‘Jacks Light Up Demons in Battle of the Chief, Take SLC Title Outright,

Thursday, November 20

Natchitoches, LA

6:30 p.m.

Stephen F. Austin

10-2 , 8-0

Northwestern State

1-11 , 0-8

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

SFA

Northwestern St.

Photo by: Jordan Segelken

‘Jacks Light Up Demons in Battle of the Chief, Take SLC Title Outright,

11/20/2025 11:28:00 PM | Football

Box Score

SFA wins single-season best 10th straight game, finish perfect in league play for first time in program history

NATCHITOCHES, La. – A Thursday afternoon jaunt across the Sabine River turned into a Thursday night blowout inside Turpin Stadium as #13/14 Stephen F. Austin lit up Northwestern State 62-14 to retain college football's heaviest trophy in the Battle of the Chief and place an emphatic exclamation mark on an unbeaten Southland Conference regular season.

Bugs Mortimer took the air out of Central Louisiana on his first touch of the game as his 79-yard punt return touchdown opened scoring and, in the process, gave the nation's leading punt returner the program's single-season punt return yardage record.

Sam Vidlak completed all six of his first quarter attempts for 127 yards (finished 9-of-10, 207 yds) which included scoring strikes of 26 yards to Derrick Bohler and a 65-yard bomb to Kylon Harris and then he hit Isaiah Davis on a ten-yard toss less than 75 seconds into the second quarter and the 'Jacks cruised from there totaling 48 first-half points as six different Lumberjacks hit paydirt.

The lights momentarily left Turpin at the 13:03 mark of the second quarter, but Jenkins arrived in the endzone on back-to-back drives as the lead increased to 41-0. Richard Reese capped the high-scoring half hour with a nine-yard rush that was set up a couple of plays earlier by a big 31-yard grab in traffic by Aiden Meeks on a missile from the arm of Gavin Rutherford.

Second half scoring opened with Bryson Broadway finding Bohler who muscled his way to the goal line from 13 yards out along the SFA sideline for his second score of the evening and Broadway's first career touchdown pass. The 'Jacks crossed over the 60-point mark at the 10:13 stamp of the fourth quarter as Jenkins dove over the top for his third rushing touchdown of the night to cap the longest scoring drive, in terms of time, by SFA this season.

SCORING DRIVES
1Q (13:21) | 79-yard punt return by Mortimer, Alvarado kick good
1Q (8:16) | 5 plays, 59 yards, 1:41 | 26-yard pass from Vidlak to Bohler, 2pt try no good
1Q (5:36) | 3 plays, 75 yards, 0:56 | 65-yard pass from Vidlak to Harris, Alvarado kick good

2Q (13:49) | 7 plays, 80 yards, 2:39 | 10-yard pass from Vidlak to Davis, Alvarado kick good
2Q (10:14) | 4 plays, 68 yards, 1:06 | 18-yard rush from Jenkins, Alvarado kick good
2Q (5:03) | 9 plays, 67 yards, 2:59 | 2-yard rush from Jenkins, Alvarado kick good
2Q (2:17) | 3 plays, 54 yards, 1:07 | 9-yard rush from Reese, Alvarado kick good

3Q (7:20) | 9 plays, 76 yards, 3:38 | 13-yard pass from Broadway to Bohler, Alvarado kick good
3Q (2:55) | 8 plays, 75 yards, 4:25 | 8-yard pass from Anderson to Davis, Lytton kick good

4Q (10:13) | 15 plays, 75 yards, 7:42 | 1-yard rush from Jenkins, Alvarado kick good
4Q (4:25) | 11 plays, 81 yards, 5:43 | 5-yard pass from Anderson to Moore, Lytton kick good

POSTGAME NOTES

The SFA defense held NSU without a first down in the first half forcing seven punts
SFA put two rushers and one receiver over 100 yards as the 'Jacks totaled 600+ total yards of offense against the Demons for the second-straight year
The 'Jacks posted a season high in rushing yards with 320; the most by SFA in a single game since 2016
SFA's fourth quarter scoring drive marked the 18^th scoring series of double digit plays this season
Vidlak's 65-yard toss to Harris, the second longest offensive play by SFA this season, marked the eighth scoring strike between the duo this season and the 16th TD connection in 20 games played together
Harris hauled in four passes for 135 yards as ten players recorded catches in the win including three by Bohler who housed two
Reese carried 14 times for 115 yards and a score
Jenkins totaled 19 rushes for 113 yards and three rushing touchdowns
Four quarterbacks completed a pass in the win
Four players finished with 100+ all-purpose yards
Myles Lopez and Cole Fattig, the 'Jacks' Scout Team Players of the Week, made their collegiate debuts
Michael Woods and Nathan Hall each recorded six stops and three more defenders registered five stops
SFA logged a dozen tackles for loss crossing over 10 in a game for the fifth time this season

ABOUT THE WIN

The 'Jacks secured the outright league title; the program's fifth SLC title and first since 2010
The win marks the first ten-game win streak during a season in program history and it matches the longest win streak ever of ten games across the end of the 1973 campaign and into the 1974 season
It is the fifth season of 10+ wins in program history as the 2025 'Jacks join the 1988, 1989, 1995 and 2009 teams
The victory marks the program's first-ever eight-win campaign in league play and the second undefeated conference season joining the 1989 'Jacks that finished 5-0-1
It is the program's first-ever eight-game win streak in conference action
It is the 43rd victory for the 'Jacks under Carthel which places the Texan in third all-time on SFA's win list
The 'Jacks win for the third-straight time over the Demons and for the 30^th time in the series

RECORD BOOK REWRITING

Mortimer finished with 82 punt return yards with his 79-yard field reversal for six moving him past Bruce Alexander (489; 1988) for a new single-season program record at 537 and counting
Vidlak tossed three touchdowns to move a scoring strike shy of seventh place on the all-time passing TD list; he's two touchdown passes from reaching 50 for his collegiate career
Vidlak crossed over 5,000 passing yards for his collegiate career and enters the playoffs with 5,137 career passing yards
Harris moved into seventh place all-time on the receiving yards list; 48 yards from sixth place
Harris crossed over 100 yards receiving in a game for the fourth time this season and for the 12^th time in his Lumberjack career
Harris is one receiving TD shy from fourth on the program's all-time TD catches list
Harris is the fourth 'Jack with 200 career receptions and is eight catches shy of second place all-time
Jerrell Wimbley moved five yards away from sixth on the all-time rushing list

UP NEXT
The undisputed Southland Conference champions await Sunday's selection show to receive their postseason appointment which will mark the program's ninth FCS playoff appearance. The FCS Playoff Selection Show is set for Sunday, Nov. 23, at 11 a.m. CT. During the show, the Division I Football Championship Committee will announce the playoff bracket, featuring 24 teams, including 10 conference automatic qualifiers, one of which is Stephen F. Austin, and 14 at-large selections. More information on how SFA fans can participate in Sunday's show will be announced on Friday morning, November 21.

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