Alpine – The Pioneers suffer heartbreaking overtime loss on the road against Sul Ross State University after pulling off a great comeback in the fourth quarter to extend the game.
The Pioneers allowed an opening possession touchdown to the Lobos to fall behind 7-0 early. Wayland Baptist was forced to punt after a quick three-and-out in their opening possession, and things got worse as the Lobos took the punt back 80 yards for a touchdown to make it 14-0 SRSU within the first five minutes of the game.
The Lobos would take a 17-0 lead after making a 36-yard field goal, but the Pioneers would show signs of life on their next offensive possession. Wayland Baptist would march 65 yards for a touchdown after senior quarterback
Davian Guajardo connected on an 18-yard reception by
Dequan Green to make it 17-7 after the first quarter.
Sul Ross took total command of this game early in the second quarter after scoring touchdowns on each of their first two possessions to take a 31-7 lead over the Pioneers. The Pioneers needed to get something going on offense to have a shot in this game, and that's exactly what they did.
After a steady drive saw the Pioneers get to the Lobo 29-yard line, Guajardo would connect on his second touchdown pass of the game with this one going for 29-yards to
Marques Hall to make it 31-14. The Lobos were pushing their next offensive possession, but sophomore cornerback
Chamarion Bush intercepted the Lobos to give the Pioneers the ball back with some momentum on their side.
Jasiah Barron caught a 42-yard pass from Guajardo on the first play of the Pioneers possession following the pick, and
Damon Ford punched it in for WBU to make it 31-21 heading into the halftime break.
Wayland Baptist was forced to a three-and-out in their first possession of the second half, which gave the Lobos some momentum. The Lobos scored a touchdown a few plays later and extended their lead to 38-21. The Pioneers continued to show fight, scoring a touchdown on their next possession after
Keamodre Horace broke off a 33-yard run to the house to make it 38-27, SRSU.
After the Lobos scored a touchdown on their next possession to make it 45-27, the Pioneers pushed the ball to the Lobo 35-yard line where the drive would stall out. Reigning SAC Special Teams Player of the Week
Leo Marini showed off his range as he nailed a 55-yard field goal to make it 45-30 after three quarters of play.
With the Pioneers in possession of the football and needing to make a push if they want to stay in this game, the Guajardo to Barron connection would strike again, this time for 32-yards down to the Lobo 2-yard line. Guajardo would cap the drive off with a 1-yard touchdown pass to
Maddox Plazek and a successful two-point conversion attempt to make it 45-38 Lobos with ten minutes left in regulation.
The Pioneers forced the Lobos to a fourth and two on the Pioneer 35-yard line when
Brennen Davis stuffed the Lobo run at the line of scrimmage for a crucial turnover on downs. Guajardo used his legs to push the Pioneers down the field to the Lobo 1-yard line, and he would finish the drive off with a touchdown run to tie the game up at 45 with just under two minutes left in regulation. The Pioneer defense would stand tall on the final possession of regulation to send the game into overtime tied at 45.
Wayland Baptist started overtime with the ball, and after pushing the ball to the Lobo 1-yard line, Horace would cap it off with a touchdown. However, a failed extra point would only give the Pioneers six points, making it 51-45, WBU, with the Lobos set to possess the ball. After the Pioneers forced a third and five, the Lobos connected on a 20-yard touchdown pass and converted the extra point to sink the Pioneers in overtime, 52-51.
"It was definitely a game of two halves. Took us a while to quit shooting ourselves in the foot. Once we settled down we began to make things happen. Sul Ross is a much improved NCAA D2 program in a very tough conference. We had missed opportunities in key moments that kept us from winning that game. I'm extremely proud of our team. We have had a chip on our shoulder offensively for quite some time and today we were again highly productive, That is a very good defense we scored 51 points on." said head coach Marcos Hinojos.
Coach Hinojos continued, "Defensively we put together some stops in the second half to give our offense as many opportunities as we could. Our special teams had some detrimental moments but battled back very well. Regardless of playing the underdog role, our guys brought the fight. Our players and staff are growing stronger and gaining confidence. I'm proud of our team and their relentless effort today."
Guajardo completed 17 of 31 passes for 220 yards, three touchdowns, and an interception. He also had four rushes for 29 yards and a touchdown. Horace totaled 14 rushes for 105 yards and two touchdowns. Barron led the Pioneers in receiving with seven receptions for 120 yards. Hall had two catches for 40 yards and a touchdown, as well as four rushes for 31 yards. Green had three catches for 26 yards and a touchdown.
Defensively,
Donovan Henry was a monster for the Pioneers totaling 11 solo tackles.
Brennen Davis had five solo tackles and one tackle for loss. Bush had three solo tackles and an interception.
Kaleb Brooks had four solo tackles, two sacks, and a forced fumble.
Walter Conley also had a solo tackle, an assist tackle, half a sack, and a forced fumble.
Coach Hinojos said, "The sting of defeat on this one hurts but it showed us something about who we are right now and who we can be with more work."
With the BYE week on the horizon, Coach Hinojos talked about the difficulties managing a BYE week, saying "Bye weeks are tough to manage sometimes. It's not a week off. There is work to do but we have to spend some time recovering from 3 consecutive road trips. When you put the travel in perspective with how competitive we have been then you can see why I'm so proud of our guys. LCU is the defending conference champion. We want to be in the conversation of the top three teams in our conference. To do that we have to not just be competitive. We have to start fast and finish strong. This team is really looking forward to playing at home. I can't wait to show off our players to WBU, Plainview and West Texas."
Wayland Baptist will return to action on September 28
th in their 2024 Home opener against Sooner Athletic Conference foe Louisiana Christian University. Kick-off is set for 4:00 PM.
