NOTES 
Sul Ross and East Texas Baptist football teams will meet up for the 17th time in both schools' football history Saturday afternoon at Ornelas Stadium. Kickoff is slated for 2:00 p.m. KVLF AM 1240 will provide Saturday's broadcast.
Media Information
Quick Hits and Recap
- A missed extra point kick by Howard Payne with just over a minute left in the game handed host Sul Ross a 28-27 victory over the Yellow Jackets in a chilly homecoming extravaganza Saturday night.
- An unsportsmanlike penalty against Howard Payne following the preceding touchdown moved the ball back 15 yards as Christian Gonzalez's extra point kick sailed wide right with 1:08 left in the fourth quarter.
- The Lobos took the ensuing kickoff on a failed onside kick and ran the clock down for the 28-27 win.
- For the game, Sul Ross outpaced Howard Payne in total offensive yardage by a 365-353 margin. The Lobos led the ground game netting 135 yards off of 29 carries while the Yellow Jackets posted 32 carries for 102 yards.
- Howard Payne held the advantage in passing yards at 251 while Sully sported 230 yards through the air. Sul Ross tallied three interceptions for the evening. The Lobos finished at 7-for-14 in third down conversions while Howard Payne finished at 6-for-12.
- In red zone chances, Sul Ross was 2-for-2 while Howard Payne finished at 3-for-5.
- Grear netted 112 yards off of 15 carries and two touchdowns while Baeza completed 20 of 33 passes for 230 yards and a touchdown.
Scouting the Tigers (ETBU Sports Info.)
- East Texas Baptist University never lost the lead in a 48-27 victory over Louisiana College in American Southwest Conference play.
- Jeremiah Robertson had a career day with 17 rushes for 157 yards and one touchdown.
- Brian Baca threw five touchdown passes and was 7-for-30 for 199 yards.
- Tarek Beaugard finished with 98 yards receiving on three receptions and one touchdown.
- Richard Johnson, Jauque Kuykendall, Dominic Haggerty, and Gavin Raines also had receiving touchdowns.
- The defense only allowed LC one third down conversion all night (1-of-15) and one fourth down (1-of-5) was made.
- Tremell Scott led the team with eight tackles with both Zack Biles and Garrett Gibson had six tackles.
- Aaron Buckley recorded two interceptions for 148 yards and one touchdown while Hardy Hill also had a pick.
Series History
- The Tigers lead the all-time series with the Lobo, 13-3.
- In their first meeting in 2000, Sul Ross claimed a 40-21 victory in Marshall.
Last Meeting (Oct. 28, 2017)
- Sul Ross and East Texas Baptist football teams combined for 1,040 yards of total offense but the Tigers assembled a 28-point attack in the second half and defeated the Lobos, 42-28 in a cool, windy homecoming last season.
- For the game, ETBU polled 74 plays for 534 yards while the Lobos posted 76 for 506.
- The Tigers took advantage of their air attack with 369 aerials yards while Sully was held to 214. Sul Ross was flagged 11 times for 158 yards while ETBU was penalized seven times for 59.
- James Davis completed 12 of 22 passes for 119 yards but suffered two interceptions and three sacks. Davis led the ground attack with 14 carries for 108 yards and two touchdowns.
- Steven Savedra reeled in four receptions for 74 yards and a score.
- Mike Quinonez and Sarkeithian Thomas led defenders with 13 and 12 tackles respectively. Quinonez posted two and a half sacks for 14 yards lost.
- Derrick Winters nabbed an interception. Job Mason sported two breakups while Damian Espinoza, Jakorey Richard and Jermaine Stevens, Jr. added a breakup each.
