Jacks Roll Northeastern State, Carthel Captures All-Time Wins Record

Saturday, September 26

Nacogdoches, TX

5:00 PM

Stephen F. Austin

5-0 , 2-0

Northeastern State

3-2 , 0-0

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Northeastern St.	0	7	7	0	14
SFA	21	21	14	7	63

Photo by: Alex Nabor

Jacks Roll Northeastern State, Carthel Captures All-Time Wins Record

9/26/2026 10:28:00 PM | Football

Box Score

SFA wins tenth-straight game inside Homer Bryce Stadium, 15th-straight regular season game

By: Jacob Pumphrey, Assistant AD for Communications

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – In front of more than 10,000 purple clad fans, #6/9 Stephen F. Austin closed the curtains on the nonconference slate by rolling Northeastern State 63-14 inside Homer Bryce Stadium to improve to 5-0 overall with a tenth-straight home win and 15^th-straight regular season victory. The night marks win No. 49 for head coach Colby Carthel at SFA who becomes the program's all-time winningest coach surpassing Jim Hess' 48 from 1982-88.

The two sides combined for 1,095 yards on 146 plays with the Jacks surpassing 600 yards of total offense on 58 plays. SFA held the football for just over 22 minutes, converted six of eight third down attempts and saw a plethora of depth players see action beginning midway through the second quarter.

It was a tale of two scoring drives for the Jacks in the first quarter of action as a methodical game-opening drive of 73 yards in a dozen plays ended with Gavin Rutherford lowering his shoulder near the goal line to power in his 13^th career rushing score from six yards out and give the Jacks an early 7-0 lead. The next SFA possession resulted in the first one-play drive of the season as Jaylen Jenkins shredded multiple defenders on a 55-yard jaunt to paydirt and a two-score advantage less than seven minutes into action.

Makai Frisby blocked a field goal attempt for the second-straight week and three plays later, the Jacks struck again as Rutherford threaded the needle to a Bugs Mortimer, who cleared three defenders along the far sideline and hauled in the pass for an impressive 41-yard score.

That scoring strike was the first of four first half touchdown passes from Rutherford who also hit Stetson Sarratt (9 yards), Aiden Meeks (29 yards) and Kylon Harris (35 yards) as the Jacks built a 42-7 lead at the intermission.

Kyran Moore picked off a pass, the Jacks' seventh of the season, less than a minute into the second quarter, which led to a six-play drive that resulted in Meeks' first career touchdown reception.

SFA turned away an 11-play, 79-yard drive by the Riverhawks with a goal-line stand. The Jacks then turned in a 99-yard drive that took a dozen plays and lasted just under six minutes of action with Preston Alford punching in from four yards for his first trip to the endzone as a Lumberjack.

In the final minutes of the third quarter clock, the Jacks engineered a second one-play scoring drive of the night leaning into a magician's effort by Speedy Jones who evaded multiple Riverhawks in a Houdini-like 70-yard race to the endzone; the longest play from scrimmage by the Lumberjacks this season.

The finishing touches were placed by Emiril Gant who scampered 41 yards on a fumble return for the game's final score.

POSTGAME NOTES

The Jacks put together a pair of one-play scoring drives in addition to two 12-play scoring drives including just the third 99-yard drive under Carthel
SFA produced 200 yards on the ground for the fourth-consecutive game marking the first such feat since 1999
Kylon Harris became the first Lumberjack this season to produce a 100-yard game as his 109 receiving yards marked the 14^th such effort of his career
Rutherford fired a career-high four touchdown passes to four different receivers finishing a single yard shy of a 300-yard passing effort
True freshman Deuce Williams led the defensive effort with eight tackles, two tackles for loss, one breakup and a forced fumble
Gary Seidenberger and Tank Reese also chipped in with eight tackles each
Jaylen Jenkins (94 yards) and Speedy Jones (83 yards) paced the rushing attack and Jones joined Harris and Mortimer with 100+ all-purpose yards

ABOUT THE WIN

Carthel becomes the program's all-time winningest coach with SFA win No. 49 surpassing Jim Hess' 48 wins from 1982-88
The victory pushes SFA's regular season winning streak to 15 games
The Jacks' home-winning streak improves to ten games
SFA moves to 28-6 inside HBS since the start of the 2020 season
SFA is off to the program's first 5-0 start to a season since the 1995 campaign
SFA moves to 7-3-1 all-time against opponents from Oklahoma and to 6-1 in home games against Sooner State foes
The Jacks' record against non-DI foes under Carthel improves to 9-1
The victory is the 108^th overall in Carthel's career
It is the 236^th win for the Lumberjacks as a Division I program

UP NEXT
The Jacks enter back into Southland Conference play next week against Incarnate Word. SFA welcomes the Cardinals into Homer Bryce Stadium for the tenth meeting all-time. The Jacks got the best of UIW last season in San Antonio to snap a two-game losing streak to the Cardinals. SFA is 4-1 at home against UIW and leads the overall series 6-3. Kickoff from inside Homer Bryce Stadium set for 5 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.SFAjacks.com.

TICKETS ON SALE NOW
There's never been a better time to lock in your seat at Homer Bryce Stadium! Don't miss a single snap as SFA looks to defend its Southland Conference title. Visit www.SFATickets.comto secure your tickets today and be part of the action all season long.

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