GUNNISON, Colo.  Western Colorado's defense held visiting Fort Lewis College to minus-7 yards rushing while the 12th-ranked Mountaineer offense ground out 306 yards in a dominating 44-7 Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference football victory Saturday night at the Mountaineer Bowl.

JUST THE FACTS
Final score: Western def. Fort Lewis, 44-7
Records: Western 5-0 (3-0 RMAC), Fort Lewis 1-4 (0-3)
Location: Mojo Field at Mountaineer Bowl at The Rady Family Sports Complex, Gunnison, Colo.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• Quarterback Josiah Roy led the Mountaineers to a touchdown on the game's opening drive, pushing the offense 73 yards in 10 plays and finishing the drive off himself with a 10-yard touchdown run.
• Western's defense took over from that point, limiting the Skyhawks to seven yards on their first possession and then minus-six yards following a Mountaineer fumble on their second possession.
• Roy and the offense got things rolling again after their earlier turnover, this time going 80 yards in just 2 minutes, 7 seconds for another score. And once again, Roy was part of the finishing touches on the drive, tossing a short pass to running back Bryce Vaz who raced to the left and into the end zone untouched.
• That ending was keyed by a 38-yard dash from Vaz who was pushed out of bounds at the Fort Lewis nine yard line.
• The score could have gotten out of hand early in the second quarter but Western was stopped by the FLC defense on a fourth and 1 on the Skyhawk 1 yard line. The Mountaineer defense was a wall, though, limiting Fort Lewis to just one yard and forcing a punt.
• Western tacked on a field goal on its ensuing drive, then the defense produced another 1 yard 3-and-out, setting the offense up with a short field.
• Roy worked the clock in the final minutes, finally getting in close and again finding Vaz with a short pass, this one ending six yards later with Vaz squeezing inside the right pylon for his second receiving touchdown of the day.
• Vaz added a third touchdown, this one rushing, in the third quarter, and Roy added another touchdown pass, connecting with Josiah Ayon for 10 yards that helped close out the third quarter with the Mountaineers leading 38-0.
• Fort Lewis finally found itself in an advantageous position after a long punt return and went the final 43 yards early in the fourth quarter to get on the scoreboard. But the drive was the last positive for the Skyhawk offense who's final three drives ended with a 3-and-out that gained no yards, and Mountaineer interceptions by Drea Thompson and then Zac Heaton.

MOJO NOTES

• 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 for Western, connecting on 24 of 30 pass attempts for 291 yards and 3 touchdowns.
• Ayon led the receiving corps with seven catches for 75 yards and 1 touchdown. Tight end Daniel Parsek terrorized the Skyhawk defensive backfield, finishing his 4-catch night with 57 yards—a total that included 56 yards after the catch.
• The Mountaineer defense limited the Skyhawks to 152 total yards, only 10 first downs (2 were by penalty), and an average gain per play of just 2.8 yards.
• Fort Lewis quarterback Stone Walker was sacked five times during the night. Western's Ernesto Lopez, Drew Johnson, Jerry Witty and Will Geiman each recorded one sack apiece, while Ricky Freymond and Mikey Smith shared one sack.
• Special teams were also on top of their game. Punter Zac Grable averaged 55.3 yards per punt and kicked off 9 times with 7 touchbacks. Adam Tasei hit on all three of his field goal attempts, the longest coming from 38 yards out, and was a perfect 5-for-5 on point-after attempts.

THEY SAID IT


NEXT UP
The Mountaineers travel to Spearfish, S.D., for their next game, an RMAC contest against host Black Hills State University (3-2 overall, 2-1 RMAC).