Before rallying the Fort Lewis College faithful Friday in downtown, the Skyhawks had to spend the week rallying themselves.
The FLC football team’s biggest issue in a 49-0 loss to Football Championship Subdivision-squad Southern Utah in last Saturday’s season opener was turnovers. Seven of them, to be exact. And, while head coach John L. Smith said the defense played well for the most part, he added the Skyhawks spent time honing in on tackling this week.
It’s all part of a quest to stop the proverbial snowball from rolling down the Skyhawks’ hill. The Skyhawks have lost 11 consecutive games, a trend they’ll look to buck when NAIA foe Oklahoma Baptist comes to Ray Dennison Memorial Field for FLC’s home opener at 1 p.m. Saturday.
“You worry about snowball effect when it’s going the wrong way. You’re at the bottom of the snowball, and it’s coming down at you,” Smith said. “If you’re on the other end – which we have to get on the other end, and we have to be the pushers of the snowball. And once that thing starts downhill, then it’ll carry over. ... Winning starts that.”
Saturday provides a chance to end another streak, as well. FLC hasn’t won on its home field since the 2011 season opener Sept. 3, 2011, against South Dakota Mines, a streak of nine games. The hope for Saturday is to start a journey back down a road that leads FLC to reclaiming a sense of home-field advantage, a sense of pride in protecting the Fort.
“It’s been over two years since they’ve won a game in this stadium, so as Skyhawks, we have to take it personal,” Smith said with a little extra emphasis in his voice. “That this is our house, that we start a tradition, that people don’t come in here and walk out with a win, let them steal something from you.”
To do that, FLC will need to first protect the football. The Skyhawks had five fumbles and two interceptions end up in the arms of Southern Utah last week, killing a handful of drives in which the FLC offense looked to be in a rhythm and moving the ball fairly well.
In their quest to hang onto the ball, the Skyhawks got a bit of help from Mother Nature. The steady stream of rain this week has made it easier to lose the football, forcing better fundamentals and more focus on the part of running backs carrying the ball and receivers trying to catch it.
“We kind of got some terrible balls out there. It was raining during the week, too, so that kind of challenged us on ball security and for us to take care of the ball more,” said running back Dewaun Wesley, himself looking to atone for two lost fumbles last week.
Now, lopsided losses to teams from a higher division in college football are commonplace – a chance to see how you measure up in an environment where wins are unlikely. But for the Skyhawks, there’s always the worry that the sting of yet another loss could multiply the frustration.
However, in center Matt Crispo’s estimation, that’s not the case. It’s simply on to the next one, on to the next chance to stem the tide.
“It’s definitely head down, onto next week, because you can’t really live in the past,” Crispo said.
rowens@durangoherald.com
