Post-Game Recap l Southland Conference recapABILENE – Sophomore running back
De'Andre Brown ran for 132 yards and three touchdowns and
Cedric Gilbert caught seven passes for 153 yards and another two scores as Abilene Christian University rallied in the fourth quarter Saturday afternoon to defeat Stephen F. Austin State University 35-32 in a Southland Conference game between the two FCS rivals in Shotwell Stadium.
ACU moved to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in the Southland, while the Lumberjacks fell to a surprising 0-4 and remained winless in the league at 0-2. The Wildcats hit the road next Saturday to face the University of Central Arkansas at 6 p.m. in Conway, Ark.
A year ago, then-redshirt freshman Brown torched SFA with 256 yards of rushing during ACU's season-ending 37-35 upset of the Lumberjacks, who were on their way to the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs. His total was half that on Saturday, but the results were just as effective. The Wildcats had to overcome SFA's 577 yards of offense and three straight second-half TDs to bounce back for the win.
Those three straight scores by SFA pulled the Lumberjacks from a two-score deficit and into the lead.
A spectacular 38-yard catch and run by wide receiver Justice Liggins put SFA in the end zone at the 5:41 mark of the third quarter, capping a nine-play, 71-yard drive that cut ACU's lead to eight points, 27-19.
ACU responded by turning the ball over on downs at the SFA 33-yard line with 2:42 on the clock. The Lumberjacks capitalized again with a nine-play, 67-yard drive culminating in Joshawa West's 21-yard scoring run at 13:17 of the fourth quarter, drawing his team to within 27-26.
SFA then took the lead with 10:48 left when Zach Conque took advantage of a misstep in ACU's pass coverage to hit wide-open wide receiver Robert Sylvester in the end zone for a 44-yard scoring pass and a 32-27 lead after the two-point conversion attempt failed. The four-play, 40-yard drive was set up by an interception of McKenzie by SFA safety Germond Williams.
The Wildcats bounced back when a 14-yard acrobatic third-and-10 catch by Gilbert and a personal foul on the Lumberjacks gave ACU the ball at the 20-yard-line of SFA. Brown rose to the occasion, running 20 yards on the next play for his second untouched touchdown of the afternoon.
Byron Proctor caught McKenzie's pass on the two-point conversion attempt, restoring ACU's lead to 35-32 with 5:59 left.
A third-down sack of Conque at the SFA 48-yard line by ACU noseguard
LaMarcus Allen on the ensuing drive forced the Lumberjacks to punt. The Wildcats had to do the same on its next possession, with
Austin Kilcullen booming a 55-yard kick to pin SFA at its 17-yard line with 2:14 left.
Two plays later, Conque found Liggins on a 24-yard pass, then overthrew Aaron Piper on a long pass into the end zone, and Robert Sylvester down the right sideline. A swing pass to Braxton Bearden in the right flat fell short when
Lynn Grady tackled the wide receiver for a loss. On fourth-and-11 from the ACU 41 with 49 seconds remaining, a pass into the end zone for Sylvester was broken up by freshman defensive back
Jabari Butler. ACU then ran out the clock on its second straight win of the season.
The third annual Play 4 Rex Foundation Classic game was televised nationally by American Sports Network on Childhood Cancer Awareness Day. The P4X Foundation benefits pediatric cancer patients being treated in Cook Children's Medical Center in Fort Worth and Abilene's Hendrick Medical Center, Hendrick Hospice and West Texas Rehabilitation Center, all in honor of the late Rex Fleming, son of ACU associate director of athletics for media relations
Lance Fleming.
The Wildcats scored on their first two drives but stalled on its next two before finding the end zone again. Lumberjack running back Joshawa West ran all over ACU in the first half but SFA also had no answer for Gilbert, the senior wide receiver who caught five passes for 118 yards and two scores before halftime.
ACU moved smartly downfield on its first drive, a seven-play series highlighted by a fourth-and-two conversion at the SFA 39-yard line, and using two quarterbacks and even Brown from the Wildcat formation. Junior quarterback
Parker McKenzie put the Wildcats on the board with a 23-yard pass over the middle to Gilbert at the 11:49 mark. Freshman placekicker
Zach Lehr's PAT missed but ACU led 6-0.
SFA looked ready to answer quickly, moving easily on the ground to the ACU 1-yard line behind runs of 41 and 23 yards by West. But a botched running play on third down and a Grady block of Nick Bruno's 26-yard field goal attempt stopped the threat.
The Wildcats padded their lead to 13-0 when Brown's 2-yard run up the middle capped a 69-yard, 10-play drive with 3:58 left. But the Lumberjacks – who averaged 10.2 yards per run in the quarter – resumed their battering of ACU's rush defense. West, who ran five times for 86 yards in the quarter, contributed a 21-yard run during SFA's next drive. Conque put SFA on the scoreboard with a 1-yard run with 50 seconds left and Bruno's PAT failed, but ACU's lead was cut to 13-6.
After SFA forced ACU to punt from midfield, the Lumberjacks drove to the Wildcat 18-yard-line but turned the ball over on downs when Conque was sacked by linebacker
Dylan Douglass and a fourth-and-22 pass fell incomplete at the 11:22 mark.
ACU's first two second-quarter drives ended with punts but on its third drive, on third-and-10 at the ACU 45-yard-line, Gilbert caught a pass from McKenzie on the right sideline, shook a tackle and sprinted into the end zone to complete a 55-yard scoring play. Lehr's successful PAT gave the Wildcats a 20-6 lead at the 5:32 mark.
The Lumberjacks' hopes of scoring before intermission looked to be dashed when a 60-yard punt by Kilcullen and Aaron Thomas' fumble of the return pushed SFA back to its 3-yard line. But Conque rallied his team, rushing for 35 yards on one play and completing five passes, the last a 13-yard scoring toss to wide receiver Piper as time expired. Another missed PAT, this time by Mason Juhl, made the halftime score 20-12.
SFA's first drive of the second half ended on downs at the ACU 44-yard line. The Wildcats appeared to stall just shy of midfield but a fake punt, advanced on a run by Douglass, gave his team new life at the 49. McKenzie was sacked for a loss of 11 yards on first down but Brown took advantage on the next play, sprinting untouched for 61 yards and a touchdown. Lehr's PAT padded the Wildcat lead to 27-12 with 8:57 left in the third quarter.
While sophomore McKenzie completed 19 of 33 passes for 236 yards and two scores for the Wildcats, redshirt freshman Dallas Sealy saw heavy playing time and frustrated the SFA defense with his sleight of hand and running ability. He ran for 49 yards, averaging 8.2 yards per attempt.
Sophomore linebacker
Sam Denmark had another monster game for the Wildcats, registering 18 tackles, 11 in the first half.
Conque completed 22 of 40 passes for 272 yards and three scores. West ran 12 times for 133 yards and a touchdown, leading a Lumberjack ground game that totaled 305 yards. He also caught five passes for 50 yards. Liggins caught three passes for 74 yards and a score to lead SFA in receiving.
