ABILENE, Texas- Luke Anthony’s 22-yard touchdown hookup to Kobe Clark proved to be the final bomb for the Lumberjacks as they were defeated 31-24 in a double overtime thriller to in-state Southland Conference foe Abilene Christian Saturday night inside the boisterous barriers of Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.
The Lumberjacks found themselves in overtime after Storm Ruiz, kicker, nailed a clutch 27-yard field goal tying the game at 24 with 27 seconds left in regulation. During the first overtime, SFA received the ball first, but were stopped in their tracks on third down. They elected to kick the field goal to give themselves a cushion the defenisve unit could use to potentially end the game. However, Ruiz surprisingly missed the same 27-yard field goal he made moments before during regulation which left SFA scoreless. After Ruiz botched the field goal, the ACU Wildcats drove into the redozne, was stopped on third down after Myles Brooks forced Tracy James out of bounds setting up a field goal try for the Wildcats. Furthermore, ACU’s kicker, Blair Zepeda, missed his 36-yard field goal attempt wide right forcing a second overtime for the two SLC teams.
In the second overtime the ACU Wildcats received the ball first and wasted no time putting points on the board. ACU faced a dreadful third-down-and-seven play, but they didn’t fold under pressure. Anthony stepped back in the pocket, surveyed the field and hooked up with Clark who was all alone in the back corner of the endzone for the eventual game-winning touchdown. After ACU took a 31-24 lead, the Lumberjacks hit the field to attempt to tie the game and force a third overtime. Unfortunately, the Lumberjacks’ offense stalled much like it has all season long during late game situations. SFA only managed to muster three yards in four plays throughout their most important drive of the game. After Da’Leon Ward lost three yards on a third down play from the 19-yard line, the Lumberjacks put the ball in the hands of Trae Self to extend the drive. Self dropped back into the pocket on fourth down and was instantly rushed by Temisan Kuyatsemi from ACU who applied enough pressure on him to throw an inaccurate pass. As a result of the errant pass, Self was unable to hook up with Xavier Gipson who was covered by ACU defenders and the pass dropped to the field as an incomplete pass which effectively ended the game and the Jacks’ hope at stealing another road win during Southland Conference play.
SFA totaled 415 offensive yards throughout the game versus ACU. They had 318 yards through the air and 97 yards on the ground. SFA kept their penalties down to a mininum only committing one for eight yards. However, they fumbled three times losing two of those and Self threw an interception in the second half.
Gipson put forth his best performance to date during the Lumberjacks’ loss to the Wildcats. The freshman wide receiver caught five passes for 109 yards and he compiled two touchdowns along with his career-high 100-yard receiving day. Ward, running back, was a duel threat throughout the day. He rushed for 63 yards on 24 carries while catching six passes for 102 yards and snagging one late-game touchdown catch. Self continued his streak of 100-yard plus passing but his inaccuracy also continued as well. Self threw for 318 yards on 18-35 passing attempts. He threw three big-time touchdown passes, one interception and he rushed for 28 yards on seven carries.
Trenton Gordon led the team with 12 total tackles and Eli Jones was right behind him with 11. Amad Murray, defensive end, compiled two tackles for loss while Marcus Mosley recorded one sack on the day. Gary Sampson, defensive tackle, sacked ACU’s quatterback on two separate occassions and compiled four total tackles in the process.
SFA was tied 14-14 with ACU at the half after a back-and-forth battle during the first half. Self threw two of his three touchdown passes in the first half when he hit Gipson for the 78-yard touchdown and hit Ward for the 56-yard touchdown. SFA was down by 10 in the fourth quarter and staged an inspiring comeback capped off by a 16-play, 61-yard drive which ended with Ruiz kicking the game tying field goal to force overtime before the Jacks faltered in the extra periods.
SFA (1-6 overall, 1-3 Southland Conference) will shake their toughest lost of the season off and focus on preparing for their Homecoming game with the McNeese State Cowboys.
Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, between the hills of Homer Bryce Stadium.
