ABILENE — The Sul Ross State football team was faced with a tremendous challenge, taking on the No. 10 ranked Hardin-Simmons Cowboys.

With the score tied 14-14 at the end of the first quarter, the Cowboys outscored the Lobos 28-7 in the second quarter.

Hardin-Simmons went on to outscore Sul Ross 21-0 in the final quarter to capture the dominating 70-35 win Saturday afternoon at Shelton Stadium.

The Lobos got on the board with a four-yard touchdown run by Jermius Johnson with 12:52 in the opening quarter.

Hardin-Simmons answered back with a three-yard touchdown run from Colton Marshall.

Myles Featherston then put the Cowboys up 14-7 with a 10-yard touchdown run with 4:18 left in the first quarter.

Sul Ross scored to cap off an eight-play, 75-yard drive with 2:03 remaining on the clock.

Trent Graves then gave the Lobos the 21-14 lead with a 70-yard touchdown pass to Kendrick Jefferson with 12:48 in the second quarter.

Marshall scored his second rushing touchdown, this time from four yards out, to tie the game at 21-all.

The Lobo offense was shutdown until the third quarter when Andrew Martinez connected with Austin Ogunmakin for a 28-yard touchdown pass with 4:50 on the clock.

Martinez hooked up with Ogunmakin once more with 3:37 left in the quarter, this time with a 40-yard touchdown pass.

The Lobo offense compiled 545 yards of total yardage compared to 533 for the Cowboys.

Graves completed 15 of 25 passes for 251 yards while Martinez went 15 of 19 for 187 yards.

The Cowboy defense racked up five sacks and grabbed two interceptions.

Ogunmakin finished with 11 catches for 242 yards while the rushing attack put together 107 yards on 41 carries.

Ronin Williams led the Sul Ross defense with 17 total tackles and one tackle for loss while Xavier Minjarez grabbed an interception while tallying seven total tackles.

Jayden Floyd came away with two hurries on the quarterback along with one sack and one tackle for loss.

Dayln Dunbar also had one sack and one tackle for loss.

The Hardin-Simmons ground attack finished with 298 yards. Marshall finished with four touchdowns on 15 carries for 110 yards.

>> WHAT THE COACH SAID: "Our miscues in the second quarter set us back. Muffed kick return, bad coverage on kickoff and a fumble on our 30-yard line is hard to come back from versus the No. 10 team in the nation. Our guys still fought back and even had a chance to pull closer ... Had a successful fake punt and a successful surprise onside. Our offense played their butts off and we'll need to get more stops on defense. As a team we need to continue to find ways to win ... Proud of our guys battling through the game and never giving up." — Head coach Barry Derickson

>> RECORDS: Hardin-Simmons 4-1 (2-1); Sul Ross 2-4 (2-2) 

>> UP NEXT: After a bye next week, Sul Ross travels to Belton to take on the No. 4 ranked University of Mary Hardin-Baylor at 1 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 22.