Stephen F. Austin
Houston Christian
NOTES: Return Trip to Houston Awaits #17/21 'Jacks in Week 11
11/5/2025 2:34:00 PM | Football
SFA puts SLC-best seven-game winning streak on the line against HCU as back quarter of schedule commences
7th meeting; SFA leads series 5-1
Houston, Texas (Husky Stadium)
FULL GAME NOTES ARE HERE
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - November rolls on for nationally-ranked Stephen F. Austin as the Lumberjacks are due up for a return trip back to Houston to take on Houston Christian on Saturday. SFA meets the Huskies for the seventh time all-time and controls the series record at 5-1. The 'Jacks have won three-straight against HCU and are 2-1 against the Huskies on the road. It will be the lone afternoon start for the 'Jacks in the regular season. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. Live coverage links will be made available at www.SFAjacks.com.
• LAST TIME OUT: An all-black clad Stephen F. Austin squad utilized a quick start and a balanced first half attack to deliver a handful of big blows in the opening 30 minutes and the 'Jacks cruised in the second half to a 41-17 win over rv/rv UTRGV. Gavin Rutherford scored a pair of rushing touchdowns and tossed a third one to Clayton Wayland who also hauled in a score from Sam Vidlak in the win. SFA held the Vaqueros to a negative yard rushing on seven attempts, while 11 pass attempts amounted to just 50 yards in the first half. The 'Jacks possessed the football for nearly 23 minutes, converted 9-of-11 on third downs and turned 55 offensive snaps into 313 first half yards. SFA picked off a pair of Marburger passes who entered having thrown just four all season.
• HUSKY STACK UP: HCU is 2-7 on the season with a 1-4 mark in SLC play. The Huskies have lost three straight games since their lone SLC win over Northwestern State on October 11. Saturday's matchup is Homecoming for HCU.
The Huskies own one of the country's top passing defenses having intercepted the second-most passes in FCS with 13, while ranking 11th nationally in passing yards allowed (166.6) and 13th in team passing efficiency defense (117.04). However, on the ground, HCU is allowing nearly 180 yards per game. The Huskies own a top 40 total defense in FCS.
Xai'Shaun Edwards is the motor for the Huskies offensively ranking 14th in FCS in all-purpose yards (122.11), while also leading the SLC in rushing yards (854), rushing TDs (10), rush yards per carry (5.85) and rushing yards per game (94.9). His 60 points scored are the fourth most in the SLC and a top 40 total nationally.
• EIGHT WOULD BE GREAT: Saturday night's win gave the 'Jacks a seventh-straight victory which matches its longest such streak since the 1995 season when SFA won its first seven. A win over HCU would give SFA its longest win streak since winning eight-straight during the 1989 season. SFA's 7-2 start is the program's best through nine games since 2010 when that year's team posted a 9-2 regular season. The 'Jacks eye the program's first six-win campaign in league play since winning six games in the Southland Football League in 1999. A win over HCU would be the first six-game conference win streak since winning six straight Lone Star Conference games after dropping its first three LSC games in 1973. Additionally, a victory would mark the first time in program history that the 'Jacks win their first six league games of a season.
• STREAKIN': During the seven-game win streak, the 'Jacks are averaging 410.9 yards of offense, scoring over 38 points per game and converting 49% of its third downs. SFA is +7 in turnovers during the stretch, +67 in points off turnovers and is holding its opposition to a 27% success rate on third downs. Opponents are averaging 233.0 total yards per game, managing just 1.6 yards per carry and have surrendered 22 sacks to the 'Jacks.
• CLIMBING: Stephen F. Austin moves into the back quarter of the 2025 regular season schedule on the climb in the national rankings as the 'Jacks were voted to a season high #17 in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25, while grabbing a pair of spots to move to #21 in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll. SFA's placement in the Stats Perform ratings is up three spots from last week's poll, while the 'Jacks are the third-highest ranked Southland Conference team in the AFCA rankings.
