DURANGO, Colo. – October 24, 2015 – Two large plays by the 23^rd-ranked team in the nation, Colorado Mesa University, resulted in a 21-13 setback for the Fort Lewis College football team Saturday afternoon at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.
 
The loss evens the Skyhawks overall record to 4-4 and 3-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.  Colorado Mesa stays undefeated in league games at 6-0 and improve to 7-1 overall.  Saturday's game marked the third straight week the Skyhawks have faced a ranked opponent, and the
 
The Mavericks running back DJ Hubbard broke free for a 74-yard touchdown run on the second play of their second drive for a CMU 7-0 lead.
 
The Skyhawks attempted to cut the lead down to four points at 6:19 in the first quarter on a 32-yard field goal attempt that sailed wide left. 
 
Leading 7-0 to start the second quarter, Colorado Mesa quarterback Sean Rubalcaba connected with Virnel Moon for a 71 yard touchdown scored. 
 
After being forced to punt on the Skyhawks ensuing drive, FLC's defense stopped the Mavericks on fourth-and-goal when Ryneal Lewis-Adams sacked Rubalcaba for a 12 yard loss.
 
Kipp Castanha converted on a 31-yard field goal with 31 seconds left in the first half to cut the lead to 14-3 at halftime.
 
Fort Lewis scored their first touchdown of the game with 3:55 left in the third quarter.  LyDell Williams received a shuffle pass from Jordan Doyle and ran in from two yards out to cut the lead to 14-10.
 
The Mavericks opened their fourth quarter on FLC's four-yard and scored on the first play of the quarter to grab a 21-10 lead.
 
Castanha converted on a 45-yard field goal attempt at 13:57 for the final score of the game, 21-13.
 
PJ Hall carried the ball 16 times for 86 yards to lead the Skyhawks ground game.  Doyle added 49 rushing yards on six carries to go with his 152 passing yards (16-of-33).
 
Esley Simmons caught six passes for a team high 72 yards.  Allen Thigpen averaged 36.8 yards on four punts.
 
Juquelle Thompson, who caught three passes for 35 yards, returned three punts for 53 yards and four kickoffs for 135 yards. 
 
Andrew Ike led the defensive unit with a game high 11 tackles.  Shane Nelson added nine tackles and Sione Folaumoeloa tallied eight tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss of seven yards and one sack for a loss of four yards.
 
The Skyhawks will travel to Western State Colorado University Oct. 31 for a 1 p.m. game against the Mountaineers.