Football | 9/24/2016 11:28:00 PM
Box Score NACOGDOCHES – Stephen F. Austin backup quarterback Hunter Taylor threw four touchdown passes Saturday night and then the Lumberjacks withstood a furious second-half rally by ACU to take a 41-30 win over the Wildcats in a Southland Conference contest at Homer Bryce Stadium.
The loss drops the Wildcats to 0-4 overall and 0-2 in the Southland Conference, while the Lumberjacks improve to 3-1 and 2-0. ACU is 0-4 to start a season for the first time since 1991 when the Wildcats started 0-5 on their way to a 1-9 finish. The Wildcats shot themselves in the foot Saturday night with six turnovers (five fumbles, one interception) against the Lumberjacks.
After neither team could move the ball through most of the first quarter, Taylor entered the game and began moving the Lumberjacks down the field. He threw three first-half touchdown passes and helped the Lumberjacks to a 28-7 halftime lead. The Wildcats' only touchdown in the first half came on a 30-yard pass from
Dallas Sealey to
Troy Grant with 22 seconds to play in the half.
The Lumberjacks scored the first 10 points of the third quarter to take a 38-7 lead before the Wildcats finally started to creep back into the contest. After Taylor threw a touchdown pass to Kiki Hill to make it a 38-7 game with four minutes left in the third quarter,
Justin Miller answered with a 93-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, ACU's first kickoff return for a score since
Cade Stone against Eastern New Mexico in 2012.
On ACU's next full possession, it appeared as though freshman wide receiver
Josh Fink was going to score from 45 yards out, but he fumbled going into the end zone and SFA recovered for a touchback. But the ACU defense forced a three-and-out, and on the first play by the offense,
Dallas Sealey hit
De'Andre Brown with a throwback screen and a 55-yard catch-and-run touchdown to make it a 38-22 game after Sealey and
Adrian Duncan connected for the 2-point conversion.
ACU had all the momentum entering the fourth quarter, but it was quickly snuffed on the second play of the quarter when Miller fumbled the punt, giving SFA the ball at the ACU 28-yard line. The Wildcats' defense, however, stiffened and forced a field goal attempt, which was wide right and ACU took over at its own 20-yard line.
Fourteen plays later, the Wildcats were back in the end zone when Sealey hit Grant from six yards out for a score to make it 38-30 after Miller's 2-point conversion run. However, SFA went back down the field and scored on a field goal to salt the game away.
Sealey finished the game 28 of 53 for 400 yards and three touchdowns, while Brown finished with 56 yards rushing on 16 carries and a career-best 165 yards and one touchdown on eight receptions. Grant caught three passes for 53 yards and two scores.
SCORING DRIVES
1Q (1:44) – After starting quarterback Zack Conque struggled early, backup QB Hunter Taylor was inserted into the game and led the Lumberjacks down the field, capping the drive with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Nick Jones.
Stephen F. Austin 7, ACU 0. (Drive: 7 plays, 65 yards, 1:52)
1Q (0:54) – ACU turned the ball over for the first time this season on the first play after SFA's first touchdown when
Dallas Sealey was strip-sacked at his own 5-yard line. A couple of plays later, Hunter threw his second TD pass of the night as he hit Tamrick Pace with a perfectly thrown fade in the back corner of the end zone to make it 14-0.
Stephen F. Austin 14, ACU 0. (Drive: 2 plays, 5 yards, 0:38)
2Q (6:49) – The Lumberjacks converted two third-down plays into first downs on the drive, including a 16-yard pass to the ACU 7-yard line on third-and-14. On the next play. Hunter Taylor hit Nick Jones with a 7-yard touchdown pass to make it a 21-0 game.
Stephen F. Austin 21, ACU 0. (Drive: 13 plays, 88 yards, 4:07)
2Q (1:45) – Two more big third-down conversions – including a taunting penalty in the end zone by the Wildcats after a third-down incompletion – kept the drive alive, and Zach Conque capped the drive with a 3-yard touchdown run to make it 28-0.
