ABILENE – Stephen F. Austin took advantage of four Abilene Christian University turnovers Saturday night in beating the Wildcats 20-10 at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.
SFA moved to 2-0 in the Southland Conference and 2-2 overall, while ACU fell to 1-3 overall and 1-1 in Southland Conference play.
A week after its defense limited Houston Baptist University to 129 yards of offense, the ACU offense couldn't get untracked when it had the ball in just the second game played in its new on-campus stadium. Two fumbles, two interceptions and penalties on special teams doomed ACU, which took a 3-0 first-quarter lead on
Nik Grau's 22-yard field goal and then allowed SFA to score 20 unanswered points. The Wildcats converted just 1 of 13 third downs in the game.
Junior quarterback Foster Sawyer staked the Lumberjacks to a 7-3 lead on a 12-yard TD pass to Frank Iheanacho late in the first quarter. Jake Blumrick completed 11 of 20 passes and rushed for 42 yards after taking over for Sawyer, who was injured while scrambling in the second quarter. Storm Ruiz field goals of 35 and 27 yards helped his team lead 13-3 after three quarters.
Tracey James led ACU in rushing with 68 yards and quarterback
Dallas Sealey completed 22 of 34 passes for 179 yards. His 11-yard scoring pass to
Josh Fink closed out ACU's scoring, but the junior was intercepted twice by SFA.
ACU, the second-best pass defense team in the S0uthland at 256 yards per game, held SFA to just 223 through the air but allowed SFA runners to gain 191 yards on the ground.
Bolu Onifade and
Sam Denmark led ACU in tackles with 13 each.
The Wildcats continue league play next Saturday in San Antonio when they meet University of the Incarnate Word at 6 p.m. SFA will host McNeese at 6 p.m. in Nacogdoches.
PLAYS THAT MATTERED
• 1Q – ACU's first flea-flicker play of the year went for 44 yards when quarterback
Dallas Sealey lateraled the ball to
Kade Munden, who completed the pass to a wide-open De'andre Brown, who stepped out of bounds at the Lumberjacks' 9-yard line.
• 1Q –
Nik Grau's 23-yard field goal at the 6:10 mark gave ACU a 3-0 lead on the Wessel Scoreboard.
• 1Q – Lumberjack quarterback Foster Sawyer capped a methodical 81-yard drive by tossing a 12-yard TD pass to Frank Iheanacho, giving SFA a 7-3 lead with 1:23 left in the quarter.
• 1Q – Thirteen seconds later, SFA recovered a fumble by ACU running back Brown at the end of a 7-yard run at the Wildcat 38. But the Wildcat defense held when the Lumberjacks gambled on fourth down, and ACU took over.
• 2Q –
Simon Laryea's 52-yard punt with 8 minutes left in the first half pinned SFA on its 2-yard line. The Wildcat defense held, forcing the Lumberjacks to punt from their 3, but a running into-the-punter penalty gave SFA the ball at its 18.
• 2Q – SFA quarterback Foster Sawyer was injured while scrambling on third down at his 36-yard line, and tackled by ACU safety
Bolu Onifade. Backup QB Jake Blumrick entered the game on his team's next possession.
• 2Q – Storm Ruiz attempted a 40-yard field goal as time expired in the first half, but an offsides penalty on ACU moved the ball 5 yards closer, and Ruiz booted a 35-yarder to extend the SFA lead to 10-3.
• 3Q – Onifade made an excellent open-field tackle on Blumrick when the SFA quarterback looked to be scrambling for a first down on fourth-and-5 at the ACU 29-yard line.
• 3Q – Alize Ward intercepted a deflected Sealey pass intended for
Josh Fink. The Lumberjacks converted the turnover into 3 points and a 13-3 lead on Ruiz' 27-yard field goal with 2:09 left on the clock.
• 4Q – ACU jumped offsides on a field goal attempt by Ruiz on its own 12-yard line, giving SFA new life and a first down at the 7. Kijana Amous' 5-yard run and a successful PAT by Ruiz upped the SFA lead to 20-3 at 13:02 of the fourth quarter.
• 4Q – Sealey's 11-yard TD pass to
Josh Fink with 3:43 left, and Grau's successful PAT, pulled ACU to within 10 points (20-10).
• 4Q – On his first carry of the game, Juan Day took the air out of any comeback plans ACU had, running for 36 yards on first down after the Wildcats cut the SFA lead to 10 points late in the game.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
• The Wildcats surrendered more yardage in the first quarter (132) to SFA than they did the entire game last week to Houston Baptist (129).
• After rushing for 162 yards last week, ACU struggled to move the ball on the ground against the Lumberjacks, managing just 105 yards on 27 carrries.
• ACU head coach
Adam Dorrel preaches winning the turnover battle. Last week in the win over Houston Baptist, the Wildcats came up with three in a stalwart defensive effort. Saturday against the Lumberjacks, they lost two fumbles and had two passes intercepted in the loss to SFA.
STAT CORNER
• ACU entered the game ranked second in the Southland Conference in pass defense (206.3 yards per game) and third in passing offense (256.3). They allowed 223 passing yards and threw for 223 on their own.
QUOTABLE
ACU head coach Adam Dorrel
… on the play of his team
"Very disappointed in the way we played, and that's an understatement. We had a good week of practice, and that's what makes this so hard to figure. We did things (Saturday night) that we haven't done all year, and that includes two games against FBS opponents. Our offensive executive was poor, and the mistakes we had on special teams are inexcusable. The offsides penalties on the field goals were simply a lack of mental focus."
… on bouncing back next week vs. Incarnate Word
"They've had a week off and a four-day headstart on getting ready for next Saturday's game. I'm going to come back in Sunday afternoon and get back to work. The story of our season is going to be told next week by how our seniors respond to this and lead our team. If they can come back after this and lead in a positive way – starting Sunday – then we'll be ready to go next Saturday."
NOTABLE
• SFA's win was its second in a row over ACU, its eighth in 18 games overall against the Wildcats in a series that began in 1973, when both teams were members of the Lone Star Conference.
• Murals in Wildcat Stadium recognize all-time greats in ACU football:
• The Suite Level on the fourth floor recognizes the top coaches in history, including head coaches A.B Morris, Garvin Beauchamp, Wally Bullington, Dewitt Jones and Chris Thomsen. Bullington (1973) and Jones (1977) were named national coach of the year after leading their teams to NAIA Division I national titles.
• The Brown Club Level recognizes the top QBs in history, including the late Ted Sitton, who quarterbacked the undefeated 1950 team and tutored most of ACU's prolific signal callers as offensive coordinator and head coach. Other outstanding QBs profiled on the third floor include Jim Lindsey, Jim Reese, John Mayes, Mitchell Gale and Billy Malone.
NEXT GAME
The Wildcats continue Southland Conference play next Saturday in San Antonio when they meet University of the Incarnate Word at 6 p.m. SFA will host McNeese at 6 p.m. in Nacogdoches.
