The No. 12 Western Colorado University football team dominated visiting Fort Lewis College 44-7 at the Mountaineer Bowl on Oct. 5.
The victory moved Western up two spots to No. 10 in the national polls.
The Mountaineer defense held the Skyhawks to minus-7 rushing yards, while Western tacked on 306 yards in the win. Quarterback Josiah Roy led the Mountaineers to a touchdown on the game's opening drive. The redshirt sophomore pushed the offense 73 yards and finished the drive off himself with a 10-yard touchdown run.
Western's defense took over from that point, limiting the Skyhawks to 7 yards on its first possession, and then minus-6 yards on its second drive.
Roy and the offense got things rolling again after an early turnover. The Mountaineers drove 80 yards in just over two minutes for another touchdown. Once again, Roy was key in the finishing touch. The quarterback tossed a short pass to running back Bryce Vaz who raced eight yards into the end zone.
The Skyhawks stopped Western on fourth-and-1 in the following drive, preventing the Mountaineers from running away with the score. But the Mountaineer defense stayed firm, and forced another Fort Lewis punt.
Roy worked the clock in the final minutes of the half, and again found Vaz with a short pass. The redshirt freshman squeezed inside the right pylon for his second receiving touchdown of the night.
Vaz added a third touchdown, this one rushing, in the third quarter. Roy added another touchdown pass, connecting with Josiah Ayon for 10 yards, to close out the third quarter with a 38-0 lead.
Fort Lewis finally found itself in an advantageous position after a long punt return. The Skyhawks drove the final 43 yards early in the fourth quarter to tack on seven. The Mountaineer defense responded with interceptions by Drea Thompson, and then Zac Heaton, to limit the damage.
Vaz finished the night with three touchdowns, 92 yards rushing and 17 yards receiving. Starting running back Royce Pao hammered the Skyhawk defense for 142 yards on 21 carries for a 6.8 yards per carry average.
Roy had a stellar night through the air for Western, connecting on 24 of 30 pass attempts for 291 yards and three touchdowns. Ayon led the receiving corps with seven catches for 75 yards and one touchdown, while tight end Daniel Parsek terrorized the Skyhawk defensive backfield, finishing his four-catch night with 57 yards.
Next up, the Mountaineers play an away Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference game on Saturday, Oct. 12 at Black Hills State University in Spearfish, South Dakota.
(Gregg Petcoff is the assistant athletics director for communications at Western Colorado University and can be reached at gpetcoff@western.edu.)
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