‘Jacks Make It Three in a Row versus Wildcats with 24-21 Home Opening Victory

Saturday, September 22

Nacogdoches, Texas

6 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

1-2 , 1-1

Abilene Christian

2-2 , 1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Abilene Christian

Stephen F. Austin

Davelle_Fox_Shaq_Anderson_Trenton_Gordon_ACU

Photo by: Hardy Meredith | SFA Photography

‘Jacks Make It Three in a Row versus Wildcats with 24-21 Home Opening Victory

9/22/2018 9:34:00 PM | Football

Box Score

SFA claims first win of season behind Jake Blumrick’s 258 passing yards and Trenton Gordon’s touchdown fumble recovery

By: Stephen F. Austin Athletic Media Relations

Photos

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – The Stephen F. Austin football team notched its first mark in the win column of the 2018 season Saturday night by defeating Abilene Christian 24-21 inside Homer Bryce Stadium. In the Lumberjacks' annual Cally Belcher game it was junior wide receiver Cody Williams wearing the retired No. 16 jersey in remembrance, who helped sophomore wide receiver Remi Simmons snag an onside kick with 1:24 remaining to seal the victory for SFA, which moves to 1-2 on the season and 1-1 in Southland Conference play with the triumph.

"Good team victory tonight," Jeff Byrd said following his first career win as a head coach. "Obviously, we have some things to work on, we're a work in progress. That's what we talk about every day. I thought we did some good things on special teams, offense and defense, and got a team win."

Junior starting quarterback Jake Blumrick had one of his finest performances wearing the Purple and White as he went 26-of-38 for 258 yards and touchdown, while the 'Jacks made several statement defensive stops and benefited from a touchdown fumble recovery.

Lengthy opening drive results in field goal
After receiving the opening kickoff, a pooch kick, SFA marched the ball 70 yards on 13 plays to take up 6:01 of clock and scored on a 20-yard field goal from junior place-kicker Storm Ruiz. The game's opening drive featured a heavy dose of junior running back Jamall Shaw, who broke free for a 21-yard rush, and a pair of 11-yard strikes from Blumrick to junior wide receiver Tamrick Pace and sophomore tight end Allen Arclies III.

ACU capitalizes on turnover
Leading 3-0 following a first quarter filled with lengthy punts and a 36-yard missed field goal by ACU, the 'Jacks took up another 4:44 with an 11-play, 54-yard drive early in the second quarter. However, SFA's drive came to a halt with an unsuccessful fourth-and-five conversion attempt at the Wildcat 26. ACU would miss a 49-yard field goal at the 9:20 mark of the second quarter before Blumrick would have his pass intercepted at midfield by the Wildcats' Adonis Davis. With 3:28 remaining before the half, ACU went 38 yards on six plays to take its lone lead of the game at 7-3 following a six-yard touchdown run off the left side by running back Billy McCrary.

Retaking the lead before the break
With just 1:27 to work with, the 'Jacks went to their hurry-up offense and put together a six-play, 59-yard drive to retake the lead at 10-7 with 32 seconds remaining before the break. Greatly aided by a 22-yard connection from Blumrick to Garden City Community College transfer Simmons, Blumrick found a sprinting Simmons in the back of the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown hurl.

At the Half
The Wildcats' field goal woes continued as ACU missed its third field goal of the half, this time from 46 yards out, as the second-quarter clock struck all zeroes. SFA outgained the visitors 113-108 in the first half, including 102-78 through the air.

Defense shines in third quarter
Defense was the name of the game for the 'Jacks in the third quarter as SFA made several big stops and scored on a fumble recovery. Senior safety Lawrence Ghansah got things started with an interception at the 10:17 mark of the quarter, before senior linebacker Ryan Woods and senior defensive end Demetrion Amie combined for a tackle for loss on a Wildcat fourth-and-two play at the Lumberjack 32. With ACU pinned back at its own 15-yard line, the Wildcats' starting signal caller Luke Anthony lost the ball prior to attempting a pass and the ball bounced its way into the end zone. Sophomore safety Trenton Gordon pounced on the ball for the touchdown to give the 'Jacks a 17-7 lead with 3:35 to go in the third.

