ALPINE, Texas - Football erased a 21-7 halftime deficit, tying the game midway through the third quarter, but fell 31-28 in a back and forth offensive affair to the visiting East Texas Baptist Tigers.

"It wasn't the start we wanted having four turnovers in the first half," said head coach John Pearce. "I'm so proud how we battled back to tie it up but just came up short at the end."

The Lobos' first drive of the game ended with a lost fumble before the defense stood tall and forced a Tiger punt to give the offense the ball on the Lobo 44-yard line.

Sul Ross' next drive ended with an interception, but they quickly received the ball again after another forced punt by the defense.

The Lobos cashed in immediately on the next drive with a 79-yard pass from Tyler DeShields to Vicente Luevano for a touchdown on the first play of the drive. Jaden Brown converted the extra-point for a 7-0 lead with 9:12 left in the first.

ETBU scored a pair of rushing touchdowns in the first quarter and added another in the second for a 21-7 lead that went to halftime.

The Lobos turned it on in the second half with a 42-yard touchdown run by Ozias Wright. It came on the second play of their second drive of the third to cut it to 21-14 at 10:07.

Oswaldo Luna then kicked the ball deep and Jaylen Bussey gave the Lobos the ball back with a forced fumble recovered by Javien Weatherly at ETBU's 15-yard line. The Lobos took the good field position and relied on the run with three rushes from Wright for 10 yards and a first down. Clayton Maxwell then rushed into the end zone from five yards out and Brown's extra-point tied the game for a 21-21 score with 8:11 left in the third.

The Tigers spent the next 6:38 with the ball and took a 28-21 lead with a rushing touchdown late in the third.

Each side punted on their next drives. ETBU then drove 35 yards but settled for a 33-yard field goal for a 31-21 advantage with 6:20 left in the fourth.

The Lobos used Maxwell at quarterback for their next drive and he started with a 45-yard connection with Kameron Gonzales. Maxwell then completed his next four passes to four different receivers to get to the Tiger two-yard line. Michael Kurfehs first caught a two-yard pass before Luevano's 10-yard reception was good for a first down. Wright then caught a short two-yard pass and Tre Chiles got it to the two with a 14-yard grab. After a one-yard loss on the ground, Maxwell hit Isaiah Villarreal on a three-yard touchdown pass. Brown's extra-point made it a 31-28 game with 2:41 left.

Luna's proceeding onside kick was unsuccessful and ETBU gained a first down to run the clock out for a 31-28 win.

DeShields threw for 234 yards on 11-for-30 passing with a touchdown.

Maxwell was 6-for-8 for 76 yards and a touchdown and had a rushing touchdown.

Luevano's 165 yards receiving was a career-high, breaking his best of 118 yards against Howard Payne. His touchdown reception was his team-best fourth of the season.

Wright's 88 yards on the ground was a team-high and one yard off his season-best 89 against McMurry the previous week.

Defensively, Eduardo Garcia had a game-high 10 tackles with three for loss. He also had a half sack.

Quincy Blair had nine tackles with a sack. Ronin Williams also had nine tackles.

Sul Ross totaled four sacks on the game with Lorenzo Fowler's 1.5 leading the game.

The Lobos forced three fumbles on the day with one each from Dayln Dunbar, Hunter Bunch and Bussey.

Sul Ross falls to 2-6 overall and 2-6 in conference. ETBU improves to 5-4 and 4-4.

The Lobos conclude the regular season in Georgetown on Saturday, November 13 against Southwestern.