Around the ASC (Oct. 27, 2018)
Howard Payne @ TLU/1:00 PM
No. 9 Hardin-Simmons @ Southwestern/1:00 PM
McMurry @ No. 2 University of Mary Hardin-Baylor/1:00 PM
Sul Ross St. @ East Texas Baptist/2:00 PM
Belhaven @ La. College/6:00 PM
CONFERENCE STANDINGS
- Mary Hardin-Baylor/7-0, 6-0 ASC
- Hardin-Simmons/6-1, 5-1 ASC
- Texas Lutheran/5-2, 4-2 ASC
- East Texas Baptist/4-3, 4-2 ASC
- Southwestern/4-3, 3-3 ASC
- La. College/3-4, 3-3 ASC
- McMurry/2-5, 2-4 ASC
- Belhaven/1-6, 1-5 ASC
- Howard Payne/1-6, 1-5 ASC
- Sul Ross St./1-6, 1-5 ASC
CONFERENCE REWIND
No. 2 UMHB-49, Belhaven-0
The University of Mary Hardin-Baylor football team posted a third consecutive shutout for the first time in program history as UMHB rolled in a 49-0 victory over Belhaven University Saturday afternoon in Mississippi.
No. 11 Hardin-Simmons-58, Texas Lutheran-14
Hardin-Simmons' football team came away with a 58-14 pummeling of Texas Lutheran on Saturday at Shelton Stadium. The two teams came into the game at 5-1 overall and 4-1 in the American Southwest Conference and the winner had the inside track on second place in the league.
ETBU-48, La. College-27
East Texas Baptist University never lost the lead in a 48-27 victory over Louisiana College in American Southwest Conference play.
Sul Ross St.-28, Howard Payne-27
A missed extra point kick by Howard Payne with just over a minute left in the game handed host Sul Ross a 28-27 victory over the Yellow Jackets in a chilly homecoming extravaganza Saturday night. An unsportsmanlike penalty against Howard Payne following the preceding touchdown moved the ball back 15 yards as Christian Gonzalez's extra point kick sailed wide right with 1:08 left in the fourth quarter. The Lobos took the ensuing kickoff on a failed onside kick and ran the clock down for the 28-27 win.
QUOTES FROM COACH JOHN PEARCE
OPENING COMMENTS
This was a must-win for our program. You always want to win your homecoming game. The team has been improving. We play in a tough league. That's not an excuse but it really shows how prepared we have to be each and every week of the season. It wasn't a pretty win but it was a win and we're excited.
ON TRANSFERRING THE HSU PERFORMANCE TO HPU
Defensively we didn't play as well in the first half as we did at Hardin-Simmons. But we did step up when we had to. Cory [McMahan] had two big interceptions for us. Kristian [Gaona] had another pick. We had two unfortunate incidents in the fourth quarter that resulted in player ejections and some penalties that are just a result of immaturity but we managed to fight through that and held on for the win.
ON THE MISSED EXTRA POINT BY HPU
That and the failed onside kick were the game changers. They had some mental collapses like we did in that juncture of the game and it cost them. I had some folks ask me after the game why we didn't call a timeout to ice their kicker. Most kickers at the Division III level are just rushing out there and sometimes think too fast. That's what I was hoping for in this game. Sometimes if you call a time out it gives them time to think about things and make whatever adjustments and refocus.
ON THE GAME NIGHT ATMOSPHERE
It was great football weather and our fans really came through and supported the team. I think our fans got their money's worth from this game and it really helped that it was our homecoming game. So the fanfare was there, the weather was great
and people got to see a hard-fought game by both teams. The night games really enhance that experience.
THOUGHTS ON THE PASSING GAME
The offense was able to move the ball. Fabian [Baeza] had a couple of deep balls that were very well thrown but our receivers just had loose arms. There were a couple of other times where they were just overthrown. Right now we're just not experienced enough to blow a team out. We had some opportunities that we were not able to capitalize on. I do think our consistency improved as the game went on. Our ground game looked good. Will [Grear} ran his tail off and had two scores.
Norman Davis had a big fourth down run in the first half.
ON PASS COVERAGE
Our backfield is probably the toughest area on the field to play. Most of our backfield are freshman and they're still learning to adjust from the high school to the college game. In high school you're dealing with mainly man and cover three but there's more variety at the college level for them to pick up and learn.
THOUGHTS ON HOWARD PAYNE
They were very aggressive on defense. They also have several good receivers. Even though their offensive line was their weakest point, they battled all four quarters. They're heading in the right direction.
