Plainview, Texas- On Saturday, Arizona Christian Football locked up a 2022 SAC championship with a big win over Wayland Baptist to close out the regular season.  Now the Firestorm will anxiously wait for the NAIA Championship Series field to be announced on Sunday.

Tyler Duncan delivered three touchdown passes- two to Bryce Washington and one to Derek Anderson- as the Firestorm led beginning to end.  Aidan Quinn paced the ground attack with the one TD via rush.

Defensively, Jake Farrell was beast as he recorded 10 tackles.  Jordan Francis tied atop the team stats with his sixth interception of the season.  Riley Tucker and Stephaun Peters made their presence felt defensively but shocked everyone with their fake punt safety-to-linebacker touchdown connection.

Game Info

• Game score: Arizona Christian - 41, Wayland Baptist - 14
• Records: Arizona Christian- 8-2, 7-2 SAC, Wayland Baptist - 2-8, 2-7 SAC
• NAIA Top 25 Rank: Arizona Christian - 22, Wayland Baptist - not ranked
• Location:  Sherwood Memorial Bulldog Stadium, Plainview, TX

Offensive Stars

• Duncan - 237 passing yards, 3 TDs
• Washington - 83 yards receiving, TD
• Anderson - 50 yards receiving, TD
• Quinn - 96 yards, TD
• Nestor Higuera - 5-5 PAT, 2-2 FG (long 42 yards)
• Sean Bailey, Jr. - averaged 48 yards per punt

Defensive Stars

• Farrell - 10 tackles, forced fumble
• Francis - 7 tackles, INT
• Tucker - 7 tackles, forced/recovered fumble, TD pass
• Charles Bailey III - 6 tackles
• Moses Smith - 4 tackles, sack

Inside The Numbers

• The Firestorm turned the opening drive of the game into a Higuera field goal
• Two possessions later, Duncan to Anderson gave ACU a 10-0 edge
• Following a very short punt to the Pioneer 30, ACU called Duncan-to-Washington two straight plays with Duncan hitting Washington in stride from 21 yards out and a TD
• The score remained 17-0 through the half
• Defense came to play in the second half as a Smith strip sack was recovered by Farrell
• The result of the next offensive series culminated in the Tucker-to-Peters fake punt TD
• Higuera booted a 38 yard field goal to give the Firestorm a 27-0 cushion
• Duncan and Washington went to work again for a TD on the first play of the fourth quarter
• Quinn punched in the final TD from ten yards out
• Ten minutes later when the clock went 0:00, Arizona Christian Football could celebrate their second SAC championship in three seasons
• Arizona Christian earned their fourth conference championship in their nine-year history
• Their seventh straight win ties a program record

Thoughts from Coach Bowen

"I am excited for our young men and how they persevered. The win over Wayland Baptist made us conference champions for the second time in three years!  To win our last seven games of the year and come out on top of the conference is special."

"Now we wait for the final polls and hopefully we make the national championship series!"

Up Next

The Firestorm will find out on Sunday if their season continues as the selection show will be aired at 6:00 pm (Central)/ 5:00 pm (Arizona).  The show will be available on the NAIA YouTube Channel at airtime.