SAN ANTONIO — The anticipation had surmounted all week leading up to the Sul Ross State football teams season opener against the Trinity University Tigers on Saturday night at Multi-Sport Stadium.
Spirits were high during the pregame warmup until 28 minutes before kickoff when lightning put a damper on things.
A severe thunderstorm moved into the area bringing a steady shower of rain and halting the opening proceedings for two hours.
The long delay took the Lobos out of sync as the No. 9 ranked Tigers powered their way to a 55-7 victory.
"I think having this is a good wakeup call because I think the preparation, what they're willing to do, is going to be that much more," said Sul Ross interim head coach
Barry Derickson. "This really stung. We have a lot of talent. Now we just got to put it all together."
On the opening kickoff, Trinity's BJ Stewart ran the ball back for 61 yards. The Tigers failed to capitalize as they couldn't convert a fourth-and-five situation.
With a big effort by the Sul Ross defense, the offense also failed to convert a fourth-and-five situation.
Legend Grisby got the Tigers on the board with an 18-yard run on the second play of the offensive series with 11:13 in the opening quarter.
Sul Ross put together a nine-play drive that ended on fourth-and-10 with an incomplete pass.
Trinity extended its lead to 14-0 with a 24-yard touchdown pass from Tucker Horn to Justin Carmouche with 2:23 remaining in the opening quarter.
Horn threw his second touchdown pass of the night, this time with a 25-yard connection to Caleb Crawford during the second quarter with 13:18 on the clock.
Trailing 21-0, the Lobos erased the shutout when
T.J. DeShields connected with
Vicente Luevano for a 14-yard touchdown pass to cap off a seven-play drive with 9:15 remaining in the first half.
The Tigers scored twice more before halftime on a three-yard run by Carmouche and a three-yard scamper by Johnny Milo.
Sul Ross struggled to finish strong on both sides of the ball.
"These guys can compete with anybody, and I could see it out there," said Derickson. "I want it so bad for them. I know they're going to get it, but it's going to be a process."
>> BY THE NUMBERS:
- Lobos finished with 155 total yards of offense
- Travell Lumpkin was the leading rusher with nine carries for 33 yards
- Ozias Wright had the longest rush of 21 yards to finish with 22 rushing yards on four carries
- Eddie Sinegal led the receiving corps with 44 yards on one catch
- DeShields went 13 of 26 for 114 yards with one score
>> DEFENSIVE LEADERS:
- Jade Rios: 8 total tackles (2 solo, 6 assists), 1 sack for 5 yards, 1 tackle for loss
- Ronin Williams: 7 total tackles (4 solo, 3 assists), 1.5 tackle for loss
- Javeon Moses: 6 total tackles (3 solo tackles, 3 assists)
- Hunter Bunch: 6 total tackles (1 solo tackle, 5 assists), 0.5 tackle for loss
>> LOOKING AHEAD: The Lobos travel to Texas A&M-Kingsville for Week 2. Kickoff is at 7 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 10.
Texas A&M-Kingsville defeated North American, out of the NAIA, 60-0 to start the season.
"When we get down to Kingsville, it's all about what are we doing to make sure that we're preparing right and that we're trying to help each other to be better," Derickson added.