• INVITED: Surrounded by his teammates and coaches following Tuesday morning's practice, Stephen F. Austin senior cornerback Charles Demmings received his official invite to the East-West Shrine Bowl from Eric Galko, Shrine Bowl Director of Football Operations, Player Personnel. College football's oldest all-star game kicks off on January 27, 2026, at 6 p.m. from inside the Ford Center at The Star in Frisco, Texas.
Through nine games, Demmings has been targeted two dozen times and has allowed just 11 receptions and one touchdown. Opposing quarterbacks have a passer rating of 44.4 when targeting the 6-1 corner.
• CLOSING IN:
-Sam Vidlak is a single TD pass shy of moving into eighth outright on the all-time passing TD list
-Kylon Harris is 188 receiving yards from seventh place all-time
-Harris is three receiving TDs from fourth on the program's all-time TD catches list
-Harris became the fourth 'Jack with 200 career receptions and is one shy of the third most in program history
-Jerrell Wimbley moved 167 yards from sixth on the all-time rushing list and moved into the program's top 10 all-time in all-purpose yards; 49 yards back of ninth in APY
-Charles Demmings recorded two PBUs to move into third on the all-time list; two back of the outright program record
• MAKING MOVES: Seventh year head coach Colby Carthel is moving up the wins charts at SFA. He became the fourth head coach of the Lumberjacks to reach 40 in a tenure and is just the third since the 1980 season. At home, Carthel has totaled 25 victories, tied for the third-most by an SFA head coach, while an unbeaten campaign inside HBS this season would move him into third all-time.
• BIG PLAY 'JACKS: SFA has produced 35 offensive plays of 20+ yards this season with 15 accounting for 40 or more yards. The longest play from scrimmage through eight games is a Sam Vidlak to Kylon Harris 76-yard touchdown against McNeese. The 'Jacks have accounted for five plays of 54+ yards this season.
• POINTS, POINTS, POINTS: SFA boasts a top 30 scoring offense nationally averaging 32.1 points per game which rates third in the SLC. The 'Jacks have crossed over 30 points in each of their seven games during the win streak marking the longest stretch of 30+ point games in program history since 1989. A 30+ point performance on Saturday would mark the longest stretch of 30+ point games in program history.
• TOUGH TO GET TRACTION: Opponents have had issue running the football against SFA as the 'Jacks are allowing just under 73 yards per game on the ground at just 1.6 yards per carry. SFA ranks second nationally and leads the SLC in rushing defense.
• BACKFIELD BANDITS: The 'Jacks rank second in the FCS in tackles for loss with an SLC-leading per game average of 8.4. Two dozen 'Jacks have recorded at least 1.0 tackle for loss with 17 responsible for 2.0 or more and 11 having registered 3.0 plus. Ky Thomas leads with 9.5 for 41 lost yards. Additionally, SFA ranks tenth in FCS in sacks per game at 2.78.
• GETTING DEFENSIVE: SFA carries the nation's third-best total defense (260.6) into its Week 11 tilt at HCU.
• ADD MAYO: First-year 'Jack Jalen Mayo has proven to be a key addition to the SFA secondary this season. The Virginia Union transfer leads the Southland Conference in passes defended with 1.0 per game. That total ranks inside the top 35 in FCS. He broke up a pass in four-straight games including two each in wins over UIW and Nicholls and has two interceptions on the season.
• GET OUT OF GAVIN'S WAY: Redshirt sophomore quarterback Gavin Rutherford has plunged his way into the endzone four times over the past three games establishing himself as a short-yardage threat. He has rushed 16 times this season for 41 yards with the aforementioned scores as well as a handful of fourth-down conversions.
• CAN'T CONTAIN KYLON: Senior wide receiver Kylon Harris hauled in a single-game program record 16 receptions for 183 yards and two touchdowns in the win at ETAM. Harris topped Duane Brooks' previous single-game program record of 15 receptions set in games against Eastern Washington and Northwestern State in 2009. His 16 grabs are tied for the third-most in a single-game in Southland Conference history.