ACU makes it 17-14
The visitors went 89 yards on their ensuing drive following the touchdown, taking eight plays and using 2:02 of clock. ACU's McCrary scored his second rushing touchdown of the night from 12 yards out with a minute and a half to go in the quarter.

Making it a 10-point game again
Blumrick took the ball and led SFA down the field once again, this time putting the 'Jacks ahead 24-14 early in the fourth. With a 20-yard connection from Blumrick to sophomore running back Josh McGowen and an 18-yard hookup to senior wide receiver Terian Goree, SFA went 77 yards on 10 plays and ate up nearly five minutes of play. Junior Texas transfer quarterback Josh Covey entered the game for the first time and followed a 13-yard run with an eight-yard touchdown sneak.

Wildcats score late
ACU began a six-play, 60-yard touchdown drive with 3:40 left and scored on a fourth-and-goal two-yard pass from Anthony to Josh Fink. The scoring drive, which was helped out by numerous Lumberjack defensive penalties, took 2:21 and was too little, too late for the Wildcats as only 1:19 remained following the onside kickoff.

The Bottom Line
The 'Jacks racked up 365 yards of total offense and held ACU to 337, including keeping the Wildcats' talented quarterback to 283 passing yards. Simmons had a career night with seven catches for 72 yards, while Pace also accumulated 72 receiving yards on five receptions. McGowen rushed for 55 yards on 10 carries as Shaw collected 44 yards on 15 rushes. ACU's Fink racked up 81 yards on eight catches. Defensively, junior safety Alize Ward and Woods each claimed 10 total tackles, while junior Mississippi Gulf Coast Community College transfer cornerback Aretavious Hendrix notched a career-high nine. Wildcat linebacker Jeremiah Chambers led all with 15 total tackles, including 10 solo stops.

Of Note
Junior defensive end Daniel Brewer collected his first career tackle for loss about midway through the second quarter. With his 72 yards, Pace moves into 22nd place on SFA's all-time career receiving yards list as he now owns 1,650 yards in three seasons as a Lumberjack. Pace needs just nine more yards to move into 21st place. Gordon's third-quarter touchdown fumble recovery marked the Lumberjacks' first defensive score since Alize Ward's improbable game-winning pick-six against the University of the Incarnate Word last season. With his 258 passing yards, Blumrick moves into 19th place on SFA's all-time career passing list. He has accounted for 2,068 yards through the air in three seasons seeing game action and is the program's 19th 2,000-yard passer. Saturday night marked the third-straight victory for SFA over ACU after the 'Jacks defeated the Wildcats 20-10 in Abilene in 2017 and 41-30 inside Homer Bryce two years ago. ACU drops to 2-2 on the year and is now tied with SFA in the Southland standings with a 1-1 conference record.

Quotables

Interim head coach Jeff Byrd
"Last week we had a bunch of guys trying to do everyone's job. When you play good team defense, everyone is in charge of one thing. There were times we had guys jumping out of gaps last week, and we did that less. We tackled better, we obviously worked on tackling this week. It's a team game, everything we have to go through to grow, it's all about us, not about you. When we get guys that understand that we play better team offense and team defense, that's what were trying to work on."

Junior quarterback Jake Blumrick
"Those guys out there make it easy. It's great to have those receivers out there where you can just put a ball up and they make plays. I can't give enough credit to the offensive line to be able to sit there and go through all my reads and get the ball to those playmakers."

Senior linebacker Ryan Woods
"Really just what coach eluded to in the previous question, we kind of got out of ourselves and tried to do other people jobs last week. When there are eleven guys on the field, and everyone tries to do their job to the best of their ability and not do too much, good things happen. Plays come to you when you follow directions, you follow your eyes and your keys, and I think tackling was a big deal for us this week."

Up Next…
The 'Jacks will hit the road for their third road tilt of the month next Saturday, Sept. 29 when SFA visits the Cowboys of 10th-ranked McNeese. Kickoff from Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana, is slated for 6 p.m.

Stay tuned to SFAJacks.com, as well as SFA's social media platforms, for complete coverage of Lumberjack football throughout the 2018 season.

-SFA-