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Fort Lewis College Athletics

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Christopher Thomas Jr. (82) and Zach Russell (87) celebrate Chris's first collegiate touchdown.
Angela Roberts, FLC Athletic Communications
Christopher Thomas Jr. (82) celebrates his first touchdown of the season.

Skyhawks head to Pueblo for conference contest with Thunderwolves

9/30/2022 2:00:00 PM

By: Hayden Mangan, Athletic Communications Assistant
DURANGO, Colo. – After suffering a tough loss at home last Saturday to conference rival Adams State, the Fort Lewis College football team is hungry to bounce back as they head to Pueblo, Colo., for a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game against the Colorado State University Pueblo Thunderwolves. Saturday's game will be the 35th meeting all-time between the two programs.
 
Game Information
Saturday, October 1st
2:00 p.m. MDT
Vs. Colorado State University Pueblo
CSU Pueblo Thunderbowl
Pueblo, CO

"We're excited about this opponent," Fort Lewis College Head Coach Johnny Cox said. "They've won a national championship in recent years. When a program can accomplish something like that, they move up into that elite category. We've been improving steadily each week, and hopefully we can continue that process and put it on display for our fans this weekend."
 
Colorado State University Pueblo went 14-1 in 2014 in route to winning the NCAA Division II National Championship. The Thunderwolves lone loss of the season came at the hands of Fort Lewis by a score of 23-22 in Durango.
 
Scouting the Thunderwolves
CSU Pueblo has had arguably one of the toughest schedules thus far. The Pack opened the season with a dominant 59-27 win over then No. 24 Midwestern State, then suffered losses to No. 5 Grand Valley State 25-10, Western Colorado 17-10, and No. 21 Colorado School of Mines 45-17.
 
Final scores never tell the whole story and averaging 338.0 yards of total offense demonstrates just that. The Pack have averaged 232.25 yards through the air and 105.8 yards on the ground thus far. While they have fallen short in offensive shootouts, it is clear that CSU Pueblo can do some damage. The Pack's defense has been on its heels since week one, allowing opponents an average of 31 points per game alongside 394.3 yards of total offense.
 
Steven Croell commands the threatening Thunderwolves offense. The redshirt sophomore has thrown for 828 yards, seven touchdowns, and three interceptions this season. The quarterback has a 135.60 quarterback rating to go alongside 106 rushing yards on the ground.
 
Austin Bacher has been The Pack's leading rusher thus far, picking up 225 net yards and two touchdowns on 38 attempts.

In the air Croell has connected with both Andrew Cook and Max Fine fourteen times thus far. The duo leads The Pack in receiving but Cook stands alone at the top with three touchdowns this season.
 
Last Time Out
Fort Lewis suffered a tough loss at home last Saturday to a hungry Adams State team. The Skyhawks only managed 235 yards of total offense. While 235 was a continuous improvement from the previous weeks, it was not enough to keep pace with the Grizzlies 588 yards of total offense and three takeaways.
 
Junior Braden Wingle threw for 200 yards, connecting with Christopher Thomas Jr. and Zach Russell for a pair of touchdowns. Wingle also added three interceptions and suffered one sack. Jeff Hansen led Fort Lewis on the ground with a gain of 23 yards on just six attempts. Max Hyson created havoc and opportunity for the Skyhawks with a huge strip-sack on Marckell Grayson: The Skyhawks first forced fumble of the season. Sophomore Hunter Villavicencio showed off his strength with a huge 49-yard field goal in the second quarter.
 
Skyhawks Leaders
Wingle continues to command the developing Fort Lewis offense. The junior has a quarterback rating of 92.11 after completing 62 of his 109 passing attempts (56.9%) for 506 yards, three touchdowns, and seven interceptions. Hansen and Wingle are in a tight race for the leading rusher title as both have nabbed 30 net yards thus far. Russell leads the Fort Lewis receiving core from the tight end spot, securing 97 yards and two touchdowns on just eight catches.
 
Hyson and James Reyes have been the game changers for FLC on defense thus far. Hyson has the Skyhawks only forced fumble thus far and Reyes owns the only interception of the season. True freshman Carter Cameron and senior Frankie Ayon are the first two to eclipse 20 tackles. Cameron leads the duo and the roster with 28, while Ayon sits close behind with 23.
 
Villavicencio leads the special teams force for Fort Lewis. The sophomore is 2-3 this year on field goals thus far alongside four kickoffs for 240 yards and three touchbacks. Matthew Waid is the Skyhawks leg on fourth-down, sending 13 punts for a total of 545 yards this includes five punts inside the twenty-yard line and four punts over fifty yards.
 
Looking Ahead
Next week the Skyhawks are back at home once more for a conference matchup with the Chadron State Eagles. Fort Lewis will celebrate Agriculture Day, and game day will be presented by Morehart Murhpy. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. on Ray Dennison Memorial Field.
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