The Skyline Newspaper

Photo: Austin Davidson with the release while T.J. Barber blocks earlier this month. Photo by Justin Ruthstrom

Lobos Continue Winning Streak; Beat McMurry

ABILENE -- T.J. Barber's 3 touchdowns gave the Lobo offense some needed octane as Sully grabbed a 26-20 ASC win over McMurry University Saturday night in Abilene.

Barber netted 112 yards off of 32 carries for the evening while fellow senior Austin Davidson completed 7 of 11 passes for 127 yards. Davidson sustained an ankle injury late in the second quarter which kept him from action for most of the second half. Jamal Groover led the Lobo receiver corps with 7 receptions and 84 yards.

Both teams mirrored each other with identical 332 yards each of total offense.

Sul Ross packed some solid punch power on defense as senior linebacker Nathan Graham posted 9 tackles including a breakup. Johnnie Williams supplied 7 stops and collected an interception and a pair of breakups. Dominique Jones saddled 2 interceptions for 6 yards. The Lobo defense held McMurry to a pair of field goals the entire second half despite McMurry's 4 trips inside the Lobo red zone for the night.

The Lobos took the opening score as Barber reached on a 5 yard trot capping a 10-play, 51-yard scoring drive.
Michael Van Wagner connected on the extra point kick to give Sully a 7-0 lead with 6:50 remaining in the first quarter.

McMurry answered in the second quarter as Rashon Lewis found Dusty Thornhill on a 14-yard touchdown toss. McMurry recovered from a botched extra point kick as holder Dustin Burleson found Chris Sanders for the two-point conversion giving McMurry an 8-7 advantage with 10:39 left in until intermission.

The Lobos responded at the 5:14 mark as Barber scored the second of his 3 touchdowns for the night, this one on a 10-yard run after a 6-play, 70-yard march. Sully went for the two-point try with Barber falling just short of the goal line to make the score 13-8.

Barber opened the second half with a 3-yard scamper following 6 plays and 52 yards. The Van Wagner kick was blocked but Sul Ross sported a 19-8 advantage with 11:14 left in the third.

Sul Ross struggled to produce offensively in the second half as McMurry's Jamorian Wilkins picked off a Carlo Dominguez pass and returned it 28 yards into the Lobo end zone. The extra attempt was blocked by Zach Gideon with McMurry trailing 19-14 with 8:36 left in the third quarter.

McMurry pulled within a deuce with a late fourth quarter field goal from Josh Neaves from 31-yards out to narrow the margin, 19-17.

Dominguez responded 59 seconds later with a 3-yard trot after a trip of 4 plays and 65 yards. Van Wagner's kick was good giving Sul Ross a 26-17 lead with 3:56 left in regulation.

McMurry called on Neaves again, this time on a 22-yard field goal to pull McM to within 6, 26-20 with under 2 minutes left in the game.

Sul Ross chewed time on the ensuing drive after a big 17-yard pick up by Barber on the opening play of the series as the Lobos walked away with the 26-20 win.

The Lobos, currently on a 3-game winning streak, improve to 5-2 and 3-2 in league action while McMurry drops to 2-6 and 1-5.

Sul Ross will celebrate homecoming this weekend with a 1:00 p.m. ASC contest against Hardin-Simmons. The Cowboys are coming off a 48-47 overtime loss to Howard Payne Saturday in Abilene. The upset by Howard Payne marked HPU's first season and conference win for 2007. The last time the Cowboys have shouldered four losses was the 1991 season.

V-ball Wins 2 In Dallas

IRVING, Saturday, Oct. 20 -- Sul Ross split weekend tournament action at the Dallas Festival hosted by the University of Dallas. The Lady Lobo defeated Wiley College of Marshall, 3-1 by scores of 30-15, 30-22, 26-30 and 30-23.

Sully then dropped a 3-2 decision to Bates College, Maine, by scores of 23-30, 30-24, 30-17, 19-30 and 13-15 in Friday play. Sul Ross rebounded with a 3-0 sweep of Franciscan University, Ohio, by scores of 30-25, 30-20 and 30-14 before falling to host University of Dallas in a 3-2 stretcher (21-30, 30-23, 25-30, 30-23 and 13-15) on Saturday.

