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Fort Lewis College Athletics

Scoreboard

FLC defense 3.27
Breanna Biorato, Dixie State Athletics
Jayden Helms (#25) led all Skyhawks with seven tackles, Duane Jones Jr. (#43) and Vincent DeLeo (#47) each had five in Saturday's loss to Dixie State.
0
Fort Lewis FLC 0-1
60
Winner Dixie State DIXIE 2-3
Fort Lewis FLC
0-1
0
Final
60
Dixie State DIXIE
2-3
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
FLC Fort Lewis 0 0 0 0 0
DIXIE Dixie State 23 21 7 9 60

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

Skyhawks rusty in 2021 spring opener on the road against DI Dixie State

ST. GEORGE, Utah — Playing for the first time in 497 days, and against a Dixie State University team with four games under its belt, the Fort Lewis College football team knocked off the rust Saturday, falling by a 60-0 final to open its three-game spring season.

"That was a game against a rising Division I FCS team against a Division II program. I thought the kids played hard, but you could tell there was a lot of rust on our side. And you could tell they were a team that had played four other games before us," said FLC head football coach, Darrius G. Smith. "They were a well-oiled machine going against a team still getting its feet wet."

Dixie State (2-3 overall), a former RMAC foe turned NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) program this season, was able to capitalize early on the Skyhawks (0-1 overall) first-game jitters, scoring 23 first quarter points aided by two fumbles by FLC.

The FLC defense, which limited Dixie State to 7-for-17 on third down and led 14-0 at halftime during the two teams' 2019 matchup, stood tall early.

After a fumble pinned the Skyhawks' defense on their own 3-yard line, Fort Lewis was able to hold Dixie State to a field goal thanks to two tackle for losses on the drive by sophomore linebacker Fred Mady III and senior defensive lineman Blayke De La Rosa.

Redshirt sophomore defensive back Jayden Helms led all Skyhawks with seven solo tackles, while senior defensive back Duane Jones Jr. and redshirt freshman linebacker Vincent DeLeo each recorded five tackles.

While the Skyhawks' defense didn't allow long, sustained drives, it was Dixie State's quick-strike ability that allowed the Trailblazers to build a 44-0 lead at the half.

DSU scored three of its five offensive touchdowns in the first half on big plays of a 39-yard run (Quali Conley), a 40-yard touchdown pass (Wilstead to Osborne) and a 38-yard touchdown pass from Wilstead to Osborne again with 50 seconds remaining in the first half to make it a 44-0 lead at the break.

"Dixie State made its big plays and we didn't make ours. The turnover bug showed up a lot for us, whether it was first-game jitters or whatever is was," Smith said.

Offensively, the Skyhawks struggled to gain traction much of the evening, finishing with nine first downs, 38 pass yards and 120 total yards of offense. FLC turned the ball over five times, four times via fumbles to aid the Dixie State offense.

"We were too slow in getting things down and our execution play-to-play, on a scale from 1-10, was probably a six or seven. That's not going to make it," Smith said. "You have to be functioning at a nine or 10 to have success. The weird thing about football is, on defense it only takes one guy to make a big play. On offense, it takes one guy to make a mistake and things go bad. We had too many plays or series where 1-2 guys make mistake and you can't play offensive football like that."

Junior wide receiver Jaelin Hood, a transfer from Nassau Community College, showed off his speed and shiftiness with four catches for 19 yards while racking up 83 yards (20.8 average) on kick returns.

Hood nearly hauled in a touchdown grab in the third quarter, when the Skyhawks mounted an 11-play, 48-yard drive down to the DSU 24 yard line, as he broke free from his defender in the back of the end zone. Unfortunately, the pass to Hood sailed high and off his outstretched fingertips.

Redshirt junior Emmanuel Nwosu, sidelined for the 2019 season, was the biggest bright spotson the night for the Skyhawks as the big 6'0, 230-pound running back finished with a team-high 69 net rushing yards on 14 attempts (4.9 YPC).

Fellow redshirt junior Brayden Lucero, who also missed the entire 2019 season, added 42 rushing yards on 15 attempts.

"I'm very pleased with how he ran the ball. He became a little of a comfort for me calling plays," Smith said of Nwosu. "We didn't know who would be the true starter in the running back core, so for him to step up like he did was truly tremendous. We just have to make sure we can support him and play in all three facets of the game around a performance like that."

On special teams, sophomore punter Matthew Waid was solid on his nine attempts, finishing with a 41.4 yards per kick average, including three kicks of 50 yards or more and a long of 56 yards.

Fort Lewis will now three weeks to prepare for its spring 2021 home opener against Western Colorado, scheduled for 2 p.m. Saturday, April 17 at Ray Dennison Memorial Field.

"The thing that was encouraging, and it won't look like it from the scoreboard, the kids stayed in the fight the whole time," Smith said. "Now we just need to eliminate the big plays and play more consistent on offense and defense. We have some time to prepare and we need to take advantage of our practice opportunities. What I told the team was, 'This game was a hard lesson real fast.' I commend Dixie State on how it played and how they are fastening their program. That's the level I think Fort Lewis can get to if we stay committed to the goal."
 
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