Eagles drop final game to Fort Lewis, 47-34
For the first time under Head Coach Jay Long and since 2005, the Eagles failed to finish the season over .500. Saturday, the football team lost to Fort Lewis College, 47-34, even after holding a 22-14 halftime lead. The Eagles finished the season 5-6 overall, 4-5 in conference play.
The Skyhawks ran all over the Eagles, stacking up 316 yards on the ground. Quarterback Allen Thigpen, junior of Dayton, Ohio, ran for 169 of them.
Thigpen accounted for 200 passing yards on just nine completed passes. He also scored three touchdowns, one on the ground, one passing, and one kick return with 14 seconds left in the game, sealing the victory for the Skyhawks.
“It was a tough game,” Matt Reader, redshirt freshman of Appleton, Wiconsin, said. “Tough for us to have to send our seniors out with a loss. Those guys did so much for our program and we all wanted to send them out on a positive note, so the team was pretty hurt.”
Several seniors impacted the Eagles positively in their final game. Chris Conroy, senior quarterback of Gordon, led the Eagles on an early touchdown drive, finished by a 15-yard touchdown pass to Reader.
Senior Cole Montgomery, of Casper, Wyoming, completed the two-point conversion attempt with a pass to Zac Bargen, senior of Chadron.
Matt Vinson, sophomore of Box Elder, South Dakota, completed 24 passes for 283 yards and three touchdowns. All three of them were to Reader, who finished with four touchdowns and 60 yards. Redshirt freshman Max Gray, of Arlington, Washington, caught eight passes for a career-high 124 yards.
“We knew going into the game that Fort Lewis had some small corners,” Reader said. “The coaches gave me an opportunity to take advantage of that. The quarterbacks made some nice plays and put the ball where it needed to be and we connected.”
Senior fullback Robert Jackson, of Savannah, Georgia, added the lone rushing touchdown for the Eagles, a 30-yard scramble late in the first quarter. Jackson was CSC’s leading rusher with 40 yards.
Defensively, three players led the team: junior Brian Wood, of Stockton, California; Dylan Furrier, senior of Tucson, Arizona; and redshirt freshman Kirk Durtsche, of Casper, Wyoming.
Sophmore Collin Eisenman, of Sheridan, Wyoming, earned RMAC First Team honors. Eisenman led the Eagles in tackles for loss, with 12.5; sacks, with six; and tied with Furrier for most forced fumbles, with two.
Eight others received honorable mention: Bargen; Danny O’Boyle, senior of Gering; Darrien Oliver, junior of San Diego; Daniel Sotelo, senior of Grand Island; senior Clay Cundall, of Greybull, Wyoming; Furrier; Montgomery; and Ryan Wood, junior of Stockton, California.
O’Boyle finished third on the team in receiving yards with 320 but was sidelined with a severe knee injury during the Colorado State University-Pueblo game, Oct. 27. Furrier finished his career with enough tackles to place him in the top 10 for CSC history. Ryan Wood and Cundall were both large threats on defense, Wood finishing second in tackles, and Cundall finishing fourth.
To earn All-RMAC First team honors, players are voted on by the head coaches of the RMAC. However a head coach cannot vote for his own player. Players receiving honorable mention received at least one vote.
“I think the most important thing to work on this spring and summer is the small details,” Reader said. “If we can improve on the little things, we should find more success.”