ALPINE, Texas --- The Western Oregon football team rushed for 264 yards and four touchdowns as the Wolves opened Lone Star Conference play with a 39-17 win at Sul Ross State on Saturday at Jackson Field.

WOU (1-2 overall, 1-0 LSC) scored 29 unanswered points in the game to take a 32-3 lead late in the third quarter and cruised from there to pick up its first win of 2024.

The Wolves took the lead for good on the Lobos (1-3, 0-2) late in the first quarter when Jermaine Land went up the middle and broke free for a 46-yard touchdown run to make it 11-3 following WOU two-point conversion.

The grew to 18-3 late in the second quarter when Jordan McCarty hit Keyvaun Eady with a screen pass to the left that the receiver ran the rest of the way for the 12-yard touchdown.

In the third quarter an Andrew Simponson interception with SRSU driving deep into WOU territory turned the game around as the Wolves followed with a 13-play, 86-yard drive that took 5:51 off the clock and was capped by a Kainoa Jones 2-yard run to make it 25-3.

The WOU defense forced a three-and-out on the next Lobo drive and turned it around for a nine-play, 45-yard touchdown drive capped by a Jordan McCarty 1-yard rushing score to make it 32-3. WOU's final score came at the 4:56 mark in the fourth on a Fresh Ison 7-yard scoring run.

While the team rushed for 264 yards, no player rushed for more than 55 yards with six players rushing for at least 22 yards: Land (55 yards), Dominique Loggins (51 yards), Armaad Hubbard (47 yards), Ison (47 yards), McCarty (36 yards) and Jones (22 yards). Jones finished 6-for-12 passing for 76 yards while Mcarty went 5-for-15 for 54 yards and a touchdown. Damon Hickok had a team-high four catches for 36 yards, Brenden Hodge had three catches for 34 yards and Hubbard had a team-high 38 yards receiving on one reception.

Defensively, the Wolves got interceptions from Simpson and Tyler Copeland, a sack apiece from Joseph Northcutt, JJ Tofaeono and LJ Imo and Aaron Woodard led the team with six tackles.

Kicker Keaton Emmett went 4-for-4 on extra points while addign a 25-yard field goal for the Wolves.

WOU plays its home opener next Saturday as it hosts West Texas A&M with kickoff at McArthur Field set for 1:05 p.m.