Box Score Glendale, Ariz.- On Saturday, Arizona Christian beat the heat and Lincoln (CA) as they rolled 33-9 in their season opener. Tied 9-9 in the second quarter, the Firestorm outscored the Oaklanders 24-0 the rest of the way.
Junior Tyler Duncan opened his season with a touchdown pass to three different receivers. Junior MJ Harris made his Firestorm debut by averaging 20.5 yards per catch. Senior Jon Cole secured 11 receptions- tying his ACU single game catch record.
Defensively, ACU held LU to 170 yards of offense including just 43 in the second half. Senior Jacob Hernandez made a team high eight tackles. Freshman Martin Rodriguez delivered two sacks. Sophomore Craig Martin IV grabbed the first ACU interception of the season.
Game Info
- Game score: Arizona Christian - 33, Lincoln (CA) - 9
- Records: Arizona Christian- 1-0, Lincoln (CA) - 0-1
- NAIA Top 25 Rank: Arizona Christian - 15, Lincoln (CA) - not NAIA
- Location: ACU Football Field, Glendale, AZ
Offensive Stars
Defensive Stars
- Hernandez- 8 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss
- Rodriguez- 6 tackles, 2 sacks
- Antonio Horrison- 5 tackles
- Martin- interception
- Caleb Ashby- sack
Inside The Numbers
- Higuera opened the scoring with a field goal just under six minutes into the season
- After Lincoln tied the score, Duncan connected with Harris for a 57 yard TD (two point attempt no good)
- The Oaklanders answered with a TD but missed the extra point to keep the game knotted at 9-9
- With two minutes left in the half, Duncan hit Patterson from five yards out
- Following an exchange of interceptions, Higuera nailed his second field goal as time expired in the first half for a 19-9 edge
- Duncan lofted a 31 yard throw to Cole in the end zone to put ACU out front 26-9
- Shea Morales and Turnbull-Frazier capped the scoring with a catch and run from 16 yards out
- The Firestorm caused the first year Oaklanders to commit 13 penalties
- ACU went 3-3 converting on fourth down and 4-4 scoring from the red zone
Thoughts from Coach Bowen
"Pleased with the way the guys played in the opener. We played a lot of players, our veterans played well and set great examples, our new guys got experience and performed well. Both sides of the ball and special-teams executed well. We just need to clean up both sides of the ball and special teams with our errors and our turnovers- which is typical for this time of year."
Up Next
Next Saturday, the Firestorm will begin the defense of their SAC championship when they open Sooner Athletic play at Texas Wesleyan.
