By RENALDO DORSETT

Sports Reporter

rdorsett@tribunemedia.net

IN one of its final seasons playing in the FBS, Kato Fawkes and the Idaho Vandals opened the season on a winning note on opening weekend. 

The Vandals scored a 20-17 win over the Montana State Bobcats at the ASUI-Kibbie Dome in Moscow, Idaho. “That’s the best defence we’ve played since I’ve been here,” Vandals head coach Paul Petrino said. “Our defence really stepped up. Offensively, we rushed for 225 yards. We found two ways to win. That’s the most important thing.”

Fawkes, now in his post graduate season, will once again appear in a reserve role for the Vandals behind starting guards Noah Johnson and Mason Woods.

The 6’4” 303-pound guard, a native of Freeport, Grand Bahama, graduated in May while he saw his first official gametime as a member of the Vandals. In the 2014 season, he was sidelined with an injury and redshirted.

Prior to his transfer to Idaho, Fawkes spent two seasons at the JUCO level at Western Iowa where his stellar play placed garnered attention from Division I programmes. Fawkes started every game for 11-1 Western Iowa and was a second-team Iowa Community College Athletic Conference selection.

Iowa Western was the league leader in total offence (522.5 yards per game), passing offence (257.5 yards per game), completions (274), pass attempts (441) and touchdowns (28).

The 23-year-old lineman majored in sociology and is the son of Anthony and Bianca Fawkes.

The Vandals are on the road for the three weeks – at Washington, at Washington State and at UNLV, before returning to the Kibbie Dome for Homecoming against Troy on October 1. The Vandals currently play in the Sun Belt Conference of Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) to be relegated to the FCS and play in the Big Sky Conference in 2018.

According to the Idaho Statesman, The Vandals will become the first programme to make the move to drop down from the Football Bowl Subdivision to FCS since 1982, and the only one to do so without the NCAA forcing a decision.

Idaho will play in the Big Sky Conference, where all of its other teams compete, starting with the 2018 season.

The University of Idaho played football in the Big Sky Conference from 1965-1995, winning nine conference championships. All UI sports left the Big Sky in 1996, with most other sports other than football returning in 2014. The Vandal football team has played in the Sun Belt since 2014, its second run in the conference since leaving the Big Sky.