ARCATA — Moved to tailback from the slot receiver position he's started at all year, Corey Stollmeyer rushed for 129 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns, leading Humboldt State to a 34-3 rout of Southern Oregon in Saturday's homecoming game.
HSU's defense was also spectacular, limiting the Raiders to 241 yards of offense and picking off three passes. Elzie Gatson, Guy Ricciardulli and Justin Price all had interceptions and Chris Peterson and Bubba Reynolds each made 10 tackles, helping the Lumberjacks improve to 4-3 overall.
Stollmeyer, a senior, was inserted into the backfield after both Bobby Thomas and Nick Ricciardulli suffered injuries in last week's loss to Central Washington. Thomas, the Jacks' leading rusher, is expected to return next week, but Ricciardulli is lost for the remainder of the season.
"Hats off to Corey and the offensive line," HSU head coach Rob Smith said. "We got a big boost from him tonight. He was a man possessed about getting the ball across the line at the end."
Two quick scores put the Jacks in control early, the first touchdown coming on a 14-yard run by Stollmeyer with 8 minutes, 55 seconds remaining in the first quarter. Key to the scoring drive was a 36-yard pass completion from Mike Proulx to Matt Devlin that moved the ball to the Southern Oregon 21-yard line.
The HSU defense quickly forced the Raiders to punt, and after taking the ball back the Jacks needed only two plays to score again. This time, Proulx hit Matt Smith for a 68-yard connection and Kyle Shierholt's kick put the Jacks up 13-0 with 4:29 left in the opening period.
Tyler Crowley connected on a 35-yard field goal for the Raiders only 27 seconds before halftime, keeping the game close enough to give Southern Oregon hope. But the second half was all Lumberjacks, starting with Stollmeyer's second touchdown of the evening, this time on a 1-yard run.
"We came out in the third quarter and put in our tempo package, which really seemed to ignite us and get us moving," Smith said. "This is a team that goes out and gives a great effort every time they play."
Proulx also posted another strong performance as one of three Lumberjack quarterbacks seeing action. He finished 14-of-28 for 204 yards,with one interception and two touchdowns, including a 9-yard connection to Dirk Dallas that gave HSU a 27-3 lead with 10:21 left in the game.
HSU's final score was set up when Price intercepted Paul Sweeney's pass at the Southern Oregon 16-yard line. Stollmeyer took over from there, rushing for 13 yards on his first carry and taking the ball the final three yards for the TD that accounted for the final score.
Sweeney finished 14 of 31 for 126 yards and two interceptions. Southern Oregon running back Brandon Baldwin, who rushed for 278 yards a week ago, was limited to only 83 yards on 27 carries by the Lumberjacks.
"We got up early, but stalled out a bit offensively," Smith said. "But we played solid on defense all along, knowing their game plan was to give the ball to Baldwin. With the type of offense they have, you want to make them play from behind and try to catch up."
HSU resumes Great Northwest Athletic Conference this week, heading to Ellensburg, Wash. for a rematch with the Central Washington Wildcats on Saturday.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Southern Oregon..... 0 3 0 0 - 3 Record: (2-5)
Humboldt State...... 13 0 7 14 - 34 Record: (4-3)
Scoring Summary:
1st 08:55 HSU - Stollmeyer, C. 14 yd run (Schierholt, K. kick blockd), 6-76 3:06, SOU 0 - HSU 6
04:29 HSU - Smith, M. 68 yd pass from Proulx, M. (Schierholt, K. kick), 2-70 0:48, SOU 0 - HSU 13
2nd 00:27 SOU - Tyler CROWLEY 35 yd field goal, 11-64 5:28, SOU 3 - HSU 13
3rd 01:36 HSU - Stollmeyer, C. 10 yd run (Schierholt, K. kick), 14-61 4:17, SOU 3 - HSU 20
4th 10:21 HSU - Dallas, D. 9 yd pass from Proulx, M. (Schierholt, K. kick), 8-66 4:31, SOU 3 - HSU 27
08:23 HSU - Stollmeyer, C. 3 yd run (Schierholt, K. kick), 3-16 0:38, SOU 3 - HSU 34
SOU HSU
FIRST DOWNS................... 13 16
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 34-115 31-170
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 126 205
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 32-14-3 33-15-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 66-241 64-375
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-0 3-49
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-54 2-33
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-0 3-4
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 8-34.2 5-36.8
Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 1-0
Penalties-Yards............... 9-104 15-138
Possession Time............... 31:23 28:37
Third-Down Conversions........ 2 of 14 1 of 10
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 1 of 1 3 of 4
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 1-3 4-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 0-0 2-8
RUSHING: Southern Oregon-Brandon BALDWIN 27-83; Paul SWEENEY 5-20; Steve
JORGENSEN 2-12. Humboldt State-Stollmeyer, C. 20-129; Bolt, C. 4-25; Proulx, M.
5-17; Duka, W. 2-minus 1.
PASSING: Southern Oregon-Paul SWEENEY 14-31-2-126; Brandon BALDWIN
0-1-1-0. Humboldt State-Proulx, M. 14-28-1-204; Bolt, C. 1-4-0-1; Davis, G.
0-1-0-0.
RECEIVING: Southern Oregon-B ARROWSMITH 4-40; Brandon BALDWIN 2-26; Nate
SVEDIN 2-26; Cole MCKENZIE 2-11; Danny KEENAN 2-11; Kyle JONES 1-11; Steve
JORGENSEN 1-1. Humboldt State-Smith, M. 7-116; Devlin, M. 2-45; Dallas, D. 2-38;
Henry, E. 2-6; Sharp, M. 1-2; Stollmeyer, C. 1-minus 2.
INTERCEPTIONS: Southern Oregon-Damilyn TANNER 1-0. Humboldt State-Price,
J. 1-4; Gatson, E. 1-0; Ricciardulli, G 1-0.
FUMBLES: Southern Oregon-None. Humboldt State-Stollmeyer, C. 1-0.
Stadium: Redwood Bowl Attendance: 4211
Kickoff time: 6 pm End of Game: 9:03 pm Total elapsed time: 3:03
Officials: Referee: Aaron Santi; Umpire: Kurt Renstrom; Linesman: James Rinne;
Line judge: Erick Watson; Back judge: Mike Baker; Field judge: John Santi;
Side judge: Brian Burns; Scorer: Ed Mathews;