• LIGHTNING BUGS: Opposing special teams coordinators are going looney in an effort to figure out ways to slow down electric Lumberjack return man Bugs Mortimer. With the lightning momentarily not an issue in SFA's marathon against Nicholls, Mortimer became one for the Colonels and provided his own electricity as the talented return man dazzled with an impressive tight-roping act along the SFA sideline before reversing field on a 66-yard race to paydirt. His 159 punt return yards set a new single-game program record besting former 'Jack and NFLer Floyd Dixon's 126 vs. Abilene Christian in 1985. He is the first 'Jack since Xavier Gipson in 2022 to have multiple punt return touchdowns in the same season and is the first player in the FCS this season to have multiple PR touchdowns.
• HAND HAS A LEG: Jacob Hand's 54-yard field goal, in his first career attempt, which opened scoring against Nicholls is tied for the second-longest FG in program history and marked the longest make by a Lumberjack since Storm Ruiz's 54-yarder against Northwestern State in 2019. Hand handles SFA's kickoff duties and is averaging 62.6 yards per kick with 25 touchbacks.
• 'BACKER BALLER: Senior linebacker Jaydon Southard is in the midst of a career year and has five games of double-digit tackles after recording 13 against Nicholls which resulted in weekly SLC honorable mention honors. His 16-tackle effort at UIW led to him being named the Stats Perform FCS National Defensive Player of the Week in addition to receiving SLC defensive honors as well. His 11.3 tackles per game leads the SLC and rates sixth nationally. He produced back-to-back double-digit tackle efforts for the first time as a Lumberjack after a career-high 16 vs. Abilene Christian, which followed 11 in the season opener against Houston. He reached the century mark as a Lumberjack in the win over Cal Poly and enters Week 7 with 63 stops on the season in five games played. He has crossed over 11+ tackles in a game five times in 2025 and Southard is the first Lumberjack with multiple games of 16+ stops since Devin Ducote in 2010.
• SACK-OGDOCHES: Senior defensive lineman Ky Thomas ranks second in the SLC in sack average (0.50), while Victor Idusuyi II ranks sixth in the Southland Conference with .44 sacks per game. Aaron Austin follows in tenth with .39. Thomas leads SFA and ranks third in the SLC in tackles for loss average of 1.29. That mark ranks 26th nationally.
• VIVA LA VIDLAK: Senior quarterback Sam Vidlak has thrown a touchdown pass in each of his last seven games including consecutive games with three touchdown strikes in SLC wins over McNeese and UIW. He threw two against ETAM, both to Kylon Harris, and added two more against UTRGV. The Applegate, Oregon native became the ninth Lumberjack to reach 40 in a career. He crossed over 4,000 passing yards as a collegian in the win at UIW and moved into the program's top 10 all-time at home against UTRGV. Entering Week 11, Vidlak ranks second in the SLC in passing TDs (15) and passing yards (1,874), third in passing average (208.2) and fourth in points responsible for (90).
• BIG PLAY CLAY: Sophomore wide receiver Clayton Wayland has developed into an offensive weapon for SFA in year two. The Southlake, Texas native hauled in multiple passes in the first seven games this season and in eight of nine. He is coming off a career-high seven catch effort against UTRGV and hauled in two TD passes for the second time in his career (Houston Christian, 2024). He has a catch in every game this season and against Nicholls he delivered a 4 catch, 68-yard, one touchdown effort. He produced a career-best effort in the win at UIW where he led the 'Jacks in receiving. Wayland delivered a six-catch, 100-yard performance that was highlighted by a 58-yard, YAC-filled grab in the third quarter which set SFA up inside the UIW5 and led to an eventual six. His yards are single-game bests and the 58-yarder stands as the longest reception of his career. Nearly a third of SFA's plays that have went for 40+ yards have involved Wayland as he added a 40-yard catch against the Colonels to the big play at UIW, a 40-yard catch at Houston and a 44-yard reception against Cal Poly.
• 15 + 4 = 6: Sam Vidlak connected with Kylon Harris for both of SFA's passing strikes against ETAM and found the wideout again in the win over UTRGV. The latest marked the seventh scoring strike between the duo this season and the 15th TD connection in 18 games played together.
