on Sunday. FLC dropped to 3-4-1 overall and 0-2 in the RMAC with the loss. Colorado School of Mines improved to 4-1-1 overall and 1-0 in the RMAC.
FLC’s four consecutive losses have come against teams either ranked or receiving votes in the United Soccer Coaches Top 25 NCAA DII Women National Poll. The Skyhawks have lost the last three of those games 1-0.
“They were as good as I’ve seen a Fort Lewis team in years,” FLC women’s soccer head coach Damian Clarke said after the loss to Colorado School of Mines. “It was the first time I could say to Kevin, the Mines coach, who we’ve known each other for a long time, that was the first time we’ve dominated you guys since I’ve been back (at FLC) … to lose in the last 30 seconds was pretty heartbreaking for the group.”
FLC outshot Colorado School of Mines 17-11 and had a 7-2 advantage with shots on goal. However, the Skyhawks were still scoreless in their third consecutive game.
Clarke said the key to scoring goals is confidence. FLC went from a middle-of-the-pack RMAC squad in the regular season to playing the No. 1 team in Division II in the RMAC tournament championship last season. Clarke thinks his team needs to take some more steps in their belief and maturity of their psyche. He wants his team to be comfortable in those fantastic scoring chances.
The Skyhawks and Orediggers looked like they were heading for a tie until 30 seconds left, when FLC freshman midfielder Addyson Carpentier tried heading the ball out of the 18-yard box. She did that, but also body checked the Orediggers’ Bella Campos to the ground and the referee called the penalty. Clarke was so disappointed that he flipped a chair over and received a yellow card.
His rare outburst didn’t change the call. Callie Fuhr finished the penalty kick for the 1-0 lead with 33 seconds left.
“When we looked at the replay, our kid sort of jumped forward and made contact,” Clarke said. “Bella (Campos) is one of the best forwards in the country and she knows how to for sure draw a foul. But it was a foul; I wish I could say the referee lost us the game, but we created plenty of opportunities.”
Clarke recognized that Tuesday’s practice would be hard for his team after a devastating loss. Therefore, he made sure the training environment was fun to help the team regroup before its game against No. 23 Colorado Mesa at home on Friday at 4:30 p.m.
The FLC volleyball team has nearly equaled its win total from last season and the Skyhawks have six weeks left in their season.
FLC improved to 9-2 overall and 3-1 in the RMAC after a 3-0 win at Chadron State on Friday and a 3-0 win at Regis University on Saturday. FLC finished last season with 10 wins.
Chadron State dropped to 3-8 overall and 0-3 in the RMAC after FLC won 25-22, 25-13 and 25-22.
Freshman outside hitter Cambria Freymuth led FLC with 13 kills and junior outside hitter Jordan DeJesus added 11 kills. Skyhawks freshman setter Arianna Reyna had 26 assists.
On Saturday, Regis dropped to 1-11 overall and 1-3 in the RMAC after FLC won 25-18, 25-20 and 25-19. Freymuth led FLC with 10 kills while Reyna and sophomore setter Addie Garn each had 12 assists.
FLC hits the road to face Adams State on Friday at 5 p.m. in a game that doesn’t count as a conference game.
bkelly@durangoherald.com
