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Skyhawks, Cardinals kickoff 2024 season Saturday afternoon

8/30/2024 1:00:00 PM

By: Hayden Mangan, Assistant AD-Communications & Fan Engagement
DURANGO, Colo. – Head coach Johnny Cox will ring in his third season leading the Fort Lewis College football team this Saturday, Aug. 31, when he leads his Skyhawks out of the locker room to face off with William Jewell College in the 2024 season opener at 2:00 p.m. on Ray Dennison Memorial Field up on the rim.
 
The Basics
Opponent: William Jewell College
Date: Saturday, Aug. 31
Time: 2:00 p.m. MST
Location: Durango, Colo.
Stadium: Ray Dennison Memorial Field
Series Overall: Cardinals lead 1-0
Series at Fort Lewis: First Meeting
Last Meeting: WJC won in Liberty, Mo., 42-6 (Sep. 2, 2023)
Live Broadcast: RMAC Network
Tickets: HomeTown Ticketing
 
Themes and Promotions
Saturday will be School Pride Day presented by Durango Coca-Cola and Bank of the San Juans. Fans are encouraged to show out in their best and favorite Skyhawks gear. At halftime, Fort Lewis will also honor its 1984 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Championship Team with the presentation of championship rings in honor of the team's 40th anniversary.
 
Pregame Festivities and The Club at FLC
Get here early on game day and start the party with our pregame festivities in the North Stadium Lot located just north of Ray Dennison Memorial Field. Available two hours before kickoff through the end of the first quarter, fans are encouraged to bring friends, family, yard games, food, drinks, and more. Members of the Skyhawks Club and those who have purchased tailgating passes will also have access to reserved parking.
 
New this season is the introduction of The Club at FLC, a dedicated kid's zone provided in partnership with The Boys & Girls Club of La Plata County and Four Corners Community Bank for youth ages 5-14. The Club at FLC will be open two hours before kickoff and run through the first quarter.
 
New Leadership for the Cardinals
William Jewell makes its way to Durango under the direction of first-year head coach Jason Ambroson. After serving as a coordinator for the Cardinals from 1997-2000 and coaching players who combined for 29 All-Conference honors, one Conference Offensive Player of the Year, and three All-America selections, Ambroson most recently spent the last nine seasons compiling a 90-19 overall record at Smithville High School including a state championship in 2021.
 
A Look at the Cardinals
Last season, William Jewell College marched out to a 2-8 overall record with a 1-6 mark in Great Lakes Valley Conference play to finish last in the league. This season, the Cardinals have been voted to finish eighth out of nine teams with 14 points on the GLVC Preseason Coaches' Poll.
 
Offensively, the Cardinals are coming off a season where the program ranked seventh in the conference in yards per game (292.4) and eighth in scoring (22.5 points per game) and total touchdowns (28). William Jewell found its most success through the air where they averaged 211.7 yards per game against only 80.7 yards per contest on the ground. This year the Cardinals look to newly named starting quarterback Cameron Vanzant. A native of Farmington, Arkansas, Vanzant stands at six feet and one-hundred-seventy-five pounds out of Farmington High School. Playing under head coach J.R. Eldridge, Vanzant was named the Arkansas Underclassman of the Year in 2021.
 
Luckily for William Jewell, the Cardinals see the return of redshirt junior Sean Mitchell. The six-foot-one defensive back out of Van Horn High School in Independence, Missouri, was a bright spot for WJC last season as he led the roster and finished second in the GLVC with 83.0 total tackles on the season. Making 54 solo and 29 assisted tackles, Mitchell also recorded three tackles for a combined 17 yards lost while simultaneously finishing with the third-most interceptions in the conference with three.
 
Skyhawks Offense
A new story is set to unfold in Durango as redshirt freshman Stone Walker takes the reigns of the Skyhawks offense under center. Standing at six-foot-three and one-hundred-seventy-five-pounds, Walker was a standout athlete at Northland Christian School in Houston, Texas, where he was tabbed the District Player of the Year as a senior while also earning First Team All-District, Second-Team All-State, and Academic All-State honors.
 
Protecting Walker will be a Skyhawks offensive line that returns all but two of its starters from last season. Headlined by 2023 Second-Team All-RMAC left tackle Jacob LaCroix, Fort Lewis will look to build off last season's success that saw FLC score the most points (148) since 2018.
 
Redshirt sophomore Jonathan Broadus looks to make his Skyhawks debut in the backfield after redshirting in 2022 and missing last season due to a leg injury. Out wide stands Christopher Thomas Jr., Fort Lewis' leader in total touchdowns over the past two seasons. Aiding Thomas Jr. is Zachary Gaumont, who also runs track for FLC and narrowly missed the men's 100-meter dash finals at the 2023 RMAC Outdoor Track & Field Championships with a speedy 10.71-second finish, and Jamille Humphrey, a junior receiver who posted 347 yards on 37 receptions last season.
 
Skyhawks Defense
Tabbed as this season's "Agent 0", Jacob Penney becomes the second Fort Lewis defender to wear the number zero. Last season, Penney led the Skyhawks with 80 total tackles including 66 solo, 14 assisted, and five tackles for 12 yards of loss. Joining Penney at the linebacker position this Saturday are sophomore Juma Kashanda and senior Jack Hanenburg.
 
Walter Stauffer and Kabe Merhish return to set the edge for the Skyhawks on the defensive line. In addition, Fort Lewis focused heavily on its defensive front this past offseason resulting in the largest recruiting class by position with 12 incoming defensive linemen.
 
Asa Roberson and Jordan Thomas look to lock down opposing receivers at cornerback, while Khalil Ali and Trenton Sullivan wait deep in the secondary for Fort Lewis.
 
Most notably, Fort Lewis brought in a defensive mastermind this offseason with the addition of Rocky Long as the team's defensive analyst. Long, father of the 3-3-5 defense, joins the Skyhawks after spending one season as Syracuse's defensive coordinator following 22 years as head coach between San Diego State and New Mexico.
 
Early Bye
With the implementation of the week zero option, Fort Lewis has set itself up with a bye week next Saturday, Sep. 7. Instead, the Skyhawks will look ahead to hosting Arizona Christian University on Saturday, Sep. 14, for a 2:00 p.m. kickoff.
 
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