Box score

SILVER CITY, N.M. – After falling behind 28-0 in the first half, Fort Lewis (0-3 overall, 0-2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) mounted a furious second-half rally before falling to Western New Mexico (2-2, 1-1) 42-34 today at Altamirano Field.
 
The rally started midway through the second quarter as FLC pieced together a late scoring drive to build momentum going into the half. Starting on their own 25, the Skyhawks marched swiftly downfield on the arm of Tim Jenkins. After missing his first two targets, the senior quarterback connected with Jonathan Price for a 12-yard hookup. He followed that with completions of 15 yards to Jesse Freeman, nine to Price, and a 21-yard scramble to the Mustang 18. After a WNMU penalty moved the ball inside the 10 for first-and-goal, Jenkins found Doyle Bode, who made a sliding scoop catch in the middle of the end zone to put FLC on the board for the first time in 2012 and cut the margin to 28-21 at intermission.
 
The momentum was evident at the start of the second half, with the Skyhawk defense forcing a fast four-and-out, as the Mustangs went for it on fourth-and-one at their 35, but came up short. The offense wasted little time cashing in, with Jenkins firing a rope down the middle to Amery Duncan to the two. Two plays later, Jenkins called his own number and rushed three yards to slash the once-28-point lead in half, just under three minutes into the third quarter.
 
The Mustangs answered with a six-play, 75-yard drive to go back up by 21, but FLC came right back on the ensuing possession. Jenkins, who threw for 349 yards in the second half alone, found Bode for 21 yards to move the ball out near midfield. With the hurry-up offense in full affect, Jenkins hit a streaking Jordan Benton down the sidelines for 46 yards to the eight. A personal foul helped keep the drive alive on what would have been third-and-goal turned into a first-and-goal at the three and Van Gramann pounded it in for the touchdown leaving WNMU ahead, 35-21, near the midway point of the third.
 
The teams would trade possessions over the rest of the quarter, although the Skyhawks had a chance to get closer before the quarter ended. Beginning at their 37, FLC moved the ball down inside the Mustang 10 to the five for a first-and-goal. Three straight incompletions, including one great pass break up by WNMU's Jerrald Hines, forced a fourth-and-goal. Originally, the Skyhawks were set to attempt a field goal, but a substitution infraction on WNMU moved the ball to the two and FLC elected to go for it. Jenkins went with the quick snap keeper and was stopped just short of the end zone by Hines, turning the ball over on downs.
 
That goal line stand turned out to be huge, as the FLC defense would stop WNMU early in the fourth quarter when Josh McIntire's 43-yard field goal hit the right upright. The Skyhawk offense fed off the miss, moving the ball 75 yards on nine plays. Jenkins connected with Bode for 22 yards and Benton for 28 more to move the ball to the Mustang three. Jenkins rushed in for his second touchdown to make it a 35-28 contest with nine minutes to play in the game.
 
WNMU came through with a big answer on the ensuing drive, on a third-and-eight at the FLC 42, Mitch Glasmann scrambled out of trouble a couple of times which allowed Ronnell Pompey to get open down the field for a 42-yard touchdown that helped move the lead back to 14, 42-28, with 6:35 left.
 
FLC continued to move the ball at a Corvette-type pace, hurrying to the line and grabbing huge chunks of yards. Faced with a third-and-10 at their 23, Jenkins found Bode near the sidelines for a 10-yard pickup and big first down. Jenkins wasn't done, as he found Aaron Holt over the middle for 14, Bode for 23, and then Duncan wide open down the sidelines for 32 yards and a touchdown. The extra point was missed leaving FLC within eight, 42-34, with 4:29 to play.

The defense forced a Mustang punt out near midfield that pinned the Skyhawks at their 10 with 1:59 to play needing a touchdown and two.
 
Jenkins nearly pulled it off, as Gramann opened the drive with an 18-yard run and then Jenkins hit Duncan for 45 yards down to the Mustang 27. That's when the WNMU defense finally made stops, holding Gramann to a four-yard rush on first down and then three straight incompletions, including the last one that was nearly brought in for a first down by Duncan near the sideline, turned the ball over on downs allowing WNMU to run the clock out to preserve the win.
 
Jenkins lit up the Silver City air with 405 yards passing, going 26-for-52, with two touchdowns and no picks. His main target was Bode who pulled in eight catches for 126 yards and a score. Duncan also hauled in the other touchdown, along with 115 yards on four catches. Gramann led the rushing attack going for 57 yards on 12 carries and one touchdown. Jenkins added two rushing scores and 14 yards on seven carries. Phil Odell was all over the field to lead the defense with 13 tackles, while Drew Smith was also in double-figures with 12.

Jenkins moved past Matt Gutierrez (7,217 yards, 2003-06) into third place on the FLC career passing list in the game. The Skyhawk senior now has 7,563 yards through the air during his career, behind just Andrew Webb (11,742, 2000-03) and FLC Athletic Hall of Famer Thad Trujillo (9,873, 1991-94).

Odell climbed two spots to No. 7 on FLC's career tackling charts. The senior linebacker now has 283 career tackles and surpassed Trevor McKenzie (279, 2000-03) and Tim Kellerman (272, 1998-2001) in the game. Odell is chasing FLC Athletic Hall of Famer Shane Voss' school record of 356 career tackles.
 
Fort Lewis returns to action this coming Saturday when they host No. 3 Colorado State-Pueblo with kickoff set for 1 p.m. at Ray Dennison Memorial Field. The Bent Urban Sports Bar tailgate party begins at 10 a.m. in the parking lot east of Dennison Field. Gates to the stadium open at noon.