ARCATA — Long returns of an interception and kickoff broke open a tight defensive battle, helping Southern Oregon claim a 31-16 win over Humboldt State in Redwood Bowl Saturday.

The loss drops Humboldt State to 2-7 heading into next week's season finale at Western Oregon. Southern Oregon improved to 4-4 on the season.

For much of the game, both teams sported inept offensive attacks, but some late big plays by the Raiders put the game away. Also contrary to the final result was the performance of Humboldt State's Richard Perkins, who tied the HSU single game record for receptions with 15, but gained only 120 yards.

Tied at 3-3 at halftime, the game quickly swung in the Raiders' favor in the third quarter, thanks to a 52-yard interception return by Brandon Beatty and a 92-yard kickoff return by Derrel Hutsona. Humboldt State did manage to sneak a score in between Southern Oregon's touchdowns, Bobby Thomas pushing it across from one yard out to briefly tie the game again at 10-10.

Humboldt State's defense, which held strong for most of the contest, finally yielded in the fourth quarter to the Raiders' persistence. Hutsona broke lose for a 56-yard run to set up an 8-yard touchdown pass from Brian Lee-Lauduski to Kevin Holtzman, and two long passes by Lee-Lauduski was all it took for another SOU score.

Humboldt State added the game's final score on Bobby Thomas'  4-yard rush with only 3;7 seconds remaining in the game. Thomas finished with 62 yards rushing on 13 carries, all of it coming in the second half.

Hutsona finished with 74 yards rushing on 10 carries, and Lee-Lauduski completed 16 of 25 passes for 152 yards and two interceptions for the Raiders. On the other side of the ball, HSU quarterback Garret Hubrich finished 23 of 44 for 171 yards, but was victimized by four interceptions.

       Southern Oregon vs Humboldt State (Nov 03, 2007 at Arcata, Calif.)

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Southern Oregon.....  0  3 14 14  - 31       Record: (4-4)
Humboldt State......  3  0  7  6  - 16       Record: (2-7)



Scoring Summary:
1st 13:08 HSU - Nelson, Nichola 23 yd field goal, 7-21 1:36, SOU 0 - HSU 3
2nd 03:32 SOU - O'NEILL, Corey 28 yd field goal, 4-2 1:36, SOU 3 - HSU 3
3rd 13:24 SOU - BEATTY, Brandon 52 yd interception return (O'NEILL, Corey kick), , SOU 10 - HSU 3
    10:05 HSU - Thomas, Bobby 1 yd run (Nelson, Nichola kick), 7-29 3:05, SOU 10 - HSU 10
    09:52 SOU - HUTSONA, Derrel 94 yd kickoff return (O'NEILL, Corey kick), , SOU 17 - HSU 10
4th 09:57 SOU - HOLTZMAN, Kevin 8 yd pass from LEE-LAUDUSKI, B (HUNSAKER, J.C. rush failed), 5-81 1:25, SOU 23 - HSU 10
    07:48 SOU - GREENIDGE, Tim 18 yd pass from LEE-LAUDUSKI, B (PRICE, Darryl pass from LEE-LAUDUSKI, B), 2-47 0:13, SOU 31 - HSU 10
    00:37 HSU - Thomas, Bobby 4 yd run (Nelson, Nichola kick failed), 6-44 1:44, SOU 31 - HSU 16



                                    SOU      HSU
FIRST DOWNS...................       14       15
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............   38-158    35-98
PASSING YDS (NET).............      159      168
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  26-17-2  46-24-4
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   64-317   81-266
Fumble Returns-Yards..........      0-0      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............      0-0     1-13
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........    3-135    6-139
Interception Returns-Yards....     4-87     2-12
Punts (Number-Avg)............   6-38.0   7-41.0
Fumbles-Lost..................      3-1      0-0
Penalties-Yards...............    10-92     5-69
Possession Time...............    30:13    29:47
Third-Down Conversions........  5 of 15  2 of 16
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   0 of 2   1 of 4
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      3-4      3-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     4-27     3-13


RUSHING: Southern Oregon-HUTSONA, Derrel 10-71; VAN ZANT, Shane 9-52; ROSALES, Marlon 15-51; TEAM 1-minus 3; LEE-LAUDUSKI, B 3-minus 13. Humboldt State-Thomas, Bobby 13-62; Cox, Marcus 12-30; Hubrich, Garret 9-5; Schierholt, Kyl 1-1.

PASSING: Southern Oregon-LEE-LAUDUSKI, B 16-25-2-152; STACK, Austin 1-1-0-7. Humboldt State-Hubrich, Garret 23-44-4-171; Schierholt, Kyl 0-1-0-0; Perkins, Richar 1-1-0-minus 3.

RECEIVING: Southern Oregon-HOLTZMAN, Kevin 4-46; JORGENSEN, Stev 4-32; GREENIDGE, Tim 4-31; PRICE, Darryl 3-15; PATENAUDE, Dann 1-29; HARDING, Brian 1-6. Humboldt State-Perkins, Richar 15-120; Devlin, Matt 2-24; Ross, Darren 2-12; Anderson, Corey 2-4; Miles, Kevin 1-9; Cox, Marcus 1-2; Hubrich, Garret
1-minus 3.

INTERCEPTIONS: Southern Oregon-BEATTY, Brandon 1-52; JACKSON, Akeem 1-31; CAPPO, Danson 1-4; ELARMO, Jared 1-0. Humboldt State-Washington, Mom 1-12; Turner, Nathan 1-0.

FUMBLES: Southern Oregon-CAPPO, Danson 1-0; ROSALES, Marlon 1-1; HUTSONA, Derrel 1-0. Humboldt State-None.

Stadium: Redwood Bowl          Attendance: 1624
Kickoff time: 6 pm      End of Game: 8:54 pm   Total elapsed time: 2:30
Officials: Referee: Randy Mora; Umpire: C. Butterfield; Linesman: Erick Watson;
Line judge: Doug Moore; Back judge: David Lembros; Field judge: Brian Burns;
Side judge: Richard Ross; Scorer: Ed Matthews;