GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Juquelle Thompson caught one pass for 11 yards and a touchdown score and returned a kickoff 75 yards to help lead the Fort Lewis College football team to a 28-20 win at Colorado Mesa University Saturday night in the Mavericks Homecoming Game. 
 
The win was the Skyhawks third of the season as they improved to 3-5 overall and 2-4 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.  The loss was only the second league loss for CMU this season as they move to 5-3 overall and 4-2 in the RMAC.
 
The Mavericks took a 7-0 lead at 4:45 in the first quarter after completing a 10-play, 91 yard drive.  The drive was capped by Ricky Trinidad's 31 yard rush into the end zone.
 
The Skyhawks responded on the ensuing kickoff when Thompson returned the kickoff 75 yards to even the game at 7-7 with 32 seconds left in the first quarter.
 
The Skyhawks first drive in the second quarter consisted of 11 plays.  The drive started on CMU's 41-yard line.  After an incomplete pass by junior quarterback Jordan Doyle, running back PJ Hall rushed four straight plays for 31 yards.  An incomplete pass by Doyle led to five straight rushes by the quarterback for 21 yards.  The Skyhawks turned the ball over on downs after eight attempts in the red zone.
 
FLC's defense of Juan Hull, Shane Nelson, Dakota Kay and Sione Folaumoeloa held CMU to a three-and-out series to give FLC the ball with 7:35 left in the second quarter.
 
Ten plays and 43-yards later, Doyle found Thompson for an 11 yard score with 2:52 left in the first half and a Skyhawks 14-7 lead.
 
The Mavericks next drive resulted in Ryan Ross intercepting the ball and returning it 71 yards to CMU's four-yard line. The Skyhawks were pushed back 10 yards after an illegal block penalty.  Three plays later the Skyhawks had a first down three yards out from the end zone.  Doyle rushed in for the Skyhawks third score of the game and a 21-7 lead with 39 ticks left in the first half that they would take into halftime.
 
After one half of action, Hall and Doyle combined for all 133 Skyhawk rushing yards.
 
Colorado Mesa started the second half on their own 33-yard line.  Two plays later Kaulana Waalani-Arroyo intercepted Andrew Cota's pass and returned it 30 yards to the CMU 40-yard line.  A 15-yard penalty on CMU on the return put the ball 15-yards down the field to CMU's 25-yard line.  Hall started the drive with a one yard rush and then punched it in from 24 yards out to cap a two-play, 25-yard drive that gave FLC a 28-7 lead with 13:21 left in the third quarter.
 
FLC's defense held CMU to a turnover on downs on the next drive after the Mavericks failed to convert on fourth-and seven.  The Skyhawks were forced to punt for the first time in the game with eight minutes remaining in the third quarter.  CMU then went three-and-out before FLC had to punt for the second straight drive. 
 
On second-and-nine on the FLC 32-yard line, Cota threw his second interception of the quarter and third of the game when Theo Chambers intercepted his pass in the end zone.
 
The Mavericks defense made a comeback in the fourth quarter and held the Skyhawks without a pass completion.  Two Skyhawk passes were intercepted that led to scoring drives by CMU.  The Mavericks second score of the game came with 9:37 left in regulation.  A missed extra point attempt led to a 28-13 Skyhawk lead.  CMU would intercept the ball again on the Skyhawks next drive and would score on a four-play, 39-yard drive.
 
With 7:52 left in regulation and the Skyhawks hanging onto a 28-20 lead, they would burn seven minutes and four seconds off the clock before punting the ball to CMU with 48 seconds left in regulation. 
 
On the final drive of the game, Shane Nelson made a tackle on Cota on the Mavericks first play of the drive.  Waalani-Arroyo tackled DJ Hubbard after a 17-yard pass completion, before Folaumoeloa stopped Cota for a three yard gain.  On second and seven on the FLC-49 yard line, the Skyhawks forced CMU to three incomplete passes to seal the win, 28-20.
 
Fifteen of the Skyhawks 22 first downs came on rushing plays.  FLC accumulated 370 total offensive yards on 84 plays, 282 of which came on the ground.
 
The Skyhawks were flagged for 16 penalties for 152 yard.
 
Hall finished the game with 166 rushing yards and one score on 38 carries.  Doyle recorded 101 rushing yards on 13 carries and one score before leaving the game in the third quarter with an injury.  Doyle completed 7-if-19 passes for 80 yards, one score and no interceptions.
 
Five different Skyhawk receivers caught passes, including Jordan Gillen (30 yards), Nova Hardy (21 yards), and Austin Shaw who each had two catches.
 
Kipp Castanha punted five times for an average of 38.4 yards per punt.  He was 4-for-4 on point after attempts.
 
Cota recorded 15 completions on 36 attempts for 168 yards, one touchdown and three interceptions.  He also led the Mavericks running game with 92 yards on 17 carries.
 
Ryan Ross led the Skyhawks defense with seven tackles (six solo) and his 71-yard interception return.  Nelson also added seven tackles (four solo).  Brandarius Johnson tallied six tackles, 1.5 of which went for a loss of four yards.
 
Fort Lewis will return home Nov. 1 to play host to Western State Colorado University.  Kickoff is slated for 12 p.m.