Melanie Valenciana supported the Sul Ross attack against Wiley with 11 kills followed by Stacy Macias with 10. Jennifer Harder and Lyndi Cypher were lead defenders with 11 and 10 digs respectfully. Setter Bianca Espinoza posted 35 assists.

Against Bates, it was Macias who led the offense with 15 kills with Valenciana and Harder contributing 13 and 10 kills respectively. Cypher sported 10 digs while Espinoza added 37 assists.

Macias again led scorers in Sully's win over Franciscan with 12 kills with Valenciana adding 11. Harder saddled 10 digs. Espinoza supplied 34 assists.

Valenciana and Macias tallied 14 and 13 kills respectively against University of Dallas while Cypher and Harder gathered 16 and 10 stops on defense with 38 assists by Espinoza.

Sul Ross, 5-20 on the season, will return to conference play at home today and Friday against Howard Payne and Concordia.

Fall Ball Scrimmage Splits 2-2

Lobo Red and Lobo White split their annual fall baseball series 2-2 over a four day stretch at Kokernot Field.

Red took the first two contests 3-1 on Monday and 3-2 in the Tuesday nightcap. The White team then collected 4-1 and 10-9 victories in the series closers Wednesday and Thursday.

The series is considered an intra-squad scrimmage and stats do not count in official NCAA records.

On day 1, Red posted a 6-5 hitting margin in Monday's, Oct. 15, 3-1 win. Isaiah Rayos crossed the plate off Eric Castillo's RBI single to right field to give the Red team a 1-0 lead after two innings. The White team answered in the top of the fourth as Javier Arrieta's right side single scored Tury Cleto with one away, which knotted the game at 1.

The Red team broke the tie with a two-run outing in the bottom of the fifth with a single and a sacrifice bunt.
Ricardo Vera reached off a Zack Denson single before Chris Monclova laid down a 1-3 bunt sacrifice that scored Will Cazzares.

Both teams were scoreless over the next 2 and a half innings giving Red the 3-1 win.

Michael Otero (1-0) collected the win while Cody Kemmerling (0-1) shouldered the loss, both working the full contest.

Day 2, both teams waited until the last 3 and a half innings to light the board. The White team saddled a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth as Richard Fraire and Alonzo Amancio crossed off an infield error to give the White team a 2-0 advantage.

The Red team rallied into extra innings as Zack Denson's 2-RBI single to center scored Otero and Castillo to tie the game at two.

Red took the game winner in the eighth as Monte Piper grounded into a 6-4-3 double play which sent Chris Rodriguez across to give Red the 3-2 win before holding the White team at bay in the bottom half.

Eddie Vela (1-0) grabbed the win for Lobo Red while senior Jaime Rojo (0-1) took the loss after the full outing for both pitchers.

The White team answered on day 3 with a 4-1 victory. White took a 3-0 lead after 2 and a half.

Tury Cleto scored in the top half of the first inning off an Arrieta ground out to the shortstop. Arrieta then tripled in the top of the third sending Harvey Cardiel and Ruben Santos in to score to give the White team a 3-1 lead.

Castillo came around for the Red team in the fifth off an infield error to pull Red within 2, trailing 3-1. James Johnson then scored for the White team in the next half off a sacrifice fly by Will Montano sending the Red lead to 3, 4-1.

Arrieta posted the win at 1-0 while Ricardo Vera came up short at 0-1.

The final day's scoring fest saw a 16-9 hitting margin in favor of the White team. Red opened scoring in the top of the first as Chris Rodriguez scored off of Pedro Saenz's RBI single.

Lobo White responded in their second at-bat with a 4-run attack off of 6 hits. Arrieta and Cleto both scored unearned off a steal and a passed ball. Cardiel then singled up the middle sending Christian Cruz in to score.
Amancio then came across off of Montano's right field single to give the White team a 4-1 advantage.

The Red team answered with a run in the third while White collected a run in the fourth to set the score at 5-2, White team on top. Red then unleashed a 4-run assault of their own in the fifth to take the go ahead 6-5.

Both teams slugged it out over the next three innings with the game tied at 9 heading to extra slots. The White team grabbed the lead and the win in the bottom of the eighth as Johnson scored off of Amancio's sacrifice fly giving the White squad the 10-9 win to split the 4-day series 2-2.

Otero (1-0) sported the victory with Ritchie Ortega posting the loss at 0-1.

The Lobos will open the 2008 season at the UTPB Baseball Classic in Odessa on February 1.