Adams State University and Fort Lewis College enter Saturday's game with high hopes and aspirations, and at the end of the game, one team will earn their first win of the season.

LIVE COVERAGE
The game will be streamed online through the RMAC Network. The radio broadcast will feature ASU Women's Soccer Coach Colin Baker on the call. Adams State University and KSPK-FM have extended their broadcast partnership for three years. Listeners can tune in to KSPK on-air throughout southern Colorado on 100.3 in Colorado Springs, Alamosa, and the San Luis Valley, 104.1 in South Fork and Trinidad, and 102.3 in Pueblo and Walsenburg. Fans nationwide can also tune in on KSPK's website (kspk.com).
 
WEATHER REPORT
Saturday's weather forecast calls for a mainly sunny sky with a high near 66 degrees and winds SW at 5 to 10 mph.

75th Annual Spud Bowl
Saturday's contest also marks the 75th Annual Spud Bowl for Adams State. The Spud Bowl tradition began in 1946 when the potato farmers in the Valley were asked to contribute sacks of spuds to the college, which, in turn, were converted into cash to supplement the athletic program. The tradition and spirit have continued, and Spud Bowl remains a highlight of each football season.

Each year, San Luis Valley schools are asked to nominate a senior as a candidate for Spud Bowl Queen. The candidates are interviewed during the morning of Spud Bowl by a panel of judges, and a winner is then selected and announced at halftime of the football game. The Colorado Potato Administrative Committee and Adams State University offer scholarships to all candidates.

At the end of the game, fans in attendance are welcome to take home a free five-pound bag of potatoes.
 
LEADING THE WAY
The Adams team has elected five captains for 2021: senior defensive lineman Alu Taito, senior tight end Ian Fryday, senior linebacker Braeden Meyer, senior running back Tyreik Campbell, and senior defensive end EJ Labaze.
 
WHERE WE LEFT OFF
The Grizzlies enter the game 0-9 overall and 0-8 in the RMAC after falling at New Mexico Highlands, 58-28.

The game was tied at 21 with just over a minute remaining the opening half, however, a targeting call aided the Cowboys to finish the half with a touchdown. They then outscored the Grizzlies 30-7 in the second half thanks to seven turnovers including six interceptions.
 
ABOUT THE SKYHAWKS
The Skyhawks are 0-9 on the season and 0-8 in the conference. They have been outscored 48-491 by opponents and have been shut out three times.

Last week the Skyhawks surrendered 73 points to CSU Pueblo, including 40 points in the second quarter, and were unable to score despite getting some defensive stops early.

Sophomore Brayden Miller is the starting quarterback for the Skyhawks that averages 5.33 points per game and 130 yards per game. Jeff Hansen has carried the ball 92 times for 250 yards on the season.

Limited to one quarter of action last week due to injury, FLC redshirt sophomore Jayden Helms enters the weekend as the No. 4 tackler among all NCAA Division II players with 99 total tackles.

He also ranks No. 2 in the country in solo tackles with 62; just two solo tackles behind fellow RMAC competitor Doodles Quinones from Black Hills State. Despite being limited in Week 9 against CSU Pueblo, Helms still leads the RMAC in total tackles and tackles per game (11.0), 12 tackles ahead of Adam State's A'brae Booker-Currin, who enters Saturday's game with 87 total tackles.

SERIES VS. ADAMS STATE
Saturday's matchup marks the 59th overall meeting between the two RMAC rivals, with the Grizzlies owning a 39-18-1 alltime mark against FLC. Fort Lewis has won three of the last five games in the series, including a 28-9 victory over Adams State on Oct. 5, 2019 in Durango.

Adams State is 23-8 all-time against Fort Lewis inside the friendly confines of Rex Stadium. Fort Lewis' last win in Alamosa coming on Sept. 17, 2016 (21-16).
 
GRIZZLIES PAVING THE WAY
The Grizzlies are doing great defensively as Bryce Hampton, who had three straight games with an interception, is second in the nation with seven interceptions and tied for second with .8 interceptions per game. Tristan Rankin of Mars Hills had two interceptions in his past game to gain the lead.

ASU currently ranks 9th in the RMAC in offense at 26.2 points per game and 9th defensively, allowing 42.7 points per contest. The Grizzlies' offense does, however, come in at 5th in the RMAC at 226.3 passing yards per game.

The Grizzlies have encountered some tough luck in 2021, with four of their losses being decided by 10 points or less, including back-to-back three-point losses to Black Hills State (51-48) and South Dakota Mines (45-42) in Week Four and Week Five, respectively.
 
Tyreik Campbell is the top rusher for the Grizzlies as he has carried the ball 129 times for 578 yards (4.5 ypg). Elijah Harper is the top receiver with 35 catches for 505 yards and seven touchdowns.

On special teams, John Bowers is one of the top punters in the conference as he has 53 punts this season for 2,329 yards (43.94 per punt) with a long of 76 yards.
 
MAKING RMAC HISTORY
For a league that has been around since 1909, history was made earlier this season as it marked the first time two black head coaches faced off against each other in the sport inside the RMAC.
 
Versie Wallace has been the only other black head football coach at a Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference school before the current three head coaches. Wallace guided the Colorado School of Mines Orediggers from 1995 to 2000.
 
Fort Lewis College's Darrius Smith is the other current black football head coach in the RMAC. Colorado Mesa faced Fort Lewis a couple of weeks ago in Durango while Adams State takes on the Skyhawks on November 6.
 
NEW LEADERSHIP
On April 26th, Adams State University removed the interim tag from Head Football Coach Jarrell Harrison, who officially became the 24th coach in Adams State football history.
 
Harrison joined Adams State football in 2016 as a Running Backs Coach and Special Teams Assistant under former Head Coach Timm Rosenbach. He was promoted to interim head coach on January 5, 2021, after the resignation of former Head Coach Josh Blankenship. Blankenship finished his two-year tenure with the Grizzlies with an 8-14 (.364) overall record; 8-12 (.400) RMAC.
 
Harrison makes history for Adams State University as he becomes the first African American to lead the football program, in this, the University's 100th year.
 
IN THE POLLS
The Adams State Grizzlies earned one first-place vote and were selected to finish in seventh place in the RMAC by the conferences' ten head coaches. At the same time, the Fort Lewis was selected to finish in tenth place with 18 points.
 
AROUND THE RMAC
Colorado School of Mines' John Matocha, New Mexico Highlands Lebarron Jones and Colorado State University Pueblo's Andrew Cook are the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference Football Players of the Week, the league announced Monday.
 
In the standings, Western Colorado leads the conference by percentage points as they sit at 7-1 on the season on the conference. Colorado School of Mines, who was stunned by Colorado Mesa two weeks ago, are tied with the Mavericks and CSU Pueblo ThunderWolves, in a three-way tie for second.
 
Six games are on the docket this weekend in the RMAC with two games, Chadron State vs. Western Oregon and Lincoln University (Calif.) vs. Western Colorado, being non-conference match ups. South Dakota Mines and New Mexico Highlands, Black Hills and Colorado Mesa and Colorado School of Mines and CSU Pueblo all play in RMAC games.

NEXT TIME
Adams State will close out the regular season on Saturday when they travel to Golden to take on Colorado School of Mines at 12:00 p.m.