Waxahachie, Texas- After a first half that the Firestorm did not seem quite awake and trailed by as many as 21 points, Arizona Christian woke up in a big way and came back to beat SAGU 41-37 on Saturday.  The Tyler Duncan to Jon Cole connection for 240 yards established a new ACU single game receiving yards record.

Falling behind 14-0, 28-7, and 31-14 while giving up 340 first half yards, the ACU defense buckled down and allowed just six second half points.  Senior Jacob Hernandez led the charge with 13 tackles.  Freshman Caleb Ashby aided the effort with eight tackles.  Sophomore Riley Tucker grabbed two interceptions on back-to-back SAGU drives in the third quarter.

Offensively, the Firestorm accounted for just 170 first half yards before Duncan guided ACU to 21 straight third quarter points for the lead and a fourth quarter touchdown winning drive.

Game Info

• Game score: Arizona Christian - 41, SAGU - 37
• Records: Arizona Christian - 3-0, SAGU - 1-1
• NAIA Top 25 Rank: Arizona Christian- not ranked, SAGU - not ranked
• Location: Lumpkins Stadium, Waxahachie, TX

Offensive Stars

• Tyler Duncan - 24-36, 347 passing yards, 3 touchdowns, 74 rushing yards, 3 rushing touchdowns
• Jon Cole - 8 catches, 240 yards, 3 touchdowns
• Sid Turnbull-Frazier - 9 catches, 65 receiving yards
• Aidan Quinn - 70 rushing yards

Defensive Stars

• Jacob Hernandez - 14 tackles
• Caleb Ashby - 8 tackles
• Maurice Powell - 7 tackles
• Anthony Nicastro - 6 tackles, sack
• Arthur Hayes - 6 tackles, sack
• Riley Tucker - 6 tackles, 2 interceptions

Inside The Numbers

• ACU took the field for their pregame routine about 8:30 am Arizona time
• The Lions capitalized on a fumble punt return to score less than two minutes into the game
• Duncan ran for the two ACU touchdowns in the first half
• After running for one more touchdown, Duncan passed for two touchdowns and ACU was up 35-31
• SAGU moved back in front 37-35
• The Firestorm used seven plays to go 71 yards capped by a 49 yard Duncan-Cole touchdown for the lead
• Needing a touchdown for the win, SAGU drove down to the ACU 27 before Powell produced a two yard tackle for loss and Nicastro recorded a sack to help the Firestorm hold on

Thoughts from Coach Bowen

"I cannot say enough about how proud we are of our team's ability to stay in the fight.  To come back from 28 to 7 down and win the game does not happen very often in college football.  Very proud of the effort.  It is a great feeling to be undefeated.  We just have to keep building on the positives and fix our errors."

Up Next

The Firestorm return to host Texas Wesleyan on Saturday at 11:00 am.  Arizona Christian is trying to have the new on-campus football field ready for Homecoming Weekend.  Greenway High School will be the back up location if the field is not ready.