The Hornets had their ninth consecutive win over the Humboldt State Lumberjacks on Saturday, ending the game with a score of 45-13.

The team scored in their first drive down the field with a touchdown by wide receiver Tony Washington, starting a trend for almost every drive.

Defensively, the team was very strong and in the first quarter only gave up one first down due to a penalty; the Lumberjacks wasted the drive with a personal foul for head butting. The defense had a couple turnovers, returning one of them off a fumbled lateral for a touchdown by senior cornerback Ryan Battle and intercepting another by freshman cornerback Deionte Gordon.

Sophomore quarterback Jason Smith used sophomore running backs Bryan Hilliard and Evander Wilkins many times during the game — Hilliard made two touchdowns because of it. Wilkins showed his true skills as a speed demon on the field giving the Hornets many first downs throughout the game. “I’m just trying to play Sac State ball and not trying to focus on anything else,” said Wilkins.

Once they gained a good lead on the Lumberjacks, freshman running back Jake Croxdale showed his running potential by plowing through a defender in the fourth quarter as well as gaining yards for the team.

Smith also ran for a touchdown in the second quarter and rarely threw incomplete passes with no interceptions. He impressed Coach Marshall Sperbeck with a wise decision to change a play during the game.

“Smith called an audible run in the second half gaining 45 yards,” said Sperbeck.

After seeing Smith shine, Coach Sperbeck is confident in his decision of keeping Smith as starting quarterback for the second season in a row. Smith thought there were still ways he could improve for the next game.

“I need to practice my footwork and I missed a couple of blocks in the game, but we’ve definitely improved from last year as a team,” said Smith.

The Hornets dominated tonight and played hard. Their next game will be at Colorado State on September 6.

Come out and join us for the following game on September 13 at 2:05 p.m. against Southern Oregon.

Taylor Collis can be reached at [email protected].