‘Jacks Overcome Miscues, Use Harris’ Big Night to Beat East Texas A&M

Saturday, October 25

Commerce, TX

6:00 P.M.

Stephen F. Austin

6-2 , 4-0

East Texas A&M

2-6 , 2-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

SFA

East Texas A&M

Kylon Harris_MOVE EM_vs ETAM_10.25.25_web.png

‘Jacks Overcome Miscues, Use Harris’ Big Night to Beat East Texas A&M

10/26/2025 12:22:00 AM | Football

Box Score

SFA wins sixth-straight win, snap six-game skid in Commerce and remain unbeaten in SLC play

COMMERCE, Texas – Senior wide receiver Kylon Harris hauled in a single-game program record 16 receptions for 183 yards and two touchdowns, Stephen F. Austin football overcame four turnovers and the 'Jacks employed another stout defensive run-game effort to beat East Texas A&M 31-21 on Saturday night in the latter's homecoming game from inside Memorial Stadium at Ernest Hawkins Field. The win moves SFA to 6-2 on the season, while the Lions fall to 2-6.

Pinned at their own one-yard line with just over six minutes to play in the third quarter, the 'Jacks manufactured a go-ahead scoring drive extended by a six-yard grab from Derrick Bohler on third down that moved the football to the SFA12. A 2^nd and 10 pass from Sam Vidlak to Harris for 13 yards moved the chains as did a 13-yard connection from Vidlak to Bugs Mortimer two plays later. The next snap, Vidlak delivered a pass over the middle to Blaine Green who muscled down the big gainer; a 25-yard hook up which set up the fireworks on the next snap. A streaking Harris ran under a lofty toss by Vidlak for a 38-yard touchdown and a 21-14 SFA advantage with under 2:30 remaining in the third quarter.

A fourth 10+ play drive developed for the Lumberjacks and was capped on a second one-yard rush by Gavin Rutherford and took nearly six minutes off the clock as the 'Jacks regained the lead 28-21 with 7:21 to play. That drive saw multiple tough rushes by Jerrell Wimbley which included carries of 16, 6, 5, 3 and 3 as well as a 12-yard completion from Vidlak to Mortimer on 3^rd and 8 that was made possible by a stretch blocking effort from Clayton Wayland.

SFA forced a turnover on downs, Lachie Pozzobon then pinned the Lions inside their own 10 and Aaron Sears picked off a second down pass with under 4:30 to play. The next SFA possession served as the dagger as Carlos Alvarado nailed a 40-yard attempt to increase the lead to 10.

Eighteen minutes before the scheduled 6 p.m. kickoff, lightning entered the area forcing a delay that lasted 33 minutes following the original start time. While the start of the action was delayed, the action was still delivered as the two sides battled to a 14-14 tie at the intermission.

Rutherford plunged in from a yard out on fourth and goal with under two minutes to play in the half and the 'Jacks forced a second Lions FG miss, this time pushed left, in the final seconds of the half to keep the score even. SFA had a possession following Rutherford's score, but an interception and a big 46-yard pass play on the first play from scrimmage set the Lions up inside the SFA40, before the kick missed three plays later.

The 'Jacks engineered an 11-play drive to open the game receiving multiple big plays to extend the first series. Mortimer accelerated through an arm tackle on a 3^rd and 11 to keep the drive alive in Lions territory, Green hurdled a defender as part of 19-yard pitch and catch two plays later and moments later, Vidlak was flushed left, evaded the rush and delivered a strike to a sliding Harris in the back near corner of the endzone for an opening drive six.

SFA turned away the host on their first possession as ETAM pushed the football down inside the SFA 30, but a 46-yard field goal attempt by the Lions was blocked as Jalen Mayo invaded from the far edge to deny the effort, while Kameron Reddic recovered the blocked attempt and returned it into ETAM territory at the Lions 43.

The Lumberjacks moved the football down inside the Lions 30, but an errant second down pass was intercepted and returned 28 yards to near the midfield stripe and eventually led to ETAM's first touchdown of the night; a 21-yard strike along the far side endzone. ETAM cashed in following the ensuing SFA drive which ended in a three-and-out by hitting paydirt again, this time in just four plays to take a 14-7 lead.

