GEORGETOWN, Texas — Southwestern football honored its seniors with a ceremony before the game, but seniors Eric Ovalle and Brandon Jennings each provided their fireworks to close their careers with a 49-15 victory over the Sul Ross State Lobos.
Ovalle led the Southwestern receivers with five receptions for 69 yards and two touchdowns, and Jennings added another touchdown reception, accounting for three of junior quarterback Landry Gilpin's career-high five touchdown passes.
"It starts with the offensive line. They've really come together over the past few games," Ovalle says of the unit led by fellow senior Charles De La Rosa, helping Southwestern rush over 200 yards in each of the past three games. "And then Landry and I are roommates, so there's always that connection."
Gilpin opened with a 63-yard touchdown run on the game's opening possession, then directed a four-play, 65-yard drive capped off by a 12-yard touchdown pass to Ethan Powell for a 14-0 lead. After Sul Ross State responded with a 19-yard touchdown pass from Clayton Maxwell to Kamer Gonzalez, Gilpin and Ovalle went to work, connecting on a 25-yard touchdown pass to put Southwester up 21-7 after the extra point.
After Southwestern linebacker Blane Corekin forced a fumble on Sul Ross's next drive, Gilpin led an eight-play, 65-yard drive punctuated by a touchdown pass to Jennings for his first career touchdown and a 28-7 Southwestern lead.
The Southwestern defense put together a brilliant goal-line stand near the end of the first half with Nick Hackett teaming with Maliq McDonald to stop Michael Kurfehs at the one-yard line and turn the ball over on downs. However, the celebration was short-lived as Sul Ross State tackled Southwestern in their endzone for a safety to end the half trailing Southwestern 28-9.
Sul Ross State struck first in the second half, scoring on a 38-yard pass from Maxwell to Luevano to cut their deficit to 28-15.
Southwestern respond with a nine-play, 65-yard drive, with Gilpin connecting with Ovalle three times, including an eight-yard pass on third-and-four and a 12-yard touchdown for the 35-15 lead.
Sul Ross State lost the ball on a fumble on the first play of the ensuing drive, leading to a Jaquon Marion 20-yard touchdown run.
The Southwestern defense created another turnover when safety Patrick Nicolas took the ball out of Sul Ross State's Ozias Wright's hands, giving the Pirates the ball on the Sul Ross State 30. Gilpin hit Dugan Sexton for the touchdown pass on the very next play for the 49-15 lead.
"The last half of the season, the defense really found our groove and were really rolling through people, forcing three-and-outs," defensive lineman Nick Hackett says. "You saw that today where once they scored on us, we didn't let it happen again for a long time. We're trying to build a culture of winning, and these last three games have been amazing for that."
The defense bent, giving up 444 yards of total offense, but didn't break, forcing six turnovers off four fumbles and two interceptions. Patrick Nicolas led Southwestern with eight tackles, including seven solo tackles, to go with a forced fumble, fumble recovery, and an interception created by senior linebacker Bernard Sencherey's pressure on the quarterback.
Gilpin completed 18-of-25 passes for 207 yards with five touchdowns and an interception. He also ran nine times for 89 yards and another score. Marion had 18 carries for 83 yards and a touchdown, and Gianni Taisague had five carries for 59 yards.
Senior punter and kicker Wil Herbst made all seven of Southwestern's extra-point attempts and had two of his punts downed inside the 20 and another one muffed to give Southwestern back possession.
"We had a group of seniors who had the second half of their football careers disrupted by COVID," Southwestern head football coach Joe Austin says. "But they're such a gritty group with great attitudes. We'll miss them a lot, and it was great to see so many of them have a great day. It was good to have them finish on the high note of a three-game win streak."
Southwestern finishes the season on a three-game winning streak to end with a 4-6 record, including 4-6 in conference play.
