Box Score
DURANGO, Colo. — Colorado Mesa (2-4 overall, 1-3 in the
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) ran for 356 yards to defeat Fort Lewis (1-5, 0-4) 22-3 today at Ray Dennison Memorial Field, spoiling FLC's homecoming in the process.
“We've got some kids who don't quit and keep fighting,” said second-year head coach Cesar Rivas-Sandoval.” They keep going out there series after series just because it's football. They play with great passion for the game and we can work with that. It gives us great hope for the future. It's not very consoling immediately in terms of wins and losses, but it does give us hope for the future. Hopefully that future is sooner rather than later.”
Will Halboth gained 138 yards on 28 carries and scored the game's lone touchdown on a two-yard plunge midway through the second quarter, while Jake Cimolino added 133 yards on 24 carries as the Mavericks rushed the ball 70 times during the game. Quarterback Steve Romero completed 18 of 28 passes for 156 yards and added another 40 yards on the ground.
Fort Lewis, in contrast, relied on its passing game to try and solve the Maverick defense. Quarterback
Tim Jenkins completed 35 of 53 passes for 242 yards. His favorite targets included running back
Van Gramann (12 catches, 73 yards) and wide receiver
Jonathan Price (11 catches, 112 yards). Gramann also rushed 10 times for 42 yards, including a 28-yard scamper in the third quarter.
“We're not executing well enough to put drives together and finish,” said Rivas-Sandoval. “Our offense needs time to gel.”
While FLC's defense bent, it never broke during the game, forcing Colorado Mesa to kick five field goals. Caleb Pavy was perfect, connecting from 39, 30, 36, 25 and 35 yards during the game.
“We did a nice job of locking it down inside the red zone,” said Rivas-Sandoval. “It would have been nice to stop them between the 25s.”
Several Skyhawk defenders notched double-digit tackles:
Eric Hills (12 total, nine solo), Andrew Smith (12, eight),
Joey Alvarez (11, four), and
Phil Odell (10, four). Odell added one quarterback sack, a QB hurry, and a forced fumble.
Tim Muhovich had five tackles and a five-yard interception return.
The CMU defense surrendered 299 yards, but only 57 on the ground while keeping the Skyhawks out of the endzone. FLC's lone score was a 26-yard
Ryan Baldwin field goal with 7:03 remaining in the third quarter after Muhovich's interception deep in CMU territory.
Domonique Lewis led CMU's defense with six tackles, including 3.5 tackles for losses for -17 yards and two sacks of Jennings for 13 yards in losses.
The Mavericks also forced FLC to punt 10 times.
Frank Atherton averaged 38.0 yards per kick, including a pair of 60-yard bombs while pinning CMU inside their own 20 on a pair of occasions. Perhaps Atherton's best punt went for just four yards — but occurred after the snap sailed well over his head, forcing him to evade CMU tacklers while punting from his own 15-yard line, some 25 yards behind the line of scrimmage.
Fort Lewis hits the road next weekend to face Western State (1-5, 1-3) at 1 p.m. next Saturday at the Mountaineer Bowl.
