Fort Worth, Texas- After leading 28-13 with two minutes to play in the third quarter, turnovers were the downfall for Arizona Christian on Saturday as they lost 35-28 to Texas Wesleyan in their SAC opener.  TXWES forced three of the five ACU turnovers in the fourth quarter- two of which were turned into Ram touchdowns on the ensuing drives.

Senior Aidan Quinn rushed for two touchdowns.  Senior Jon Cole hauled in both touchdown passes from Junior Tyler Duncan who finished with 278 yards passing.

Junior Riley Tucker led the defensive effort with 10 solo tackles.  Junior Jake Farrell recorded six tackles and a sack.

Game Info

• Game score: Texas Wesleyan - 35, Arizona Christian - 28
• Records: Arizona Christian- 1-1, 0-1 SAC, Texas Wesleyan - 1-0, 1-0 SAC
• NAIA Top 25 Rank: Arizona Christian - 15, Texas Wesleyan - not ranked
• Location: Farrington Field, Fort Worth, TX

Offensive Stars

• Duncan- 15-34, 278 passing yards, 2 touchdowns
• Cole- 6 catches, 185 yards, 2 touchdowns
• Malik Patterson- 5 catches, 66 yards
• MJ Harris- 5 catches, 50 yards
• Aidan Quinn- 80 rushing yards, 2 touchdowns
• Nestor Higuera- 4-4 PATs

Defensive Stars

• Tucker- 10 tackles
• Farrell- 6 tackles, sack
• Jacob Hernandez- 6 tackles
• Craig Martin IV- 6 tackles
• DeAnte Livingston- sack
• Maurice Powell- sack
• Deonsaye Dean- sack

Inside The Numbers

• Quinn opened the scoring with a 57 yard run midway through the first quarter
• TXWES scored the next two touchdowns for a 13-7 edge which remained until half time
• Three minutes into the third quarter, Cole raced his way to a 97 yard TD reception- the longest pass play in ACU history
• Quinn found daylight from eight yards out and scooted into the end zone
• After a 22 yard completion to Harris and a 42 yard reception by Sid Turnbull-Frazier, Duncan connected with Cole for the second time and ACU grabbed their 28-13 lead
• The Rams scored a touchdown on consecutive drives with an ACU fumble lost sandwiched in between to knot the game at 28-28
• An interception with three minutes left allowed TXWES to score the game winning TD with 90 seconds remaining
• The Firestorm offensively outgained the Rams 485-429

Thoughts from Coach Bowen

"It was a tough loss; it is never just one thing.  Offensively, we must take care of the football better and when we are given a chance to make plays, we have to make them.  Defensively, we need to get off the field when we get our opponent in third down situations.  Also, special teams has to make plays.  They cannot hurt us all the time."

Up Next

Following a bye week, Arizona Christian will host newest SAC rival Louisiana College- a former NCAA DII school returning to the NAIA.  The Firestorm and Wildcats will meet on Saturday, Sept. 18, on the ACU Football Field at 11:00 am.