ATHERTON — Taking more than they were willing to give, the Humboldt State Lumberjacks forced six turnovers on the way to a 44-7 win over Menlo College in college football action Saturday.

Humboldt State capitalized on four interceptions and two fumbles to earn its first win of the year and improve to 1-3. Menlo remained winless at 0-4.

After grabbing the lead early, Humboldt State gradually improved its advantage and finally shook free of any Menlo upset hopes with two fourth quarter touchdowns. The Lumberjacks celebrated the lead following the final touchdown by putting in 52-year-old kicker Tim Davidson to attempt the PAT, but his boot sailed low to prevent a wider margin of victory.

On Menlo's very first play from scrimmage, Humboldt State's Allen Brunner stepped in front of Tony Rehn's pass, coming up with the interception and giving the Jacks the ball on the Menlo 34 yard line. The Oaks forced a fourth down and two, but Cornell Canidate not only converted the first down but raced 21 yards into the endzone for the first of his three touchdowns on the day.

Menlo worked its way into HSU territory on the ensuing drive, benefitting from a pass interference call. After coming into the game as an injury replacement, freshman quarterback Angel Molina ran for one first down, but the Jack's defense held and forced an errant 41-yard field goal attempt.

HSU quarterback Garrett Hubrich connected with Richard Perkins down to the Menlo 30 after the Jacks took over, but a personal foul penalty  delayed HSU's progress on the drive. Darren Ross grabbed another Hubrich pass to keep the drive alive, running it all the way down to the 2-yard line. From there, Canidate followed his blockers up the middle for the touchdown and a 14-0 lead early in the second quarter.

Mombroso Washington provided Humboldt State with the next takeaway, intercepting another Rehn pass and returning it to the Menlo 33-yard line. Hubrich directed a 7-play, 20-yard drive that ended with Nick Nelson converting a 30-yard field goal to put HSU ahead 17-0.

Yet another HSU pick ended the half when Derrick Andrews leaped to pull down a desperation pass by Molina at the HSU 10 yard line.

The takeaways continued in the second half when linebacker Brian Iriye jarred the ball loose from Lamar Cotton and recovered it himself at the Menlo 4. Canidate ran the ball to the 1-yard-line on the first play following the turnover, then leaped across from one yard out on the next for a 24-0 HSU lead with 10:36 remaining in the third quarter.

Molina used his running skills to provide Menlo's biggest game of the day early in the fourth quarter, racing inside the HSU 40 for a first down. He scrambled for five more yards before a penalty moved the ball inside the redzone, and Molina finished the drive with a two-yard run to cut the Jack's lead to 24-7 in the fourth quarter.

Humboldt eliminated any Menlo rally hopes with a mid-fourth quarter touchdown set up by Edwin Henry's 45-yard punt return. Most of the drive came via Marcus Cox' power runs, and Hubrich completed it with a 3-yard touchdown pass to tight end Travis Gibb to make the score 31-7 with 8:03 remaining.

Menlo lost another oppotunity when the Jacks' Desmond Maxwell jarred the ball loose from Drew Hanson just as the Oaks appeared ready to score. Humboldt's Jeff Williams scooped up the fumble and returned it 79 yards for a 38-7 advantage.

David Demarco came up with the final takeaway of the day, alertly intercepting a pass that bounced off the back of an Oaks' player. Three plays later, J.D. Hellinger connected with Henry on a 14-yard scoring pass, putting the Jacks up 44-7 following Davidson's missed PAT kick.

Canidate finished with 80 yards on 22 carries to pace the Jacks' running game, while Hubrich completed 21-of-31 passes for 221 yards and one interception. The Jacks' offense outgained the Oaks, 325 yards to 244.

Following four road games to start the season, Humboldt State finally plays its first home game when the Jacks host Dixie College at 6 p.m. Saturday in Redwood Bowl.

