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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

Brayden Miller 10.2
Angela Roberts, FLC Athletic Communications
FLC sophomore quarterback Brayden Miller (#10) rushed and threw for touchdowns in Saturday's game against Black Hills State.
45
Winner Black Hills St. BHS 4-1 , 2-1
17
Fort Lewis FLC 0-5 , 0-4
Winner
Black Hills St. BHS
4-1 , 2-1
45
Final
17
Fort Lewis FLC
0-5 , 0-4
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
BHS Black Hills St. 7 10 14 14 45
FLC Fort Lewis 7 3 0 7 17

Game Recap: Football | | David Wilson, Assistant AD-Communications

Skyhawks get off to fast start, but fall to Black Hills State in Week 5 clash

DURANGO, Colo. — The Fort Lewis College football team took strides forward on Saturday, compiling over 300 yards of offense and playing toe-to-toe with Black Hills State University through the game's opening half.

Unfortunately for the Skyhawks (0-5 overall, 0-4 RMAC), a run of 21 unanswered points by the visiting Yellow Jackets between the third and start of the fourth quarters created the cushion in a 45-17 loss to a surging BHSU team (4-1 overall, 2-1 RMAC).

"Black Hills is building its football team in the same model how I'd like to build this football team where, regardless of travel or budget, they have a bunch of fighters out there and we knew that going in," said FLC head football coach, Darrius G. Smith. "No one likes losing. The players don't like losing, I don't like losing, and no one on my staff likes losing. And I don't like moral victories, but I do have to acknowledge some of the positives and growth I've seen in our team. This team is growing. It's not growing as fast as they would like or we would like, but you can see the growth and potential there."

Fort Lewis played with a lead the majority of the first half, marching down the field on its opening possession for an eight-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Junior wide receiver Dylan Holt capped the drive, toe-dragging in the end zone on an eight-yard connect with sophomore quarterback, Brayden Miller.

The Skyhawks held that 7-0 lead until the end of the first quarter when BHSU pulled even on a five-yard scamper by its quarterback Chance Eben as time expired.

On the ensuing possession, the Skyhawks responded with a nine-play, 61-yard drive ending in the first career field goal for freshman Hunter Villavicencio to go back on top, 10-7, with 11:34 remaining in the half.

Black Hills State retook the lead on another short touchdown run by Eben at the 7:23 mark, and added a 40-yard field goal with 3:12 remaining to take a slim 17-10 lead into the halftime locker rooms.

The Yellow Jackets, ranked No. 1 in the RMAC in rush yards per game at 252.8, received the second half kickoff and promptly went to their ground game to set up scoring drives on three of their next four possessions to build a 38-10 cushion.

Black Hills State finished the afternoon with 59 rush attempts for 363 yards (7.0 yards a carry).

"We knew earlier in the week that this game was going to be won or lost in the trenches," Smith said. "Bottom line, defensively we need put up a winning battle in the trenches. And if you're not winning at the line of scrimmage, it's hard to win a ballgame."

Fort Lewis put together its second touchdown drive of the game early in the fourth quarter when Miller scrambled into the end zone from five yards out to cap a 10-play, 75-yard drive.

The score added to a strong performance by the sophomore transfer as Miller finished 15-of-26 through the air for 184 yards and a touchdown while adding 36 net yards and a score with his legs in his third career start.

"Brayden is understanding how to run our offense. I thought the offensive game plan my coaching staff and I put together was good and one where we knew we could be aggressive," Smith said. "We saw a maturation in (Miller) and to see him take the game plan, embrace it, realize his strengths and weaknesses in the game plan, and know where to go with the football was awesome to see."

As a team, the Skyhawks racked up a season-high 311 total yards of offense.

Redshirt junior running back Jeff Hansen rushed for 70 yards on nine attempts and was second on the team in receiving — just behind junior tight end Zach Russell (3-for-46) with two catches for 45 yards.

Fellow redshirt junior running back Emmanuel Nwosu also showed off his pass catching ability with two catches for 32 yards to go with his 20 rushing yards on two carries.

Defensively, redshirt sophomore defensive back Jayden Helms recorded a career-high 18 tackles, including 12 solo, while true freshman Ayden Madrid joined Helms in double-figures with 13 tackles.

Junior defensive lineman Thomas Chiazor tallied his first sack, and junior defensive back Jalani Blade nabbed his first interception as Skyhawks to help lead the defensive unit, as well.

Fort Lewis will look to build off Saturday's positive steps when it heads back on the road next Saturday for a Week 6 matchup against South Dakota School of Mines (3-2 overall, 1-2 RMAC). Kickoff is scheduled for 12 p.m. in Rapid City.
 
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