Box score

SPEARFISH, S.D. — In the record books, today's game will go down as a 23-0 victory for Black Hills State (3-7 overall, 3-6 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) over Fort Lewis (0-10, 0-9) at a snowy, windy and icy Lyle Hare Stadium.
 
But the final score — and the bizarre three-minute stretch that produced it early in the fourth quarter — doesn't matter nearly as much to Skyhawk head football coach Cesar Rivas-Sandoval as the day's lone good news that he received from the hospital two hours after the game ended.
 
Skyhawk punter Steven Andrews was viciously hit by BHSU's Trevor Butler after bobbling a snap 56 seconds into the fourth quarter. The hit was so violent that Andrews' helmet flew off his head. The Fort Lewis freshman lay motionless on the field for nearly 10 minutes before being carted off on a stretcher and driven to the hospital in an ambulance.
 
But by 5 p.m., he was able to leave the hospital, board the team bus and join the rest of the Skyhawks for the 14-hour trip back to Durango.
 
Rivas-Sandoval said that Andrews suffered a neck injury on the play but had movement to all of his extremities and should make a full recovery.
 
Butler's bone-crushing hit resulted in a forced fumble that Mitch McDevitt scooped up and returned for a touchdown to give the Yellow Jackets a 14-0 lead.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, the Yellow Jackets tackled Skyhawk returner Josh Roybal on the FLC 1. After going three-and-out, the Skyhawks were forced to punt from their own endzone. Backup punter Cougar Beaubien's kick was blocked out of the endzone, giving the Yellow Jackets a safety and a 16-0 lead with 3:30 elapsed in the fourth quarter.
 
With Andrews — who doubles as FLC's placekicker — out of the game, defensive back Lance Dettmer was forced to take the free kick, which went just 32 yards and, after a short return, gave the Yellow Jackets the ball at the FLC 47. Butler took care of the rest, rushing for eight yards on first down, and then bursting 39 yards for a touchdown to push the score to 23-0 3:59 into the fourth.
 
In one three-minute stretch, the Yellow Jackets took control of a close, 7-0 lead with 16 points.
 
“With bad weather and what we were up against with poor field position, we couldn't move it,” said Rivas-Sandoval. “We were able to run the football a little bit in the first half, but the turnovers obviously hurt us. We had planned to use a lot of screen passes against them, but between the wind and the icy balls, we weren't able to make some plays.”
 
Fort Lewis nearly struck first. On its second possession, FLC drove 48 yards to the BHSU 17, where their drive stalled. Andrews attempted a 32-yard field goal into strong winds, but his kick was blocked by Aaron Olson — the first of three big miscues in the kicking game that would haunt the Skyhawks.
 
But FLC's defense rose to the occasion time and time again through the first three quarters.
 
Black Hills State punter Levi Millikin punted four times during the game, pinning FLC inside its own 20 each time. That field position ultimately wore down the Skyhawks.
 
On Fort Lewis' first possession of the second quarter — one that started when Millikin's punt died at the FLC 1 — the Skyhawks went three-and-out. The Yellow Jackets took over at the FLC 44, but also went three-and-out.
 
Millikin again pinned Fort Lewis deep, this time at the FLC 6. Black Hills State's Austin Haynes intercepted Jason Fitzpatrick two plays later, giving BHSU the ball on the FLC 19. The Skyhawk defense stood strong again, forcing a 32-yard field goal attempt that Devin Rounds missed short.
 
Starting at their own 20 after the missed field goal that kept the score level at 0-0, Fitzpatrick missed an exchange with the running back on FLC's next play, though, giving BHSU the ball back on the FLC 19 on Ryan Lee's fumble recovery. Yet again, the Skyhawk defense held back the Yellow Jackets, forcing an apparent 37-yard field goal try. But Black Hills State faked the field goal, with the snapper flipping the ball to Scott Soderstro, who rushed 13 yards for a first down at the FLC 7. Three straight Bryar Desanti rushes pounded the ball across the goal line and gave BHSU a 7-0 lead with 5:28 left in the half.
 
Desanti finished the game with 103 yards on 22 carries, while Butler gained 68 yards on nine rushes. Wade Anderson went 9-of-18 passing for 43 yards as BHSU amassed just 246 yards of total offense — 203 of which came on the ground.
 
Fort Lewis fared even worse. The Skyhawks were limited to just 160 yards of total offense, 95 of which came on running plays. Josh Beacham rushed 15 times for 64 yards, while Van Gramman gained 33 yards on 17 carries. Fitzpatrick completed 12 of 21 passes for 65 yards, with Jordan Benton and Jonathan Price each catching five of his passes.
 
The discrepancy in field position was one key. The average field position for the start of each Yellow Jacket drive was the FLC 49; the average Skyhawk possession started on the FLC 20.
 
Turnovers were another key. Fort Lewis lost three fumbles and threw one pick. The Yellow Jackets never committed a turnover.
 
And injuries were critical. “Through attrition, we probably lost six or seven starters during the game,” said Rivas-Sandoval.
 
Wide receiver Amery Duncan (wrist, in the first quarter) and Andrews (neck) both were sent to the hospital. Dalten Lane, Andrew Kline and Robi Trigo were among the other Skyhawks forced from the game.
 
Of course, the play of the Skyhawk defense, was the game's biggest on-field highlight for the FLC faithful. Senior linebacker Phil Odell recorded 15 tackles (seven solo) to become the school's all-time tackling leader. He entered the game trailing FLC Athletic Hall of Famer Shane Voss (356 career tackles, 1990-93) by just five tackles. Odell finished the game all alone atop the record book with 367 tackles.
 
Dakota Kay had a career day with 11 tackles, three tackles-for-loss and one quarterback sack for 13 yards. Dettmer added 10 tackles.
 
The Black Hills State defense, which recorded its first shutout of the season, was led by Sterling Boylan (14 tackles).
 
Fort Lewis finished 2012 with the third winless season in its 50-year history as a four-win program. The 1998 team went 0-10 and the 1969 squad was 0-8.
 
The always-optimistic Rivas-Sandoval saw the season as a building block for the future.
 
“We have a real bright future for a lot of young kids,” head. “There's a lot of key players coming back on offense and a lot of guys on defense got some really important reps. We'll only have a season like this once in a lifetime in terms of injuries. We just ran out of bullets every week.
 
“I'm very proud of our kids and our coaches,” the third-year Skyhawk skipper summarized. “You have to remain positive. There's hope. People who are close to the program know what I'm talking about. There are bright spots there.”