It may be the Fort Lewis College homecoming game, but it also will be the homecoming of one of Durango’s brightest football stars.
Colorado Mines will visit Ray Dennison Memorial Field to play the Fort Lewis College football team at 6 p.m. Thursday night. Along with the No. 15-ranked Orediggers comes junior kicker Avery Llewellyn, a 2011 graduate of Durango High School who was named the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Preseason Special Teams Player of the Year.
“I’m pretty excited about it. It is always good to come back home,” Llewellyn said in a phone interview with The Durango Herald on Oct. 10. “I love Durango and always will, and it is fun to play in front of your family and old friends.”
The 6-4, 180-pound junior does it all for the Orediggers, serving as the team’s placekicker and punter. As a sophomore, Llewellyn was named the RMAC Special Teams Player of the Year and to the National Football Federation – Colorado Chapter First Team All-Colorado team after he made 14-of-19 kicks.
This year, Llewellyn earned another RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week honor, the third of his career, and he leads all kickers in the RMAC with an average of 11 points per game. He is 12-for-17 on field goals with a long of 51 yards. He also has made 30-of-31 extra-point attempts.
“He’s been booming the ball and is doing really well,” said FLC redshirt sophomore wide receiver Jordan Gillen, who played two years alongside Llewellyn at Durango High School. “It’s really cool when you see guys you’ve played with and seeing them succeed as well as he has. You really value that connection and friendship you have with a guy like that.”
Llewellyn, son of Jack and Karen Llewellyn, also ranks second in all of Division II football with an average of two field goals per game. He trails only Texas A&M Commerce’s Saul Martinez, who averages 2.17.
“If you picked a guy in the league you would want kicking for your team, it would be him,” FLC head coach John L. Smith said of Llewellyn. “He does everything in the kicking game, and he does all of it very well. As far as a special teams guy, he’s the best in the league, in my opinion.”
Llewellyn doesn’t like to take much of the spotlight, but he said it is fun to be part of a team that is undefeated and alone atop the RMAC standings.
“The atmosphere is great. We have a great group of individuals on the team, and it is fun to be in the locker room,” Llewellyn said. “I’m definitely happy with my choice to come to Mines. Golden has been great; they really support the football team, and it has been really worth it, even when school is pretty hard.”
Llewellyn said the entire Orediggers’ team is excited to play in front of a national audience on the CBS Sports Network, and he doesn’t think he will feel any more pressure kicking the ball with thousands watching at home.
“I will treat it like any other game, but I know we’re all real excited,” Llewellyn said. “Mines has had games on TV before, but this is big, and we’re all real excited. It is a good chance for Mines to get some national attention.”
Llewellyn said he won’t have much time to visit with family and friends, calling the bus ride to Durango a business trip.
His father, Jack, is a FLC alumnus and still is active on campus, but Llewellyn expects to see his dad in Colorado Mines gear on Fort Lewis’ homecoming night.
“I know he will be rooting for me,” Avery Llewellyn said. “A lot of times he will wear a Mines hat and a Fort Lewis shirt since he is an alumni, but I know he will be cheering for us.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
