GRAND JUNCTION, Colo. – Senior
Aiden Taylor rushed for 168 yards to lead Colorado Mesa to their third straight homecoming victory after a 24-14 win over Fort Lewis on Saturday (Oct. 25) afternoon at Stocker Stadium.
The Modesto, Calif. native picked up those yards on 28 carries and scored his lone touchdown of the day in the first quarter with 1:38 to play. The touchdown and try knotted the game at 7-7 at the end of the first.
Taylor is seeking to become the Mavericks first 1,000-yard rusher since 2017. Today's yardage brings his season total to 813 yards and 10 touchdowns, both rank No. 2 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference.
Colorado Mesa built a 17-7 halftime lead after
Sullivan Moon connected on a 31-yard field goal with 7:38 to play in the second quarter and was coupled with a 28-yard touchdown run by
Brandon Belgrave with 3:15 to play in the half. Belgrave's touchdown capped a three-play, 43-yard drive that was set up by good field position after the defense kept the Skyhawks deep in their own zone.
Belgrave finished the game with 77 yards on 13 carries and the second quarter touchdown.
The Mavericks scored their final touchdown of the game came on a
Colton Mills-Younger fullback dive from 1-yard out with 2:04 to play in the third quarter. The touchdown plunge capped a 15-play, 81-yard drive that took up nearly eight and a half minutes of the quarter and made the score 24-7.
The Skyhawks would get a touchdown with six minutes to play but Colorado Mesa took the ensuing kick and never surrendered the ball after and milked the rest of the clock out.
Fort Lewis brought in the No. 3 ranked rush defense in the conference allowing just over 126 yards of rushing per game. The Mavericks churned out 274 yards rushing and averaged 5.6 yards per rush. They also outgained the Skyhawks 351-222 and possessed the ball for nearly 35 minutes.
The Maverick defense was solid all afternoon as they limited Fort Lewis to just 109 yards rushing, 113 yards passing and just 5-for-12 on third down. They also had two sacks and forced a fumble on the afternoon.
Gibson Leafgreen finished with a team-high eight tackles, two pass break-ups, and a tackle-for-loss while
Lex Leany had seven tackles.
The win evened the Mavericks record at 4-4 and 3-3 in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference while Fort Lewis fell to 1-7, 0-6 in the conference.
Colorado Mesa will be on the road next week when they travel to Spearfish, S.D. for a matchup with the Black Hills State Yellowjackets. Kickoff is scheduled for 1pm on Saturday from Lyle Hare Stadium. For all the updates, previews, and ways to follow the game, visit CMUMavericks.com.
