Eric Brock was seeing yellow flags like they were spots in front of his eyes.

Haskell Indian Nations University was dunned 136 yards on 16 penalties in Saturday’s 28-21 homecoming loss to Southwestern Assemblies of God U., and the Fightin’ Indians’ coach was baffled.

“I can’t explain it,” Brock said.

Haskell was clearly guilty of infractions on several occasions, but a SAGU series before halftime had Brock shaking his head in frustration.

SAGU marched 65 yards for a go-ahead touchdown with :22.6 on the clock. 43 of those yards were the direct result of Haskell penalties, including four for pass interference.

Another 15 yards were tacked on for unsportsmanlike conduct when a Haskell player vented his frustration over an interference call.

“I asked the refs at halftime what my defensive backs can do,” Brock said. “This is a contact sport. It isn’t a touch sport. I was wishing they’d let ’em play a little bit.”

The officials tooted only one pass interference call against the Indians in the second half, and it was clearly a violation.

Still, it wasn’t defense that cost Haskell. It was an inconsistent offense that left the HINU defense on the field too long.

¢ 6Sports video: Haskell falls in homecoming game

“We had 90 plays on defense,” Brock said. “Our guys were pretty gassed. On offense, our rhythm and discipline was clearly a little off.”

Brock wasn’t sure if the hour delay to evacuate an injured SAGU player just minutes after the kickoff contributed to the offensive funk.

“You start and then break for an hour,” Brock said. “I wish I knew. It did have a different feel.”

Tailback Chad Murphy, who led the Indians in rushing with 89 yards in 15 carries, said the delay knocked the wind out of his sails.

“That was hard. We were all psyched,” Murphy said, “and then we had to take that break, and that kills your adrenaline.”

Quarterback Peter Hahn, who scrambled for a 41-yard touchdown with just 1:50 remaining to bring the Tribe to within a TD, agreed with Murphy.

SAGU wide receiver Josh Roark suffered that apparent head injury on a third-down play. The Lions would have had to punt on fourth-and-11, and the HINU offense would have had its first opportunity. But the game was halted.

“I’m sure if we didn’t have to stop there, the momentum would have been different,” Hahn said. “But we just killed ourselves with penalties. Those flags just started flying, and the next thing we knew we were down for 14 points.”

Haskell’s offense was guilty of three illegal procedures, two holding calls and a delay of game among its grab bag of flags.

The Indians, in fact, didn’t post an offensive touchdown until Murphy bolted over from the three with 6:34 remaining. That TD was set up by a 58-yard pass from Hahn to Chris Muniz — Haskell’s biggest offensive play.

Haskell’s first TD came via an 83-yard kickoff return by Hayes, who forged a 7-7 tie just 19 seconds after SAGU had taken a 7-0 lead on one of Ryan Smith’s two touchdown passes.

Smith, a 6-1, 190-pound junior, completed 16 of 35 passes for 198 yards with only one interception (by cornerback Martin Woods). Hahn completed 7 of 23 passes for 113 yards and threw two interceptions.

Haskell, 2-3, will play host to Peru (Neb.) State next Saturday in its final home game. SAGU won for the first time in four starts.

— Sports editor Chuck Woodling can be reached at 832-7147.