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Sul Ross State University football amassed 326 yards of offense and 20 first downs, but ultimately fell 73-30 on the road last weekend to the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets. “It was a tough day at the office,” said head coach John Pearce. “Howard Payne has some really good players. I loved how they worked on their passing game up by 30 late in the game. We played a lot of first and second year players. That experience will pay off down the road for the Lobos!” Howard Payne took the opening drive down deep into Sul Ross territory before the Lobos forced the Yellow Jackets to kick a 22-yard field goal for a 3-0 score. The Lobos punted on their first drive, but quickly got the ball back with an Alec Garcia interception at the Sul Ross 35-yard line. Tyler DeShields led the squad on a nine-play, 40-yard drive to setup Jaden Brown’s successful 42-yard field goal for a 3-3 tie with 6:54 left in the first quarter. The Yellow Jackets offense went on to score the next 21 points with three touchdown passes from Landon McKinney for a 24-3 lead with 11:21 remaining in the second quarter. Sul Ross had an answer with an 11-play, 65-yard drive. Kendrick Jefferson rushed for 29 yards on four carries before DeShields later found Vicente Luevano on an eight-yard touchdown pass for a 24-10 score with 6:44 left in the first half. Howard Payne responded with 21 unanswered to take a 45-10 lead to halftime. Devon Mendoza capped Sul Ross’ second drive of the third with an eight-yard touch down reception from DeShields for a 45-17 score with 8:32 left in the quarter. The Yellow Jackets again scored the next three touchdowns for a 66-17 score early in the fourth quarter. Jordan Curtis replaced DeShields in the fourth quarter, and found Buddy Santos on a 25-yard strike to make it 66-24 with 4:37 remaining. It was the first touchdown in each of their Sul Ross careers. HPU found the end zone one last time on the ensuing drive before Terran Limuel returned the kickoff 85 yards to the house with 36 seconds left for a 73-30 score that also went final. DeShields followed up his heroics against Texas Lutheran with a 26-of-38 showing for 213 yards, two touchdowns and no interceptions. Jefferson led the Lobos on the ground with 68 yards on 13 attempts and a long of 15. Luevano led the game in both receptions and yards with 13 for 118. The Lobo defense finished with four sacks on the day. Eduardo Garcia, Chaz Patterson, and Dalton Bills each had one. Jade Rios and Lorenzo Fowler both totaled a half sack. Rios led the game with nine total tackles. Eduardo Garcia was right behind him with eight. As a team, the Lobos had nine tackles for loss totaling 36 yards. The Lobos are 1-3 on the season and 1-3 in Southwest Conference play. Howard Payne moves to 5-0 and 4-0. Sul Ross next plays host to North American University for homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 9. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m. at Jackson Field.
