By: Con Marshall
CSC Athletics
CHADRON, Neb. – Chadron State College quarterback Aidan Thompson threw three touchdown passes and the Eagles thwarted Fort Lewis's offense by blocking three kicks, intercepting three passes and limiting the Skyhawks to only 21 yards rushing while treating the Old Grads to a 34-3 victory during Homecoming at Elliott Field on Saturday.
The victory is the third in a row for the Eagles, improving their season record to 4-5 and their Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference mark to 3-4. Fort Lewis falls to 2-6 and 1-6.
The Eagles scored 17 points in each half, with Garet Schlabs catching a pair of touchdown passes and Koye Gilbert also hauling in a score. The Eagle offense gained 165 yards through the air and 133 yards on the ground.
Defensively, Chadron State kept the visitors out of the red zone the entire game. The Eagles' three interceptions made it 10 turnovers forced in the past three games by the CSC defense, with Liam Blaser picking off a pass for the third consecutive game while Reese Jacobs and Rylan Wehr each grabbed their firsts of the year.
Two blocked punts led to the Eagles' first 10 points. Three sophomores who primarily play on special teams were the instigators.
Mason Kiewiet blocked the first punt, giving Chadron State possession at midfield. The Eagles got one first down before the drive died, but Shay Prichard booted a 47-yard field goal to open the scoring.
Fort Lewis also had to punt on its next possession and Noah Shoemaker blocked that kick. This time, Reid Sprague picked up the bounding ball and took it 20 yards to the end zone for his first career touchdown. Prichard added the extra point, putting the Eagles ahead 10-0 with 4:16 left in the opening quarter.
On their third possession, the Skyhawks' starting quarterback, Sam Jones, completed back-to-back passes of 31 yards to KhaVontae Paul and 14 yards to Solomon Latimer to account for two of the visitors' three first downs in the first half. However, Fort Lewis could not keep the drive alive and called on Lucas Schmitten to kick a 44-yard field goal with 1:27 left in the opening frame for what turned to be the visitors' only points.
One possession after missing a 39-yard field goal midway through the second quarter, CSC found the end zone on a five-play, 55-yard drive that saw Thompson connect with Devon Sundgren on a 33-yard pass before finding Gilbert, the fifth-year tight end, with a six-yard toss in the end zone that put the Eagles ahead 17-3.
As the first half was ending, the teams traded interceptions in the middle of the field. Fort Lewis's Elijah Portela initially picked off Thompson's pass and returned it 16 yards. A new quarterback, Hayes Dwyer, took over for the Skyhawks after a Jones injury, but his second pass was swiped by the Eagles' Liam Blaser, who took it 22 yards before he was stopped, preventing the linebacker from cashing in his third pick-six in three consecutive games.
Blaser earned the RMAC's Defensive Player of the Week each of the last two weeks as a result of his back-to-back pick-sixes, while he also recovered a fumble in each game.
The Eagles doubled their point total by scoring 17 points in the third period, as Thompson teamed up with Schlabs on a pair of touchdown passes that were sandwiched around Prichard's 38-yard field goal.
The first touchdown was set up when another CSC linebacker, Reese Jacobs, intercepted a pass thrown by a third Fort Lewis quarterback, Jacob Morris. The ball had deflected off at least one player from each team before Jacobs corraled it and took it 13 yards to the Skyhawks' 42.
Running back Devon Rivers immediately gained nine yards before Thompson drilled a line drive pass down the middle of the field to Schlabs for a 33-yard TD on the next play. Schlabs made an over-the-shoulder catch, also in the end zone, on the pair's second touchdown connection covering 27 yards with just six seconds left in the third quarter. Thompson had opened that drive with a 16-yard rush.
It was a long-awaited pair of trips to the end zone for Schlabs, who leads the Eagles with 507 receiving yards this season, ranking seventh in the RMAC, but did not have a touchdown until Saturday.
Neither team scored in the fourth quarter, when the Eagles didn't throw a pass or threaten to score, but the Eagles got a third interception from senior safety Ryan Wehr and a third block when senior Cedar Amiotte blocked Schmitten's 34-yard field goal attempt with 1:45 to go.
Thompson competed 12 of 21 passes for 165 yards with the three touchdowns and one interception. Schlabs caught five passes for 76 yards to set the pace for CSC receivers. Devon Rivers led Eagle running backs with nine carries for 46 yards.
The three Fort Lewis signal callers hit on 23 of 44 passes for 199 yards to go with the three interceptions. The Skyhawks netted just 21 yards on 21 rushes with no gains longer than nine yards. Jaydin Jackson and Reese Jacobs tied for the team lead with six tackles each while Liam Blaser (1.5 sacks), Andrew Calderon and Griffin Clubb (one each) helped combine to bring down FLC quarterbacks for four sacks.
The Eagles will play their final road game this coming Saturday, November 7 at Black Hills State, before concluding the season at home against South Dakota Mines on November 14. The Yellow Jackets kept it close but fell to undefeated CSU Pueblo 38-31 on Saturday. They are now 5-4 for the season and, like the Eagles, 3-4 in the RMAC. Kickoff for next Saturday is set for 1 p.m.