#11/13 Jacks Roll East Texas A&M in Home Opener

Saturday, September 5

Nacogdoches, TX

7:00 PM

Stephen F. Austin

2-0 , 2-0

East Texas A&M

0-2 , 0-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
East Texas A&M	7	0	0	0	7
SFA	7	17	7	13	44

#11/13 Jacks Roll East Texas A&M in Home Opener

9/6/2026 12:38:00 AM | Football

Box Score

Soggy conditions not enough to slow SFA as win streaks continue

By: Jacob Pumphrey, Assistant AD for Communications

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Soggy conditions were not enough to slow down #11/13 Stephen F. Austin on Saturday night as the Jacks jumpstarted the 54^th season inside Homer Bryce Stadium with a 44-7 win over East Texas A&M in Southland Conference play. More than 6,600 fans hung around through the rainy evening to see the Jacks force four turnovers and churn out over 430 yards of total offense to move to 2-0 in league play.

Offensively, SFA accumulated 11 plays of 10+ yards with big plays of 40 yards, a Jaylen Jenkins rushing touchdown that saw the senior evade multiple defenders and break a sure tackler before racing to the pylon, and a game-high 51-yard play, an impressive rush by Preston Alford that put the Jacks down inside the ETAM7.

JT Kitna capped a near six-minute drive that ate up a dozen plays with a one-yard rush to open scoring. The lone East Texas A&M score followed on the ensuing Lions' possession. Gavin Rutherford added rushing touchdowns on back-to-back drives to take a 21-7 lead. Carlos Alvarado enjoyed the second three FG effort of his career with a 23 yarder at the intermission, a 37-yarder less than three and a half minutes into the fourth quarter and a 26-yarder with just under six minutes to play. Cannon Lemberg hauled in a two-yard reception from Bryson Broadway in the game's waning minutes for the final score of the night.

It was complimentary football for the Jacks on Saturday night. Speedy Jones responded to the visitors' only points with a 47-yard kickoff return which set up Rutherford's first trip to paydirt. A quick three and out led to Alford's massive gain and Rutherford's second score in a span of 2:18.

A forced fumble by Malachi Williams was recovered by Chance Sautter, and even though the Jacks were unable to cash in on a lengthy drive, SFA turned a Davonta Morgan Collins interception on the following ETAM possession into Alvarado's first make. Makai Frisby's third quarter pick led to Jenkins' score and back-to-back turnover on downs led to Alvarado's second and third FG makes. Cam Vandible capped the defensive effort with an interception to set up the Broadway to Lemberg score.

POSTGAME NOTES

SFA held ETAM to 56 rushing yards on 22 attempts
The Jacks forced the Lions into 1-of-8 on third down attempts
Alvarado's first PAT of the night pushed him to 100 career points at SFA
Kitna's rushing touchdown is the first such score of his career
Lemberg's fourth quarter TD reception is the first of his career
A dozen defenders recorded multiple tackles with Williams and Jamel Acosta-Lewis each delivering five
Lowote Jurkin accounted for 1.5 of SFA's five sacks
SFA picked off a trio of passes with Frisby grabbing his third of the season with Morgan Collins and Vandible each picking off their first passes as Lumberjacks
Rutherford was efficient in 21 attempts completing 16 for 140 yards and added two rushing touchdowns
Kitna scored on the ground and Bryson Broadway completed all four of his attempts with a touchdown to Lemberg
Eleven players hauled in a pass with Clayton Wayland and Derrick Bohler both catching four passes

ABOUT THE WIN

The victory pushes SFA's regular season winning streak to 12 games
The win is the tenth-straight for the Lumberjacks in SLC play
SFA has now won nine-straight games inside Homer Bryce Stadium dating back to the 2024 season
The win pushes SFA, the lone SLC team to open the 2026 season with consecutive conference opponents, to the top of the league at 2-0
SFA is now 7-1 in home openers and has won seven straight under Carthel
The program's overall record in home openers now stands at 60-37-3
It is win No. 185 for the Jacks inside HBS
The Jacks move to 27-6 inside HBS since the start of the 2020 campaign
SFA is off to the program's first 2-0 start to a season since the 2004 campaign and the first 2-0 start against DI opposition since 1995
The Jacks win over the Lions for the second-straight season and for the 16^th time in the series
It is the largest margin of victory in the series for either team since 1959
It is the 233^rd win for the Lumberjacks as a Division I program
The victory is the 46^th for Carthel at SFA and the 105^th in his career
Carthel moves three wins shy of setting new program records in overall wins and SLC wins

UP NEXT
The Lumberjacks hit the road out west for Abilene for a second-straight season. The two programs met twice last fall with the home team winning each contest including the Jacks' second round FCS playoff win over the Wildcats. Since 2019, when Carthel's Jacks first met Abilene Christian, seven of the nine meetings have been one possession games. Kickoff from Wildcat Stadium is scheduled for 7 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! Season tickets are on sale now, offering the best value for a six-game home slate. Don't miss a single snap as SFA looks to defend its Southland Conference title. Visit www.SFATickets.com to secure your season tickets today and be part of the action all season long. Single-game tickets are also available for all six of the Lumberjacks' regular season contests in Nacogdoches.

FOLLOW THE LUMBERJACKS
For all the latest information on SFA football, visit SFAjacks.com. For up-to-the-minute updates, follow the Lumberjacks on X, Instagram and Facebook.