                               Box Score (Final)
         Humboldt State vs Menlo College (Sep 22, 2007 at Atherton, CA)

Score by Quarters     1  2  3  4   Score
-----------------    -- -- -- --   -----
Humboldt State......  7 10  7 20  - 44       Record: (1-3)
Menlo College.......  0  0  0  7  -  7       Record: (0-4)



Scoring Summary:
1st 10:13 HSU - Canidate, Corne 21 yd run (Nelson, Nichola kick), 4-29 2:06, HSU 7 - MENLO 0
2nd 14:45 HSU - Canidate, Corne 2 yd run (Nelson, Nichola kick), 5-60 1:44, HSU 14 - MENLO 0
    00:55 HSU - Nelson, Nichola 30 yd field goal, 7-20 2:35, HSU 17 - MENLO 0
3rd 10:36 HSU - Canidate, Corne 1 yd run (Nelson, Nichola kick), 2-4 0:41, HSU 24 - MENLO 0
4th 12:26 MENLO - Molina, Angel 3 yd run (Bendana, Anthony kick), 5-56 1:47, HSU 24 - MENLO 7
    08:03 HSU - Gibb, Travis 3 yd pass from Hubrich, Garret (Nelson, Nichola kick), 4-24 1:34, HSU 31 - MENLO 7
    04:47 HSU - Williams, Jeff 79 yd fumble recovery (Nelson, Nichola kick), , HSU 38 - MENLO 7
    02:56 HSU - Henry, Edwin 14 yd pass from Hellinger, J.D. (Davidson, Tim kick failed), 3-19 0:49, HSU 44 - MENLO 7



                                    HSU    MENLO
FIRST DOWNS...................       14       17
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............    37-90   38-168
PASSING YDS (NET).............      235       76
Passes Att-Comp-Int...........  32-22-1  37-14-4
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.....   69-325   75-244
Fumble Returns-Yards..........     1-79      0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............     5-61      0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards.........     2-54    7-134
Interception Returns-Yards....     4-17     1-19
Punts (Number-Avg)............   8-33.5   7-33.7
Fumbles-Lost..................      1-0      3-2
Penalties-Yards...............    12-93     3-15
Possession Time...............    32:01    27:59
Third-Down Conversions........  5 of 16  4 of 16
Fourth-Down Conversions.......   2 of 2   0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances.......      5-5      1-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards........     2-12     2-18


RUSHING: Humboldt State-Canidate, Corne 22-80; Cox, Marcus 5-24; Cueva,
Joevanny 2-5; TEAM 2-minus 4; Hubrich, Garret 6-minus 15. Menlo College-Molina,
Angel 13-112; Alexander, Deckar 13-52; Foster, Alvin 3-6; Rehn, Tony 6-0;
Cotton, Lamar 3-minus 2.

PASSING: Humboldt State-Hubrich, Garret 21-31-1-221; Hellinger, J.D.
1-1-0-14. Menlo College-Molina, Angel 9-20-2-59; Rehn, Tony 5-17-2-17.

RECEIVING: Humboldt State-Henry, Edwin 7-86; Ross, Darren 6-92; Canidate,
Corne 4-12; Gibb, Travis 2-1; Perkins, Richar 1-27; Miles, Kevin 1-10; Cox,
Marcus 1-7. Menlo College-Rasmussen, Erik 6-41; Hughes, Jayson 2-10; DeLeon,
Eddie 1-7; LaVoie, Jake 1-6; Daniels-Brown, Keith 1-6; Alexander, Deckar 1-3;
Long, Jordan 1-2; Hanson, Drew 1-1.

INTERCEPTIONS: Humboldt State-Washington, Mom 1-12; Brunner, Allen 1-5;
DeMarco, David 1-0; Andrews, Derric 1-0. Menlo College-Merino, Asti 1-19.

FUMBLES: Humboldt State-Hubrich, Garret 1-0. Menlo College-Cotton, Lamar
1-1; Hanson, Drew 1-1; Jordan, Ricky 1-0.

Stadium: Conner Field          Attendance: 0
Kickoff time: 12:00 pm  End of Game: 3:11 pm   Total elapsed time: 3:11
Officials: Referee: Randy Mora; Umpire: Tony Allegro; Linesman: Dave Fink;
Line judge: Larry Staab; Back judge: Jim Bruno; Field judge: Brian Burns;
Side judge: Rick Ross; Scorer: Johnny Pham;
Temperature: Cool      Wind: Light     Weather: Overcast