DURANGO, Colo. – Colorado Mesa earned its third straight win Saturday afternoon (Nov. 7) besting the Fort Lewis Skyhawks 30-13 on Saturday (Nov. 7) afternoon here at Ray Dennison Memorial Field. The three-game winning streak marks the Mavericks' longest of the season, running their record to 6-4 (5-3 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference) while the Skyhawks fall to 2-7 (1-7 RMAC).
The day didn't start according to plan for the Maverick offense, going three-and-out on their first two possessions. The defense did its part, holding Fort Lewis to just 10 total yards on their first two possessions, including a fourth down stop near midfield. The Maverick offense capitalized on defense's efforts, mounting a 12-play, 42-yard drive, highlighted by 5th year quarterback
Cole Hansen's two-yard touchdown pass to senior running back
Jalen Hankins. The defense continued to shine late into the first quarter, with sophomore safety
AJ Adams delivering a big hit to a Skyhawk tight end that popped the ball loose. While the ball was floating through the air, senior linebacker
Noah Williams grabbed it to put the Maverick offense back on the field.
The second quarter started much hotter for CMU, with Hansen finding junior wideout
Trek Keyworth for 16 yards on the first play of the period. The ground game found its groove after the shot play, with CMU keeping it on the ground for 11 of the next 12 plays, with the longest rush being an 8-yard scamper by sophomore running back
Amari Brown. Hansen finished the job, scoring on a QB sneak from inside the one-yard line. CMU elected to go for two, but was ultimately unsuccessful, running the lead to 13-0 with 8:15 to go in the second. FLC finally found some rhythm on their next touch, mounting a 15-play, 81-yard drive to put themselves on the board. CMU got one more touch in the half and drove down to the Fort Lewis 30-yard line. Junior kicker
Kale Purvis lined up a 47-yard field goal but was unable to split the uprights. The miss kept the CMU lead at 13-7 at the half.
Out of the break, the Fort Lewis offense was clicking, before a screen pass went awry, with senior safety
Gibson Leafgreen notching a 7-yard tackle for loss. The Maverick offense received some help on their first drive of the second half, with back-to-back plays seeing 15-yard penalties called against Fort Lewis. CMU continued their ground assault, finishing the drive with five straight rushes, culminating in Hansen's second touchdown off a sneak.
The defense continued to shine in the third quarter, forcing yet another 3-and-out. Punt return did its job for a second time, with senior punt returner
Noah Greer returning a 39-yard punt 17 yards. Hansen used his connection with Keyworth several times on the drive, including completions of 19 and 10 yards, along with a 32-yard gain nullified by a penalty, to end the quarter in the redzone up 20-7. Hansen finished the game going 13-for-21 with 130 yards and a touchdown through the skies while chipping in 45 yards and a touchdown on the ground. For Keyworth, he hauled in four catches for an even 50 yards.
Hansen opened the fourth with a couple of shots into the end zone, but the Mavericks couldn't connect on any of them, leading Purvis to come out and split the sticks from 23 yards to give CMU a 23-7 lead.
Fort Lewis stumbled once again in their first drive of the fourth, when Leafgreen read a pass over the middle to notch CMU's second takeaway of the afternoon. Once again, the Maverick offense did its part, with a nine-play drive that ended with three straight carries by Brown for a cumulative 24 yards and a touchdown. CMU ran their lead to 23 at 30-7 with just 9:20 left in the game, with Brown notching 95 yards and that touchdown to be the team's leading rusher. He also had a pair of catches for 21 yards in the game.
The Skyhawks found the end zone on their final drive of the game, but it was already well out of reach. CMU regained possession, got a first down, and kneeled out the clock.
As a team, CMU outgained FLC with 339 yards to the Skyhawk 233. CMU's main defensive showing was in run defense, allowing just 31 net rush yards. The Mavericks also had one of their best days on third down going 12-of-17 and scoring on all five redzone possessions.
CMU now turns its attention to its final game of the 2026 season welcoming in the Black Hills State Yellowjackets. BHSU sits at 5-5 on the year but are currently on a three-game losing streak. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 14 from Stocker Stadium.
