August 29, 2009. Durango, CO. - The Fort Lewis College Football team has many new faces and some old one, all which came to play today in front of a packed stadium at Ray Dennison Field. The Skyhawks came from behind to defeat the Aggies of Oklahoma Panhandle 23-13 in their season and home opener.

The Aggies were able to strike first on a Jose Mendoza 19 yard run past the defense. The Skyhawks were able to retaliate two minutes later when sophomore QB Justin Peters found freshman Jackson Knox on a ten yard out route in the endzone, tying the game at 7 apiece. The second quarter was all defense with no points allowed on either side leaving the score at 7-7 at the half.

Oklahoma Panhandle was able to score in the first minute of the second half when Jose Mendoza was able to sneak past the defense for his second touchdown on a 51 yard scat which gave the Aggies their last point of the game, due to the point after failing. The remainder of the third quarter was back and forth until freshman kicker Nate Soucie converted his first collegiate field goal from 26 yards out, making the score 10-13 after three quarters.

The fourth quarter belonged to the Skyhawks and freshman QB Tim Jenkins. With nine minutes left in the fourth, Jenkins put together a 7 play, 53 yard drive that ended with a five yard TD pass to senior Brandon Schneider, making it 16-13. Five minutes later Jenknis rolled to his right and found a wide open senior Phillip Dodd for a 41 yard strike to put the Skyhawks up for good at 23-13.

Fort Lewis compiled 236 total offensive yards with 196 of those in the air. The Skyhawks forced two turnovers and held the Aggies to 83 yards passing. Fort Lewis also recorded more tackles than the Aggies. The Skyhawks are now 1-0 (undefeatd) as OPSU falls to 0-1 on the season.

The Skyhawks will be back in action next Saturday as they travel to Abilene Christian for a 6:00 p.m. gametime.