South Dakota Mines visits Fort Lewis College football

Friday, Oct 27, 2017 9:22 PM Updated Friday, Oct. 27, 2017 9:40 PM

FLC goes to backup QB

Arealous Hughes (13) of Fort Lewis College has 306 yards and one receiving touchdown this year on 22 receptions.

Jerry McBride/Durango Herald file

The Hardrockers will visit a Skyhawks team fallen on hard times.

A week after a 35-24 upset of previously 12th-ranked Colorado State University-Pueblo, the Fort Lewis College football team blew a 17-0 halftime lead in a 20-17 loss at Western New Mexico in the Skyhawks’ lone non-conference game of the season.

FLC (3-5, 3-4 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) also lost starting quarterback Bo Coleman to a knee injury, and backup Jake Lowry will start this week against the South Dakota School of Mines and Technology Hardrockers (4-4, 3-4 RMAC). Kickoff is at noon Saturday at Ray Dennison Memorial Field in Durango.

Lowry, a redshirt freshman from Columbine High School in Littleton, has gone 7-of-17 passing this season with no touchdowns and one interception. He has passed for 39 yards and rushed for 104. He does have two rushing TDs.

Lowry’s counterpart is the Hardrockers’ Jake Sullivan, the No. 2 passing QB in the RMAC. He has thrown for 259.8 yards per game to go with 14 TDs.

But Sullivan is prone to interceptions, as he has thrown 12 this season.

That will play into the hands of an FLC defensive secondary that has hauled in nine interceptions this season. Donell Pleasant III has three interceptions, while six other players have one.

The defense will have to provide help to an offense that is second-to-last in the RMAC in scoring. FLC has averaged only 18.8 points per game, while the Hardrockers average 33.1.

Kevin Thompson is the lead running back for South Dakota Mines. He averages 84.6 yards per game and ranks ninth in the RMAC in rushing yards. FLC’s Tyler Telphy has averaged 76 rushing yards per game to rank 10th in the conference.

The Skyhawks still boast the fourth-best run defense in the RMAC but ranks ninth against the pass. FLC is the worst passing offense in the RMAC. The Skyhawks have also struggled to protect the passer all year and ranks 10th out of 11 teams with 19 sacks allowed. On the other side, FLC hasn’t sacked the opposing QB much, ranked 10th with only 10.