When all key aspects of the game come together, the Sul Ross State football team can be dangerous and unstoppable.
On Saturday afternoon during homecoming, everything came together for the Lobos as they took down Howard Payne University by a score of 47-42 at Jackson Field.
>> HOW IT HAPPENED:
Howard Payne spoiled Sul Ross State's first offensive drive by forcing and recovering a fumble.
The Yellow Jackets were able to turn it into three points with a 37-yard field goal with 7:55 in the opening quarter.
On the first play of Sul Ross State's next offensive series,
Andrew Martinez connected with
Vicente Luevano for a 75-yard touchdown to put the Lobos on top 7-3 with 7:36 on the clock.
On 13 plays, Howard Payne cut the deficit to one with a 31-yard field goal with 3:22 to go in the first quarter.
After forcing the Yellow Jackets to punt away on fourth-and-eight, the Lobos scored in five plays as Martinez threw his second touchdown pass of the day to Luevano, this time from 40 yards out to make the score 14-6 with 12:02 in the second quarter.
Howard Payne answered back with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a four-yard touchdown run. The two-point conversion was successful to tie up the game at 14-all with 8:48 on the clock.
The Yellow Jackets took the lead on a 53-yard touchdown pass from Landon McKinney to Jordan Carroll with 3:42 to go.
Towards the final moments of the first half, Howard Payne attempted a 55-yard field goal that fell way short.
Alec Garcia returned it from deep in the end zone for a 100-yard touchdown to tie up the score at 21-all at halftime.
Howard Payne was set to receive the ball in the second half, but the kickoff return was fumbled and recovered by the Lobos to set them up on the Howard Payne 10-yard line.
In just two plays, Sul Ross State got into the end zone with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Martinez to Luevano with 14:17 in the third quarter which gave the Lobos the 28-21 lead.
Howard Payne retaliated with a nine-play drive that was capped off with an 11-yard touchdown pass from McKinney to Casey Dufner with 8:39 on the clock.
All tied up at 28-28, the Lobos got three points to end a 12-play, 49-yard drive, as
Carlos Arreola made a 39-yard field goal to put Sul Ross State ahead, 31-28.
Martinez threw his fourth touchdown pass of the day when he hit
Bobby Williams for a 41-yard strike with 14:18 in the fourth quarter to make the score, 38-28.
Howard Payne cut the deficit to three with 10:55 to go in the game when McKinney connected with Samuel Sims for a 15-yard touchdown.
Marching 67 yards down the field, the Lobos were able to get a 33-yard field goal from Arreola to increase their lead to six with 7:20 remaining.
With under six minutes to go, McKinney threw another touchdown pass, this time a five-yard strike to Carroll to put Howard Payne on top, 42-41.
The Lobos put together a nine-play, 74-yard drive that resulted in a three-yard touchdown run by
Travell Lumpkin to secure the victory.
>> RECORDS: Sul Ross State (4-5); Howard Payne (6-3)
>> POSTGAME INTERVIEWS:
"I'm just really proud of our guys for battling so hard. These guys turned up. I made it known early in the season and also this week — we win our homecoming. That's our standard here in our program and we've done it two years in a row. We're going to try and keep doing that from here on out. It was a great team win overall. I'm so excited for these guys." —
Head coach Barry Derickson on the win
"I know that homecoming is one of the biggest games of the year, but we got a bigger one because we got the I-20 trophy. Ending on a high note and trying to win that game in Abilene is going to be really big for our program going forward in the offseason. We got our work cut out because McMurry is going to be legit." —
Derickson on the last week of the season
"We had the homecoming queen signaling in our defensive plays today. We are extremely proud of Klarissa Ortiz because all we have in our program is winners and she won homecoming." —
Derickson on student assistant coach Klarissa Ortiz winning homecoming queen
"The team really wanted it for the seniors. The whole team was fired up. It was a complete team win, complete team effort. Alec has been making plays all year and today was no different. As an offense, we just felt that we were due." —
Quarterback Andrew Martinez on the win
"It was really big to go into the half with a touchdown. I wouldn't have done it without my team blocking for me. It's a great win. To win at homecoming — it's a great feeling. We came together as a team and just stuck together and didn't fold. Our defense has been making a lot of plays, but it was good to see our offense finally come out and show what they can do. I'm proud of my guys." —
Alec Garcia on the win
>> GAME NOTES:
- Both offenses combined for 1,102 yards.
- Howard Payne's offense nearly edged out Sul Ross State, 552-550.
- Martinez finished 23 of 42 for 339 yards and four touchdowns. He also rushed for 63 yards on 14 carries.
- Luevano had seven catches for 165 yards and three touchdowns.
- Isaiah Pena tallied 68 yards on six catches.
- Rodd Hudson III and Lumpkin combined for 84 yards on the ground.
- Jade Rios led the defense with 15 total tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and one sack.
- Javeon Moses and Jayden Floyd each had one sack.
- Floyd also had two tackles for loss.
- Quincy Blair finished with 11 total tackles and a forced fumble.
- In addition to his 100-yard touchdown return, Garcia had three pass breakups and four total tackles.
- The Lobo defense had seven pass breakups.
- Evian Thompson tallied six total tackles.
- Arreola was 5 for 5 on point after attempts while he made two field goals and had eight kickoffs for 428 yards with four touchbacks.
>> UP NEXT: The Lobos close out the 2023 season in Abilene, Texas for the Battle of I-20 against McMurry at 1 p.m. CST on Saturday, Nov. 11.
