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April 12, 2001
BY JIM THOMAS Nick Patterson, a senior at Montezuma-Cortez High School, is taking that big next step. He signed a National Collegiate Athletic Association, Division II National Letter of Intent on Monday afternoon, April 9, to play football at Fort Lewis College. "I wanted to play close to home," he said. "The football program is improving there and I like the head coach (Todd Throckmorton). My parents can come and watch me play pretty often. The furthest away game we have is in Nebraska. We play several schools in Colorado and another in New Mexico." He got an offer from Hastings College in Nebraska. And next year, if he would have established in-state residency, a scholarship at Mesa Community College in Mesa, Ariz. He also was asked to walk-on at some other schools. Patterson started this past season at offensive guard and offensive tackle for new head coach Karl McGee. Right now, he is a weightman on the MCHS boys track team. He throws the discus and the shot put. "We’ve had a lot of talent come through this high school who have gone on to play college football. We just haven’t been very good on the football field recently. This past year we didn’t have a lot of success (0-10) but coach McGee will put together good teams in the future. He is a really good football coach. I really didn’t have a high point. We just had a lot of low points but no high point this past year. Our offense struggled. But I learned a lot," he remarked. Patterson reported he likes playing on the offensive line. "There isn’t much glory to it but I love it. You don’t get much notice. But I like to hit people and you get to do that on the line. I like the feeling when the touchdown is scored over your position or that you opened a big hole in the defensive line for the running back. They can’t score without us. It was really hard to tell (if some actually scored over my position) because we pulled and trapped so much. Yeah, there were some touchdowns scored on my side of the line. I got flagged only once and that was when I got a little overactive and didn’t put my mouthpiece in," he recalled. "Nick grew a lot as a football player this past year," McGee said. "With the change in style from a pass-oriented team (run-and-shoot offense) to a running game, he struggled a bit early. But he perservered and worked his tail off. Before the season he had a great summer camp (at Fort Lewis College) and learned a lot there. He worked hard on technique and he got to know the coaches. The coaches liked what they saw. Coach Throckmorton and Nick struck a cord with each other. I think overall it will be a good experience for him. "Todd is a very honest and fair coach. He knows the game. He will bring the level of play up. Todd also is the offensive line coach so he (Patterson) will work directly with him every day. Having that type of opportunity is a definite advantage for Nick. Although next year will be a redshirt year for him, he will be part of a building program," McGee added. Nineteen student-athletes from Colorado high schools signed national letters of intent to play football at Fort Lewis College, Thorkmorton announced. "We're very excited about the numbers and the depth that this recruiting class will bring to our team," said Throckmorton who posted a 3-8 record in his first season at Fort Lewis last fall. "These are players we feel will be challenging for playing time as freshmen." In addition to the 19 high schoolers, Thockmorton previously signed four junior college transfers. All four are offensive linemen who enrolled at Fort Lewis at the beginning of the semester. "When you add our Colorado high school freshmen to the four offensive linemen who came in at semester, we were able to put together one of the top recruiting classes in the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference," Throckmorton said. The Skyhawks signed high school players from all corners of the state, including the Front Range, the Arkansas Valley and the Western Slope. The four transfers previously played at Arizona junior colleges. Throckmorton and his staff targeted the offensive and defensive lines in 2001, but also tried to improve team depth at other positions. Currently Patterson weighs 225 pounds and stands 6-foot-3. He said he plans on lifting weights all summer. "I will red shirt my first year (will not play but will work out with the team and then have four years of eligibility). Coach wants me to play offensive guard. Hopefully by my sophomore year or my junior year I will be starting," Patterson said. He is going to FLC with an undeclared major and will take his basic courses before deciding on a course of study. "I’m leaning right now towards construction management," he indicated. "But I haven’t really decided yet. I still have some time (a junior) before I have to declare a major." He is the son of Cary and Peggy Patterson of Cortez. |
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Copyright © 2001 the Cortez Journal.
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