The Wildcats weren’t successful in claiming a third-straight victory Saturday evening as they fell to Stephen F. Austin 24-21 in Nacogdoches.
SFA got on the board first and scored the only points of the first quarter with a field goal from junior kicker Storm Ruiz.
ACU then claimed the lead late in the second quarter as junior transfer running back Billy McCrary ran for a six-yard touchdown with 1:27 left to go in the half.
The Lumberjacks wouldn’t let ACU go into halftime with the lead, however, as they drove the field in 55 seconds and went up 10-7 thanks to a 17-yard touchdown reception by sophomore wide receiver Remi Simmons.
In the second half, SFA extended its lead to 17-7 after sacking redshirt sophomore quarterback Luke Anthony and forcing a fumble which was scooped up for a defensive touchdown.
McCrary then found the endzone once again late in the third quarter on a 12-yard run to make the score 17-14.
Junior quarterback Josh Covey scored the Lumberjacks final points of the night in their opening drive of the fourth quarter with an eight-yard scramble to make the score 24-14.
This would prove to be enough though, as the Wildcats couldn’t score until late in the quarter with a two-yard touchdown pass from Anthony to junior wide receiver Josh Fink. ACU tried an onside kick after, but couldn’t recover and eventually lead to a 24-21 final.
Despite the loss, Head Coach Adam Dorrel appreciated his team not giving up.
“I was proud of them, because we didn’t play really well and we never quit and guys never stopped believing on the sideline,” Dorrel said. “That’s a positive, I’m not sure we could have done that last year.”
A key stat in ACU’s loss was three missed field goals, one by redshirt sophomore kicker Oscar Hernandez and two by redshirt freshman kicker Taylor Williamson.
SFA racked up more yardage than the Wildcats out gaining them 365-337. ACU’s rushing performance was a lot different from last week only totaling 54 yards.
Anthony threw for 283 yards and a touchdown in the game. Fink caught Anthony’s lone touchdown of the game and also added another eight receptions with 81 yards.
Defensively, junior linebacker Jeremiah Chambers built on his impressive season with 15 tackles in the game. Sophomore linebacker Qua’Shawn Washington also performed well with nine tackles and three tackles for a loss.
ACU fell to 2-2 on the season and 1-1 in conference with the loss, while SFA notched its first win of the season.
The Wildcats will next come home to face Incarnate Word this Saturday for family weekend.
