Colten Douillard and his family have made trips to central Colorado in late December an annual occurrence. During some of the more recent trips, Douillard — on his snowboard — has become quite familiar with the countless number of runs at Crested Butte.

But this time next year, count on Douillard having his winter-long lift ticket at Purgatory, a mountain resort in Durango, Colo.

That’s because Douillard will already be in quaint town of Durango, the site of Fort Lewis College.

After sifting through the recruiting process, Douillard ultimately decided to verbally commit to playing football at Fort Lewis. The 5-foot-10, 170-pound running back/wide receiver at Keys High School will sign his letter of intent with Fort Lewis on Wednesday.

“I just love Colorado and thought it was a nice school,” Douillard said in an interview with the Tahlequah Daily Press on Monday.

“And it would be nice to kind of get away for a little while, and when I’m done playing, come back. I also love to snowboard, so that’ll be a plus.”

Douillard will join a Skyhawks team that went 3-8 overall and 2-7 in Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference play this season.

During his senior season, Douillard racked up plenty of offensive statistics for the Cougars. Douillard, despite battling a shoulder injury the final 10 weeks of the season, caught 43 catches for 803 yards and eight touchdowns while rushing 81 times for 495 yards and eight more touchdowns.

While Douillard might enter preseason camp at a smaller stature, compared to other running backs, Keys coach Gary Willis still foresees a Douillard having an impact at several different positions.

“I know Fort Lewis has been looking at him as a running back or slot receiver,” Willis said of Douillard. “But I really see him more as a slot receiver, as well as a kick returner and punt returner.”

Wherever Douillard gets a chance to play at, he’s going to work to earn a spot in the every-game rotation.

“I’m just ready to put the pads on and play,” he said. “I’m excited about taking (my game) to the next level, where it means a lot to the people that are there. And I always love competition, and I’ll have that at Fort Lewis.”

As far as Doulliard’s willingness to work in the offseason, no need to worry about that, Willis said.

“He’ll be successful,” Willis said. “He has one of the better work ethics of any of the kids we’ve ever had here.

Plus, he’s made football his life throughout high school. He had chances to play other sports early on during his high school career but decided to stick with football.”

Douillard is set with his decision to go to Fort Lewis. But that wasn’t the case several months ago.

Prior to Nick Bobeck being named the new head coach at Central Oklahoma, Douillard had his sights set primarily on playing college football in Edmond.

“I was pretty set on them,” Douillard recalled.

He continued: “I mean it’s grown-folk business. I mean, my feelings aren’t hurt by it. I was mad, but it’s their job and how they want their team. I wasn’t really wanting to walk on there. I just lost I interest after that.”

Douillard won’t be the only area player heading to Fort Lewis. Sequoyah’s Sonny O’Field is set to sign with Fort Lewis on Wednesday, too.

“I’m glad to have somebody I know up there with me,” Douillard said, talking about O’Field. “He is a great athlete and a cool guy, so it will be awesome already knowing someone going up there.”



Douillard’s big day

Colten Douillard put up some big numbers during his career at Keys. But the senior running back/wide receiver’s best offensive performance came against Eufaula in the 2011 season opener.

Douillard got the season started with 355 total yards in a 56-33 rout of Eufaula. Douillard amassed an impressive 253 receiving yards on four catches while recording 102 rushing yards on 10 carries. He also scored five touchdowns along the way.