DURANGO, Colo. – The Colorado Mesa football survived the trap game with Fort Lewis on Saturday at Ray Dennison Memorial Field as they churned up 566 yards of total offense in a 55-3 win over the Skyhawks on Saturday (Oct. 16) in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference action.
 
Fort Lewis took the early lead after Karst Hunter threw his second interception of the season. With 8:41 to play in the first quarter, Skyhawk Hunter Villavicencio booted a 40-yard field goal to give the Skyhawks a 3-0 lead.
 
It was all Colorado Mesa after that.
 
The field goal woke the Mavericks up as they allowed 39 of Fort Lewis' 67 total yards in the first half on that drive and outscored the Skyhawks 34-3 in the half.
 
The defense limited Fort Lewis to just 99 yards in the game and 3-of-16 on third down. The defense also intercepted three passes and had three sacks which helped lead to only nine completed passes by Skyhawk quarterbacks.
 
Defensive back Darrien Young intercepted his second pass of the season while Creighton Sanders and Siaosi Finau each had their first pick of the season.
 
Logan Bayus, Cross Poyer and Zach Hanna all registered sacks in the game.
 
For the third time this season, the offense racked up over 500 yards of offense. They ran 73 plays and rushed for a season-high 338 yards on 50 carries, a 6.8 yards per carry average.
 
Converted receiver Darick Holmes finished with a game and season-high 133 yards on just eight carries and had two touchdowns. His first touchdown came on the first play of the drive at 1:23 to play in the first quarter. Holmes took it and ran 55-yards for the score while his second was a short 1-yard burst with 42 seconds before halftime. He did not play in the second half.
 
Quarterback Karst Hunter was 15-for-21 passing for 218 yards and two scores. He found Dwight Blakey on a 10-yard pass in the first half and connected with Dagan Rienks for another 10-yard score in the fourth quarter.
 
Hunter added just 13 yards on the ground but found the end zone twice. He had an 8-yard run in the first quarter that capped a nine play drive and then a 13-yard run on the second quarter that ended a short two-play drive.
 
Dwight Blakey led all receivers with five catches for 63 yards and the touchdown.
 
Colorado Mesa improves to 5-1 on the season and 4-1 in the conference while the Skyhawks fall to 0-7, 0-6 in the RMAC.
 
The Mavericks will have a big matchup next weekend at home in Stocker Stadium as they will take on the nationally ranked Colorado School of Mines Orediggers at 1pm. The game will also be homecoming for the Mavericks as they will be welcoming back alums and inducting two former student athletes into the Hall of Honor.