Fort Lewis College might have the best 1-4 team in the country, but it doesn’t change the current losing record.
The Skyhawks dropped another hard-fought Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football game Saturday to fall to 0-3 on their home field at Ray Dennison Memorial Stadium in Durango. The Skyhawks are now 1-4 overall and in conference play despite holding a fourth-quarter lead in all three home losses.
This time, it was Harlon Hill Trophy candidate Justin Dvorak and Colorado Mines that beat FLC 45-35 to end a two-game losing streak and send the Skyhawks to a two-game skid.
Colorado Mines (3-2, 3-2 RMAC) scored on all five of its first-half drives to take a 31-14 lead into the locker room. Dvorak hit wide receiver Brody Oliver for three touchdowns in the first half to extend his NCAA Division II lead to 10 touchdowns this season. In the process, Dvorak eclipsed the 100 career touchdown mark on his second connection with Oliver.
The nation’s leading passer finished 28-of-44 passing for 432 yards and four touchdowns and was sacked only once. He again made big plays with his feet. Though he only had 21 rushing yards, he picked up three key third-and-long situations on the run and also scored a rushing touchdown.
“Guys were coming open because I had a lot of time to sit back in the pocket and ready what the defense was doing,” Dvorak said. “The receivers made plays and got up the field afterward.
“The 100 touchdowns, that means a lot. I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to start three full years and play some my freshman year. That number has more to do with the guys I’ve got around me, so I hope it means something for those guys, too.”
FLC made the game interesting with 21 unanswered points in the third quarter. The defense forced a pair of three-and-outs and kept Dvorak off the field. Redshirt sophomore Bo Coleman got the offense going. After throwing two first-half touchdowns to Jordan Gillen, a Durango High School alum, Coleman and company got a bit of luck to open the third quarter. A pass intended for Jacob Reader bounced off Reader’s chest as contact came from a Colorado Mines defender. The ball fluttered in the air right into the hands of FLC receiver Arealous Hughes, who hauled in the pass ad ran in for a 25 yard touchdown.
Coleman finished the game 13-of-18 passing for 273 yards, four touchdowns and one interception. He also ran for 88 yards on 12 carries.
“Bo knows how to keep his calm and extend plays and make right decisions,” said FLC running back PJ Hall. “Even when he messes up he produces, and that’s what we need.”
On FLC’s next drive, Coleman scrambled out of the pocket, rolled to his weak side and found a wide open Gillen for another FLC score that cut Mines’ lead to 31-28. Gillen finished with 97 receiving yards on five catches, three of which went for scores including a 47 yarder in the first quarter.
“He’s a great leader and a great person,” FLC head coach Ed Rifilato said of Gillen. “He’s really become a great football player.”
After another FLC stop, the Skyhawks got the ball back on their own 32, and running back Drake Griffin needed only one play and 12 seconds to run into the end zone for a 68-yard touchdown that gave FLC a 35-31 lead going into the fourth quarter. Griffin was the game’s leading rusher with 160 yards and one touchdown.
But Dvorak and Mines got it going again in the second half, as Dvorak led a six-play, 74-yard drive that ended with his two-yard touchdown run. Mines took a 38-35 lead it wouldn’t surrender, and a Sam Seeton 1-yard TD run on the next Orediggers drive put the finishing touches on the win. Seeton finished with 106 rushing yards and the touchdown on 26 carries.
FLC had a chance to drive back down the field and get within one score, but a Hall fumble on the Mines 20-yard line gave the Orediggers back the ball. The Skyhawks burned their final timeouts hoping to get the ball back, but a Coleman interception with less than 3 minutes to play sealed their fate.
It was the second fourth-quarter fumble for Hall in two weeks, as FLC lost 34-28 a week ago to No. 17 Colorado Mesa (5-0).
“It’s very tough,” said Hall, who finished with 43 rushing yards on 10 carries. “When it happens once, it still happens in the back of your mind. You know for your team that you have to forget about it and focus on the next play.”
Hall and the FLC players know they can compete with any team in the RMAC and hope to get over the hump at noon Saturday on homecoming day against a very good Western State (3-2) team next week. Rifilato said the team knows it has no chance of winning the conference, so focus has already shifted to preparation for next year.
“You always want to win for the seniors, that’s the biggest thing,” Rifilato said. “But we know we’re not going to win the league. So the juniors, sophomores and freshmen have to get games under their belt, and the seniors have to be mentors to help them get better. We did a great job doing that and will continue to do that.”
jlivingston@durangoherald.com