SCORING DRIVES
1Q (10:10) | 11 plays, 75 yards, 4:50 | 14-yard pass from Vidlak to Harris, Alvarado kick good
1Q (3:28) | 6 plays, 55 yards, 2:13 | 21-yard pass from Peace to Matthews, Rigby kick good
1Q (00:15) | 4 plays, 55 yards, 1:45 | 6-yard rush by Peace, Rigby kick good

2Q (01:53) | 12 plays, 68 yards, 4:50 | 1-yard rush by Rutherford, Alvarado kick good

3Q (2:10) | 10 plays, 99 yards, 4:04 | 38-yard pass from Vidlak to Harris, Alvarado kick good

4Q (13:13) | 3 plays, 13 yards, 1:24 | 1-yard rush by Shankle, Rigby kick good
4Q (7:21) | 12 plays, 75 yards, 5:43 | 1-yard rush by Rutherford, Alvarado kick good
4Q (1:56) | 7 plays, 21 yards, 2:24 | 40-yard FG by Alvarado

POSTGAME NOTES

The 'Jacks reached 30 points for the sixth consecutive game
SFA put points on the board in each quarter and allowed just seven points over the final three quarters after trailing 14-7 after the opening 15 minutes
SFA entered with six scoring drives this season of 10+ plays and added four more to that total as the 'Jacks registered multiple 10+ drives in a game for the second time this season (2 vs McNeese)
The Lumberjacks' offensive line paved the way for a 452-yard night which saw the 'Jacks run 34 more plays, control the football for nearly 15 more minutes and convert 8-of-17 on third down
SFA forced ETAM to a half yard per rush as twenty attempts on the ground netted just ten yards
Aaron Austin, Jaydon Southard and Aaron Sears all recorded seven tackles
Austin, Lowote Jurkin and Tim Muhammad each recorded a sack with Ky Thomas and Xavier Potts accounting for a half sack
Reddic and Michael Patterson each broke up two passes
The 'Jacks delivered eight TFLs for the sixth time this season
Wimbley churned out 124 yards on 26 attempts at 4.6 yards per pop and finished with 141 all-purpose yards
Six players caught a pass with Green and Mortimer each grabbing four to follow Harris' career effort in receptions and yards
Despite the three interceptions, Vidlak completed 65% of his 46 attempts (30 completions) with two touchdowns and 309 total yards

ABOUT THE WIN

SFA's 6-2 start is the program's best eight-game beginning to a season since 2010
The 'Jacks are 4-0 in league play for the first time since the 1999 season
The sixth straight victory marks the longest win streak for the 'Jacks since winning six-straight games during the 2020 regular season
The victory snapped a six-game road losing streak in Commerce. The 'Jacks previous most recent win on the road inside Memorial Stadium was on October 20, 1973
It is the 39^th victory for the 'Jacks under Carthel which places the Texan tied for fourth all-time on SFA's win list

RECORD BOOK REWRITING & MILESTONE MINING

Vidlak and Harris connected for the fifth and sixth time this season and for the 13^th and 14^th time in the last two seasons
Vidlak sits 151 passing yards from entering the program's top 10
Vidlak became the ninth SFA quarterback to throw 40 touchdown passes in a career
Harris topped Duane Brooks' previous single-game program record of 15 receptions set in games against Eastern Washington and Northwestern State in 2009
Harris' receiving yards effort moved him into eighth place on the all-time list
His two touchdown catches moved him into sixth place outright on the scoring receptions list
Harris is now four catches from becoming the fourth 'Jack with 200 career receptions
His 16 grabs are tied for the third-most in a single-game in Southland Conference history
Wimbley is now 254 yards from sixth on all-time rushing list
Charles Demmings recorded his 31^st pass break up in the win to move into sixth place on the all-time PBU list

UP NEXT
The 'Jacks meet Texas-Rio Grande Valley for the first time ever on the gridiron as the Vaqueros are in the program's inaugural season of football. The contest serves as the SFA's annual Cally Belcher Day as the 'Jacks remember and honor the legacy of Presley Calloway "Cally" Belcher, an SFA all-conference defensive back who passed away from a brain aneurysm following a spring practice in 1994. He was 22. The November 1 "BLACK OUT" kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Live coverage links will be made available at www.SFAjacks.com.

FOLLOW THE LUMBERJACKS
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