Stephen F. Austin 28, ACU 0. (Drive: 8 plays, 80 yards, 2:57)
2Q (0:22) – The Wildcats got on the board late in the half as
Dallas Sealey hit 5 of 7 passes for 82 yards, including a 30-yard touchdown pass to
Troy Grant, the first TD catch of his career. Sealey completed a 22-yard pass to
De'Andre Brown on third-and-7 on the play before the TD throw to Grant.
Stephen F. Austin 28, ACU 7. (Drive: 8 plays, 81 yards, 1:15)
3Q (7:11) – After ACU's second turnover in three plays and third of the night, the Wildcats' defense stiffened, allowing just a field goal as Storm Ruiz hit from 24 yards.
Stephen F. Austin 31, ACU 7. (Drive: 4 plays, 3 yards, 1:09)
3Q (4:00) – Hunter Taylor capped a two-play, 57-yard drive after ACU turned the ball over on downs with his fourth touchdown pass of the night. He hit Kiki Hill with an 18-yard strike.
Stephen F. Austin 38, ACU 7. (Drive: 2 plays, 57 yards, 1:09)
3Q (3:45) –
Justin Miller quickly responded, returning the kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown, the Wildcats' first kickoff return for a touchdown since 2012.
Stephen F. Austin 38, ACU 14.
3Q (1:08) – After ACU's defense forced a three-and-out, the Wildcats wasted little time as
Dallas Sealey hit De'Andre Brown with a 55-yard catch-and-run on a throwback screen pass on the first play of the drive. Sealey then hit
Adrian Duncan with a 2-point conversion pass.
Stephen F. Austin 38, ACU 22. (Drive: 1 play, 55 yards, 0:11)
4Q (7:30) – The Wildcats continued their comeback as
Dallas Sealey capped an 80-yard drive with a 6-yard touchdown pass to
Troy Grant.
Justin Miller ran in the 2-point conversion to make it a one-possession game. The big play on the drive was another throwback screen to
De'Andre Brown for 34 yards. The key play was a fourth-down scramble by
Dallas Sealey that gave the Wildcats a first down inside the 5-yard line.
Stephen F. Austin 38, ACU 30. (Drive: 4 plays, 80 yards, 4:26)
4Q (5:17) – Stephen F. Austin snapped ACU's streak of 23 straight points with a 20-yard field goal by Storm Ruiz. Hunter Taylor had passes of 17 yards to Tamrick Pace and and 35 yards to Justice Liggins to get the ball in field goal range.
Stephen F. Austin 41, ACU 30. (Drive: 7 plays, 61 yards, 2:13)
PLAYS THAT MATTERED
• The Lumberjacks inserted backup quarterback Hunter Taylor into the game on their third series and he immediately directed his team to its first score of the night. In fact, Taylor threw a pair of touchdowns in a 50-second span late in the first quarter to give SFA a 14-0 lead.
• ACU was trailing 38-14 late in the third quarter when
Dallas Sealey hit freshman wide receiver
Josh Fink with a 41-yard catch-and-run. But Marion Wells stripped Fink of the football at the 1-yard line and SFA recovered the fumble in the end zone for a touchback.
WILDCAT PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Offense
Junior running back
De'Andre Brown had his first significant playing time of the season after battling through early season injuries, and he was huge against the Lumberjacks. He caught eight passes for a career-best 165 yards and one score and also had 56 rushing yards on 16 carries.
Defense
Senior defensive tackle
Josh Bloom had five tackles and one sack and was part of a defensive effort that limited SFA to just 13 points and 216 yards of offense in the second half.
NOTABLE
•
Dallas Sealey was sacked and fumbled at his own 5-yard line with 1:32 left in the first quarter Saturday night, the first turnover of the season for the Wildcats. ACU had played the first 193 minutes, 28 seconds of the season without committing a turnover.
• The Wildcats fumbled five times Saturday night and lost all five. ACU lost six fumbles the entire 2015 season.
NEXT GAME
The Wildcats will be back at Shotwell Stadium on Saturday (Oct. 1) when they host Central Arkansas in a Southland Conference contest that will be broadcast nationally on the American Sports Network. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. The Wildcats are 1-1 against the Bears since returning to the Southland Conference in2 014. ACU beat Central Arkansas, 52-35, in 2014 in a neutral-site game in Plano before UCA answered with a 42-14 over the Wildcats last October in Conway, Ark.
