ALPINE – A week after scoring the winning touchdown with 36 seconds left, the Howard Payne Yellow Jackets surrendered the decisive score to the Sul Ross Lobos with 32 seconds remaining in a 47-42 loss Saturday afternoon.

In possibly the final football game between the long-time American Southwest Conference rivals, as Sul Ross (4-5, 3-3) is moving to the NCAA Division II ranks next year, Howard Payne (6-3, 3-3) erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit, but was unable to hang to the lead.

The Lobos traveled 74 yards in 1:56 to snatch a 47-42 lead over the Yellow Jackets on a 3-yard run by Travell Lumpkin on a first-and-goal from the HPU 3.

In less than half a minute, HPU marched to the Sul Ross 34 but the last gasp heave into the end zone by Landon McKinney on the final snap fell incomplete.

Down 38-28 early in the fourth quarter, HPU closed the gap to 38-35 on a 15-yard touchdown pass from McKinney to Samuel Sims with 10:55 remaining.

Sul Ross answered with a 33-yard Carlos Arreola field goal with 7:20 left to boost the Lobo lead to 41-35.

The Yellow Jackets then surged in front, 42-41, at the 5:52 mark on a 5-yard scoring toss from McKinney to Jordan Carroll. The touchdown was set up bu a 77-yard catch and run from Casey Dufner the play prior.

Howard Payne’s defense stopped Sul Ross on the next possession and got the ball back with 2:51 left, but punted the ball back to the Lobos with 2:28 remaining after failing to gain a first down.

The Yellow Jackets finished with 552 yards of total offense to Sul Ross’ 550 yards, but Howard Payne lost a pair of fumbles and forced just one.

McKinney, the reigning ASC Offensive Player of the Week, completed 34 of 56 passes for 471 yards with four touchdowns. Gus Charles caught seven passes for 119 yards, Dufner added four catches for 114 yards and a touchdown and Carroll finished with five receptions for 85 yards with two trips to the end zone.

On the ground, Blessing Ngene led HPU with 55 yards and a rushing score, followed by Reece Rodgers with 32 yards.

For Sul Ross, Andrew Martinez completed 23 of 42 passes for 339 yards with four scoring tosses, while Vicente Luevano caught seven passes for 165 yards and scored three times. Martinez also led Sul Ross with 63 yards on the ground, while Lumpkin chipped in 38 yards to go along with his winning touchdown.

The HPU defense was led by Jessie Paris’ 12 tackles and 11 from KJ Kelley.

Sul Ross led 7-6 after one quarter as Luevano scored on a 75-yard pass from Martinez, while Howard Payne mustered a pair of field goals from Michael Fields covering 37 and 31 yards.

The score was knotted at 21 at halftime as Luevano again found the end zone on a 40-yard scoring reception, while Ngene scored on a 4-yard carry for HPU and the Yellow Jackets added the two-point try. Carroll then caught a 53-yard scoring strike from McKinney, while Alec Garcia blocked an HPU field goal attempt at the end of the half and returned it for a touchdown.

Just 53 seconds into the third period, Sul Ross grabbed a 28-21 lead on Luevano’s 8-yard touchdown catch. Howard Payne drew even at 28 on Dufner’s 11-yard touchdown pass from McKinney at the 8:39 mark of the third.

Arreola gave Sul Ross at 31-28 edge on a 39-yard field goal at the 2:35 mark of the third period, and just 42 seconds into the fourth period Bobby Williams scored on a 41-yard pass for the Lobos as their lead ballooned to 38-28.

Next week, the Yellow Jackets wrap up their 2023 campaign at home against Mary Hardin-Baylor (5-4, 5-1), which is coming off a 21-12 victory over East Texas Baptist.

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American SW Conference		Conference Wins	Conference Losses	Overall Wins	Overall Losses
Hardin-Simmons		6	0	8	1
Mary Hardin-Baylor		5	1	5	4
East Texas Baptist		4	2	5	4
McMurry		3	3	5	4
*Sul Ross		3	3	4	5
Howard Payne		3	3	6	3
Austin College		0	6	1	8
Texas Lutheran		0	6	1	8

* Not eligible for ASC Championship due to reclassification

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Week 10 Games (Nov. 2-4)

Sul Ross 47, Howard Payne 42

Mary Hardin-Baylor 21, East Texas Baptist 12

Hardin-Simmons 59, Austin College 19

McMurry 36, Texas Lutheran 33

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Week 11 Games (Nov. 9-11)

Mary Hardin-Baylor at Howard Payne

Hardin-Simmons at East Texas Baptist

Sul Ross at McMurry

Austin College at Texas Lutheran