Fort Lewis College’s defense was nearly impossible to beat Saturday. The Skyhawks still lost.
The college football season opened across the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference on Saturday, and Fort Lewis traveled to Nebraska to take on the Chadron State Eagles. The Skyhawks had 100 more offensive yards than the Eagles, but a blocked punt recovered for a touchdown by Chadron State was the difference in the game, as Fort Lewis lost 17-10.
“Any time we leave the ball down there on the goal line, bad things can happen,” said FLC head coach Ed Rifilato, who is in his first season replacing John L. Smith. “They sneaked through the back door on our rugby kick. They got through the backside and got a piece.”
The Skyhawks’ offense couldn’t get anything going in the first quarter, and the team trailed 3-0 after the opening 15 minutes of the season.
Joseph Cavale put FLC on the scoreboard midway through the second half with a 24-yard field goal to tie the game, but it was Cavale’s next kick that turned the fate of the game. Back to punt after the Skyhawks failed to get anything going on their next drive, Cavale’s kick was blocked by Chadron State’s Collin Eisenman and recovered in the end zone by Tyler Lewis for a Chadron State touchdown with 3:51 to play in the first half.
On FLC’s next possession, a pass attempt by transfer quarterback Larry Cutbirth III was tipped by a wide receiver over the middle, intercepted by Steve Allen and returned 20 yards to the Fort Lewis 29-yard line. Two plays later, Chadron State scored on a 24-yard touchdown pass from TD Stein to Matt Reader, giving the Eagles a commanding 17-3 lead at halftime.
The Skyhawks’ defense shut the Eagles out the rest of the way, but Chadron State’s defense kept the sputtering FLC offense in check, too.
Bo Coleman, a redshirt sophomore from Albuquerque, came in at quarterback for the Skyhawks in the second half but struggled as much as Cutbirth to move the chains.
“(Cutbirth) has good feet and runs around. (Coleman) is more of a thrower,” Rifilato said of his quarterbacks.
A Daniel Walker interception for FLC gave the Skyhawks the ball in the red zone, and FLC picked up one first down to set up first-and-goal. But, on fourth-and-goal from the 3-yard line, an FLC rushing attempt was stuffed for no gain and the Skyhawks turned over the ball with nothing to show for Walker’s interception.
Late in the fourth quarter, Coleman led a 14-play, 80-yard touchdown drive that ended with an 8-yard touchdown pass to running back Drake Griffin.
FLC’s defense forced Chadron State off the field and got the ball back to FLC on its own 10 with just under 2 minutes to play. A roughing the passer penalty helped FLC get the ball out to its own 31-yard line, but the drive stalled there, as a false start penalty on third-and-5 proved costly. Coleman’s fourth-and-10 pass attempt over the middle to Jake Reader was broken up, and the Eagles kneeled on the ball and watched the clock tick down to zeros.
Griffin led the FLC offense with 85 rushing yards on 16 carries. Durango High alum Jordan Gillen led the team in receiving with 63 yards on six receptions. Cutbirth finished the game 6-of-12 passing for 53 yards and the interception. Coleman was 5-of-13 for 38 yards and one touchdown.
FLC running back PJ Hall, the team’s leading rusher each of the last three seasons, had a rough day with two fumbles and one lost. He ran for 57 yards on 19 carries.
Still, FLC held Chadron State’s offense to 110 rushing yards and only 56 passing yards from Stein, who was 7-of-18. Derek Jackson led the Eagles with 41 rushing yards on 16 carries.
“Chadron has a powerful offense,” Rifilato said. “They’re big up front and returned their quarterback and most of the line. We got better in the second half and played well to shut them out the second half.”
The Skyhawks will look to rebound in the home opener next week against Black Hills State.
Rifilato said playing an RMAC game to open the season was tough on the team. All the RMAC teams are playing conference games every week this season with the addition of Dixie State and South Dakota Mines to the RMAC. That left no time on the schedule for non-conference games.
“We would like to have a preseason game before this one, especially because we had to come all the way back to Chadron again,” Rifilato said. “We’re still just not very good on offense. Any time you start with a league game and not a practice game, you don’t know what to expect one way or another.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
