ASHLAND, Ore. — (Nov. 4) Shaking off a rugged start, Humboldt State rallied for a 35-17 victory over Southern Oregon to finish the road portion of its season undefeated.

With the win, the Lumberjacks improved to 8-1 heading into Saturday's season finale against Western Oregon in Redwood Bowl. Humboldt State achieved a 5-0 record away from Arcata this season, equaling the unbeaten road regular season achieved by the 1960 team, which ended its season with a 15-14  loss to Lenoir Rhyne in the Holiday Bowl in Florida.

For most of the first half, the Jacks' chances for road perfection appeared threatened by a fired-up Raider squad celebrating its homecoming. The already lethargic Jacks' offense was lethargic made it worse on themselves by turning the ball over twice with fumbles, both of which were turned into scores by the Raiders.

After the HSU defense stuffed a Raider drive six inches away from a game-opening touchdown, the Jacks took the opportunity to score first themselves. They completed an 11-play, 77-yard drive with a 14-yard pass connection from Blake Moorman to Richard Perkins, grabbing a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

But the second quarter proved to be a disaster for the visitors, who provided the Raiders with field position inside the Jacks' 30-yard line on consecutive possessions.  Moorman coughed up the first fumble, and the Raiders needed only four plays to cover the 29 yards, finishing with an 8-yard touchdown pass from Casey Mitchell to Kevin Holtzman.

After receiving the kickoff, Humboldt State's Marcus Cox gave the ball back on the first play from scrimmage, and this time the Raiders used a thrifty three plays to convert the turnover into points. Once again, it was Mitchell to Holtzman, the pass play covering 28 yards and giving SOU a 14-7 lead.

"I don't know what it is, but we seem to have a difficult time playing up here," Moorman said. "We started so slow and were having a hard time to turn it around. Those two fumbles really hurt us early."

The Lumberjacks managed to compose themselves long enough to to complete a 65-yard drive that featured Cox's running and three completions from Moorman to Craig Neuvert.  Cox tied the score again when he burst into the endzone from six yards out.

In the waning minutes of the first half, the Raiders put together their best drive, two completions from the familiar duo of Mitchell to Holtzman and a 19-yard run by Shane Van Zant keeping it going. HSU's defense finally forced a field goal attempt, which Steve Palmer connected on from 21 yards out to give his team a 17-14 halftime lead.

In the early minutes of the second half, Humboldt State appeared destined to continue its uncharacteristic slide when Moorman turned the ball over on the Jacks' first play of the period. The defense rose up again, however, forcing the Raiders to give the ball right back after three quick downs, and the momentum quickly changed.

As bad as the Jacks looked at times in the first half, they were near perfect in executing the remainder of the game, with the defense leading the way. The offense found itself near the end of the third quarter when Moorman hit Neuvert for a 32-yard completion before taking the ball around the left corner himself, running 23 yards before diving inside the pylon for the go-ahead touchdown.

HSU defensive back Derrick Andrews intercepted Mitchell's first pass on the ensuing possession, bring the HSU offense back on the field. Four plays later, the Jacks started the fourth quarter with a one-yard touchdown run by Joevany Cueva to take a 28-17 lead.

An impressive 9-play, 88-yard march was Humboldt State's game-capper, coming midway through the fourth quarter. With leading receiver Joey Stein double-covered throughout the evening, Moorman hit Edwin Henry for a 33-yard completion, Neuvert for 13 more yards, then finished with a 26-yard hookup to Milton White for the touchdown.

"They were on Joey (Stein) all night, but we are definitely not a one-dimensional team," Moorman said. "Neuvert, Henry and White all stepped up and showed just how many great receivers we have on this team."

Moorman finished the night 16-of-37 passing for 237 yards, with a career-high seven catches for 115 yards made by Neuvert.  Moorman also led the Jacks in rushing with 67 yards on 10 carries, while Cox added 59 yards on 13 carries.

Senior linebacker Brandon Wigton led the Humboldt State defense with 10 tackles, and Todd Eagle had nine, including two second-half quarterback sacks.

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