LAST TIME OUT
Senior running back Drake Griffin broke the single season rushing record Saturday afternoon to lead the Fort Lewis College football team to a 52-7 win over New Mexico Highlands University at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.

The win marks the Skyhawks third straight win and third straight game of scoring more than 50 points.  This is the second season in school history the Skyhawks have stringed together three straight games scoring 50 or more points (2002).

Griffin carried the ball 13 times for 192 yards and three touchdowns, averaging 14.8 yards per carry.  In 10 games this season, he has rushed for 1,226 yards, breaking Scott Stamper's 1982 record of 1,206 yards.

On the third play of the game, Griffin broke open for a 65-yard touchdown run for the lone score of the first quarter.  He tallied 83 yards in the first quarter on six carries.

Griffin eclipsed the century mark in rushing yards for the seventh time this season. 

The Skyhawks notched 453 yards on the ground while holding the Cowboys to only 80 rushing yards.  FLC ran 49 plays for 516 yards of total offense, an average of 10.5 yards per play.  NMHU ran 20 more plays for 253 yards.

FLC sacked the Cowboys three times for a loss of 16 yards, and added 10 tackles for a loss of 33 yards.

Maomao Niko tallied five tackles, 2.5 tackles for a loss of eight yards and a sack for five yards.  Tyrell Thomas led FLC with eight tackles.  Darrian Stickney added seven tackles, two of which went for a loss of five yards.

Joseph Cavale scored 10 points after making 7-of-7 extra point attempts and his lone field goal attempt.  He added one punt for 50 yards and kicked off nine times for an average of 62.2 yards.

Mason Hatton finished the game returning three punts for 123 yards and one kick off for 11 yards for a total of 134 all-purpose yards.  He returned a punt 78 yards for a score in the first half to give FLC a 21-0 lead.

The Skyhawks offense exploded in the third quarter, scoring 28 points and accumulating 176 rushing yards. FLC scored 28 points on 14 plays and tallied 224 yards of total offense in the third quarter.

For their performances, Griffin was named the RMAC Offensive Player of the Week and Hatton was tabbed the RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week.  This is the third straight week the Skyhawks have had a player earned RMAC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.

LOOKING AHEAD

Fort Lewis College will travel to St. George, Utah this Saturday to play their final game of the season against Dixie State University.

The Skyhawks first and only meeting with Dixie State was Dec. 2, 2006 in the Rotary Bowl.  The 24-14 was the Skyhawks first post-season win program history.

Dixie State is sixth in the league standings with a 5-4 conference record (5-5 overall).  The Trailblazers are 2-2 at home this season.

DSU is averaging 25.4 points per game and allowing 29.0 points per game.

The Trailblazers have the fourth best defense in the league, allowing 341.9 yards per game.
 

STATS LINEUP

The Skyhawks lead the league in rushing (273.8 yards), punting (35.8 yards), and time of possession (34:53), more than two minutes more than the next team.

FLC is also ranked in the top five in the league in rushing defense (second, 125.7 yards), total defense (third, 341.9 yards), pass efficiency (third, 146.2), scoring defense (fourth, 26.8), and pass defense (fifth, 216.2 yards).

Two of the top RMAC rushers hail from FLC.  Drake Griffin is third in the league with 123.6 rushing yards per game (nine touchdowns) and PJ Hall is 10th with 76.7 yards per game (two touchdowns).