Box Score MONMIUTH, Ore. – After dominating the running game last weekend, No. 15-ranked Humboldt State was limited to just 72 rushing yards in a 40-24 defeat against Western Oregon Saturday afternoon.  The Wolves wore down the Lumberjack defense and shut down the HSU offense in the matchup of the top two teams in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference.

Humboldt State stands at 6-1 overall, 5-1 in the GNAC conference. Western Oregon, now at 5-3 overall and 4-1 in conference action, leads HSU by a half-game for first place in the GNAC standings.

"It's one loss, but we'll regroup," said head coach Rob Smith. "Obviously the three weeks of travelling takes a toll on these kids and I'm not sure the energy was there that you need to have. It happens. We just didn't play at the level we had in the first six games."

Humboldt State knocked on Western Oregon's door early but couldn't get the yards they needed for the touchdown, settling for a 30-yard field goal by Brian Blumberg. The kick was tipped, but it still snuck through the uprights to give the Jacks a three-point lead.

Despite getting points on the scoreboard first, the Jacks allowed WOU to carry the momentum in the first half, outscoring HSU 24-10. Turnovers plagued the Lumberjack offense, including a forced fumble from Mike Proulx resulting in a touchdown to put the Wolves up 17-3 with 11 minutes left to play before halftime.

The Jacks made their way back down the field to put themselves in scoring position, but almost let the opportunity slip out of their hands. Proulx's pass intended for Alex Hiebert was intercepted by Buchanan, but it was overturned due to pass interference, giving HSU a lucky break. Lyndon Rowells rushed for two yards to give the Jacks their first touchdown of the game.

Western Oregon was more effective on its third-down conversions, completing seven of their 18 chances. Humboldt State, in comparison, only completed two of its 11 third-down scenarios. The Wolves' offense was led by quarterback Evan Mozzochi (18-35-0) and running back Kenny Hayes—who rushed for 110 yards.

The Jacks went into halftime trailing 24-10, but the offense could not seem to get into a rhythm, making the defense try to limit the WOU scoring. The Jacks' defense—led by Jeremiah Maluia and Tanner Webb with nine tackles each on the night—prevented the Wolves from scoring another touchdown in the third quarter, but allowed two field goals to put the score at 30-10 before the start of the fourth quarter.

Proulx and Rowells connected in the beginning of the fourth to drop WOU's lead to 13 points off a three-yard touchdown run by Rowells.

"We're much better than the way we played today," said Smith. "It seemed like every bounce of the ball went against us."

One of those bounces occurred in the fourth quarter when an HSU player looked to tip a pass by Mozzochi, but the tipped ball fell right into the arms of Trevor Gates to bring the lead back up to 20 points.

Victor Spencer scored off a four-yard touchdown pass from Proulx, giving the Jacks a little hope for a comeback. The Wolves' defense had no intention of allowing Humboldt State to get any more points, forcing the Jacks to go 0-for-6 on their next three possessions, snagging their third interception of the night and collecting two of their five sacks.

"There's a lot of great things about winning, but it's certainly tough to lose a game—it stings a little bit more," said Smith. "We're going to reorganize and we'll get ready to come back home which we're excited about. We have three games, and if we take care of business in the first two, we'll be playing for a conference championship at home on Senior Day against this same team."

Humboldt State could be without key players as the Jacks picked up a couple knocks in the battle with the Wolves. Chris Bolt suffered a leg injury early in the game that left him out of the match; Guy Riccarduli had to deal with a groin injury that left him on the sidelines for a majority of the game; and Casey Sarvinski saw limited action due to a knock at the knee.