Fort Lewis College football program made history with a dominant 2-0 start to the season, the first since 1979.

Fort Lewis won its first two games, beating the Arizona Christian Firestorm 27-9 Sept. 5 and the New Mexico Highland Cowboys 31-28 Sept. 12 in an overtime thriller.

“The 2-0 start is awesome, and the team has put in a lot of effort to get to this point,” Johnny Cox, Fort Lewis Head Football coach, said.

They team is appreciative of all the teams in the past and didn’t know about the milestone until a parent mentioned it, Cox said.

One of the main reasons students choose to play for Fort Lewis is the opportunity to change the culture of the program, and it is being shown that it is changing in a positive direction, Cox said.

When he watches film on the team afterwards, he sees a tremendous amount of effort, and that’s because they’re playing for the student body, their teammates, and their family, Cox said.

“The 2-0 start means a lot, especially knowing how much work we’ve have put in and that it’s a complete team effort from both sides of the ball to the coaches,” Jacob Morris, Senior quarterback said.

“It’s only two games, and there’s a lot more to accomplish this season, but it says a lot about what Coach Cox has built in here and the culture he’s created,” Morris said.

Junior wide receiver, Solomon Latimer, walks into the endzone after a 35-yard touchdown
pass from Morris. “Our offense starts with our offensive line and I think we’re at our best
when everybody’s trusted guy is next to them and does their job,” Morris said.

“It was crazy to hear about the 1979 stat, with it being a long time ago since it happened, but it reflects the hard work finally paying off,” Morris said.

Fort Lewis recruited all their fifth and fourth-year players on the team, so they built a foundation of communication, trust, and a bond of leadership through the bunch, Cox said.

Morris noted that when he first arrived, he was low on the roster. However, he quickly focused on learning from the older guys ahead of him understanding the new culture being built in the program.

“They’ve continued to grow,” Cox said. “It's harder and takes longer, but a good team is always playing with fourth and fifth-year guys who know the system.”

It’s taken a long time to get to this point because you can’t skip steps and still have a good foundational team if you keep having people transfer out, Cox said.

The 2-0 start means everything because it showed all the hard work paying off, Trenton Sullivan, fifth-year defensive back, said. 

Fort Lewis defense celebrates after Junior defensive end, Jonathan Stewart,
gets a sack resulting in Arizona Christan to punt. The identity of the defense
is to be violent and disciplined, Sullivan said.

“As a fifth-year player, I have seen the growth of the whole program, and the biggest change is in the culture,” Sullivan said.

One of the big points that was made this year was improving the off-season, Cox said.

There was a larger group that stayed in the summer and worked out with coach Darrian Stickney, Cox said.

“Hopefully that continues to grow, and people start seeing, okay, you know it’s worth being here in Durango during the summer, lifting and running with my teammates because it carries on to success,” Cox said.

Fifth-year Safety, Khalil Ali, energizes the crowd after a defensive stop from
Fort Lewis. “The team is a player-led team,” Cox said. “They’re the ones that
are driving the motivation leading by example”.

There was a different level of buy-in this year from everybody on the team, with everybody showing up ready to work, staying in the summer, and holding each other accountable, Morris said.

The team has a unified commitment internally and has done a good job having common goals that are meaningful, Cox said.

They are not worried at the moment about the 2-0 start affecting their mindsets and are still hungry, Cox said.

It’s a cool statistic and something they’re proud of, but much more focused on what’s in front of them, Morris said.

The 2-0 start improved team confidence, showing they are in the right direction, but doesn’t change their mindset, and are all in on one goal, Sullivan said.

“It’s fun to come to work every day, and it’s fun to see them experience success, and as I said, they’re really hungry for the next opportunity,” Cox said.