ST. GEORGE, Utah — Turnovers, penalties, injuries and a blocked punt all contributed to Humboldt State's 17-10 loss to Dixie State College on Saturday, allowing the Rebels to avenge a triple-overtime loss they suffered to the Lumberjacks earlier this season.

Winds gusting to 45 miles per hour greeted the teams on the field, keeping the offenses grounded most of the night. Humboldt State's own winds of fortune continued to blow cold, as the Jacks dropped their third straight game and fell to 2-6 with two games remaining.

Humboldt State's highlights were reserve tailback Bobby Thomas, who rushed for 79 yards on 14 carries,  and the Jacks' defense which held Dixie State to 188 yards. But the Dixie State defense was also effective, giving up 267 yards of offense and coming up with big stops down the stretch to preserve the win.

On Saturday HSU's mishaps and miscues began early. After stopping Dixie's offense on the initial drive, Humboldt State's own first drive worked in favor of its opponent when quarterback Brian Hildebrand's second pass attempt was intercepted by Jayson Malufua, who raced 49 yards for a touchdown.

The Lumberjacks received the ensuing kickoff, but then gave the ball back to the Rebels on their first play from scrimmage when Marcus Cox dropped the pitchout. Dixie State benefitted from another HSU mistake, moving the ball to the Jacks' 35-yard line on a personal foul.

From there, the Rebels advanced the ball on the ground into the redzone, and finished off the drive with a seven-yard scoring pass from Skyler Ence to tight end Judd Thompson. With nearly six minutes of the opening quarter still to be played, the Lumberjacks trailed, 14-0.

HSU received its first break when linebacker Allen Brunner picked up a botched quarterback/center exchange at the Dixie State 21-yard line. The Jacks went backwards from there before converting a fourth and 18 with a pass from Hildebrand to freshman Kevin Miles that moved the ball to the two-yard line. Hildebrand dove across two plays later, cutting the lead to 14-7.

Gaining momentum, the Lumberjacks kept the ball on the ground, the three-pronged attack of running backs Cox, Joevany Cueva and Thomas advancing the ball to the nine-yard line. But a holding penalty helped stall the drive, and a 26-yard field goal attempt by Nick Nelson hit the upright to keep the Jacks trailing by seven.

Before halftime arrived, the Jacks hurt themselves again when a blocked punt gave Dixie the ball on the HSU 29. The Rebels moved the ball to the 13 before stalling out and settling for Zach Manning 29-yard field goal, giving them a 10-point lead at the break.

Free safety Keon Gaither came up with the first big play of the second half, intercepting Ence's pass in the middle and returning it to the Dixie State 25-yard line. Even the positives turned negative for HSU, however, with Gaither injured on the play and removed from the game.

Three plays later, the Jacks were still stuck at the 25, forced to try and convert a fourth down. Hildebrand's pass found an open receiver at the three-yard line, but the ball was dropped to turn it back over on downs.

Humboldt's defense quickly returned the ball the offense in good field position, and the Jacks drove to the Dixie State nine before being held. Nelson ended the third quarter with a 26-yard field goal that cut the lead to 17-10.

Further darkening the result for Humboldt State was the loss of offensive linemen Robert Fain and Adam Maser to injuries.  Gaither was also unable to return after his third quarter injury, and after gaining 65 yards on the ground, running back Marcus Cox was held out the rest of the evening.

Humboldt State enjoys a bye in the schedule this week before returning to action Nov. 3 against Southern Oregon at home in Redwood Bowl.

   Humboldt State vs Dixie State College (Oct 20, 2007 at St George, UT)

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Humboldt State......  0  7  3  0  - 10       Record: (2-6)
Dixie State College. 14  3  0  0  - 17       Record: (3-5)



Scoring Summary:
1st 09:54 DSC - Malufua, Jayson 49 yd interception return (Manning, Zach kick), , HSU 0 - DSC 7
    05:45 DSC - Thompson, Judd 7 yd pass from Ence, Skyler (Manning, Zach kick), 10-49 3:56, HSU 0 - DSC 14
2nd 13:59 HSU - Hildebrand, Bri 1 yd run (Nelson, Nichola kick), 6-21 2:51, HSU 7 - DSC 14
    00:15 DSC - Manning, Zach 29 yd field goal, 6-18 0:36, HSU 7 - DSC 17
3rd 00:15 HSU - Nelson, Nichola 26 yd field goal, 11-31 3:38, HSU 10 - DSC 17



                                    HSU      DSC
FIRST DOWNS...................       13       11
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   48-149   43-163
PASSING YDS (NET).............      118       25
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........   27-9-1   15-6-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   75-267   58-188
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............     3-41     3-30
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     3-28     2-40
Interception Returns-Yards....     1-30     1-49
Punts (Number-Avg)............   6-32.5   8-36.9
Fumbles-Lost..................      1-1      3-2
Penalties-Yards...............     7-65     1-15
Possession Time...............    31:51    28:09
Third-Down Conversions........  6 of 19  5 of 14
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   2 of 5   0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      2-3      2-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards........      1-6     4-27

RUSHING: Humboldt State-Thomas, Bobby 14-79; Cox, Marcus 21-65; Hildebrand, Bri 11-7; Cueva,
Joevanny 1-minus 1; TEAM 1-minus 1. Dixie State College-Wells, Adam 25-125; Ence, Skyler 10-26;
Irvin, Dallas 4-13; Fiefia, Doug 1-3; TEAM 3-minus 4.

PASSING: Humboldt State-Hildebrand, Bri 9-26-1-118; Thomas, Bobby 0-1-0-0. Dixie State
College-Ence, Skyler 6-15-1-25.

RECEIVING: Humboldt State-Perkins, Richar 3-30; Anderson, Corey 2-45; Miles, Kevin 2-36;
Gibb, Travis 1-8; Cox, Marcus 1-minus 1. Dixie State College-Thompson, Judd 2-16; Christensen, K
2-4; Fiefia, Doug 1-5; Wells, Adam 1-0.

INTERCEPTIONS: Humboldt State-Gaither, Keon 1-30. Dixie State College-Malufua, Jayson 1-49.

FUMBLES: Humboldt State-Cox, Marcus 1-1. Dixie State College-Wells, Adam 2-1; Ence, Skyler
1-1.

Stadium: Hansen Stadium        Attendance: 2862
Kickoff time: 7:05 PM   End of Game: 9:46 PM   Total elapsed time: 2:41
Officials: Referee: Kent Condie; Umpire: Gene VanOrden; Linesman: Justin Nelson;
Line judge: Casey McClellan; Back judge: Joe Wroght; Field judge: Matt Mills;
Side judge: Trent Leavitt; Scorer: Jeff Cluff;
Temperature: 74        Wind: 24 MPH    Weather: Partly Cloudy