Weekly Notes

For only the second time in the schools' histories, Sul Ross and Arizona Christian University will meet on the gird iron in the 2018 season opener at Shadow Mountain High School in Phoenix. Kickoff is scheduled for 9:00 p.m.

Media Information
Radio…...KVLF AM 1240
Web……..http://www.bigbendradio.com/
Watch Live……https://portal.stretchinternet.com/acu/
Live Stats…….  https://portal.stretchinternet.com/acu/

2017 Recap

Sul Ross is coming off a 5-5 season (4-5 ASC) in 2017 and began and ended last year with victories.
 
Sul Ross opened the 2017 slate with a 47-22 victory over NCAA Division II U.T. Permian Basin before dropping a 23-7 ASC-opening decision to 2016 National Champions University of Mary Hardin-Baylor following an off week.
 
The Lobos then opened the home season with a 35-7 win over McMurry before a 34-31 edging of host Louisiana College the next week. Sul Ross then suffered back-to-back setbacks at Southwestern and at home against Hardin-Simmons in scores of 29-27 and 35-10.
 
Following a 52-15 victory at Howard Payne, the Lobos fell in their final two home games of the season to East Texas Baptist and Texas Lutheran by scores of 42-28 and 40-14. Sul Ross then capped the season with a 34-27 victory at Belhaven.

Sul Ross finished up Spring Ball with 56 players and fifth-year head coach John Pearce noted the impact last year's graduating class had on spring turn out.
  
One of the primary areas of focus for Pearce during the offseason was the defense with the addition of new defensive coordinator Michael Vite. Vite replaced Kyle Williams who is now on the coaching staff at U.T. Permian Basin.
 
Vite served as linebacker's and special teams coach at Florida A&M University for three seasons before arriving in Alpine.
 
His linebacker corps led the teams in tackles in 2017.
 
While at FAMU, Vite rebuilt the team academic standard in facilitating the graduation of more players than in previous seasons.

Vite's linebackers also led the team with the highest GPA.

Key Offensive Starters Lost
James Davis (QB)- 2017 ASC Second Team All-Conference quarterback James Davis also concluded his Sul Ross career last year. Davis ran for a team-best 506 yards off of 101 carries and six touchdowns. Davis also completed 127 of 239 passes for 1818 yards and 14 scoring strikes.

Steven Savedra (TE)- Tight end Steven Savedra put the wraps on his Lobo career last season. A 2017 ASC First Team All-Conference choice and a 2017 D3Football.com All-South Region honoree, Savedra led the team in receiving with 34 receptions for 593 yards and six touchdowns.

Key Defensive Starters Lost
Zack Roberson (DL)- A 2017 ASC First Team All-Conference selection, Roberson finished with 57 tackles (37 solo/20 assists) and tallied a team-best 5.5 sacks for a loss of 24 yards.

Mike Quinonez (LB)- First team All-ASC linebacker Mike Quinonez also finished up his collegiate career in 2017. Quinonez led the Lobo defense last season with 94 tackles (57 solo/37 assists) with 30 stops for loss of yards. He recorded a second team-best 3.5 sacks for a loss of 18 yards. Quinonez also posted a forced fumble.
 
Key Returning Offensive Starters
Byron Jones (WR)- Jones, a senior and a 2017 ASC Honorable Mention, caught a second team-high 36 receptions for 537 and six touchdowns while Reed grabbed 17 catches for 276 yards and three scores his junior campaign.

Montay Harris (OL)- Senior and ASC Honorable Mention Montay Harris returns to the front in 2018.

Key Returning Defensive Starters
Jacques Wisner (LB)- Wisner tallied 70 tackles in 2017, good for a third team-best and registered five stops for a loss of 20 yards.

Scouting the Firestorm (ACU Sports Info.)

• Arizona Christian wrapped up its fourth season of intercollegiate football in 2017 with a record of  7-3 including a 5-3 record in the Sooner Athletic Conference.
• The Firestorm started the 2017 campaign with a 4-0 record that ended  with a 43-6 loss to Southwestern Assemblies of God to wrap up the month of September.
• Arizona Christian came out ready to play in the 2017 season finale as they scored on their first defensive and first offensive series in a 63-7 route over Texas Wesleyan.  Defensively, ACU accounted for six sacks and two interceptions.  Offensively, ACU out gained TWU by 400 yards (567-167).
• For the second year in a row Senior Derek Brush was named a First Team AFCA NAIA All-American punter. used his 44.4 yard punting average to change the field position in a hurry for the Firestorm.  He established new ACU season highs with his 49 punts that traveled 2,176 yards.  He pinned an opponent inside their 20 yard on 14 different occasions.  His season long of 64 yards against Simon Fraser in the season opener was one of 12 punts that covered 50 yards or more.
• Brush also earned  Central States Football League Special Teams Player of the Year which marked the second consecutive CSFL STPOY nod.

Series History

• The Firestorm lead the all-time series, 1-0.
• In their first meeting in 2016, Arizona Christian's Gerrit Groenewo scored from six yards out in overtime handing the visiting Firestorm a 30-27 overtime victory over Sul Ross in the Lobos' home opener.
• QB James Daivs led the ground attack for Sul Ross netting  49 yards off of 10 carries and scored a touchdown.
• Davis connected on 22 of 34 pass attempts for  241 yards and two scoring strikes.

Sul Ross Team and Individual Notes

• The Lobos finished 2017 ranked fourth in the ASC in rushing yardage with 317 carries for 1769 yards and 13 touchdowns.
• Sully enters this week's season opener at No. 3 in the conference in pass defense.
• Sul Ross had the best PAT performance following the 2017 campaign  hitting on 31 of 32 point-after kicks.
• The Lobos wrapped up 2017 with the third best field goal percentage baking on 6 of 8 field goals with a percentage of  .750.
• Manuel Retana enters the season with  the second-best putting performance  averaging 40 yards per punt with a long of 65 in 2017.
• Former Lobo Zack Roberson led the ASC in tackles for loss with 14 stops (12 solo) for a total loss of 48 yards.

Around the ASC

8/30      Trinity at McMurry, 6:00 p.m.
8/30      Millsaps at Belhaven, 7:00 p.m.
8/30      UW-Platteville at ETBU, 7:00 p.m.
9/1        Denison at Southwestern, 7:00 p.m.
9/1        Sul Ross at Az. Christian, 8:00 p.m.
 

Quotes from Coach John Pearce

Thoughts on fall camp heading into week 1
We're a young football team this season. We graduated 23 seniors last year . We usually bring in a lot of freshman  but this year's class, and even some of the returners don't have a lot of playing time.  That's our biggest concern.  I do like the way we're competing and this freshman class is really a homerun class in terms of them buying into and sticking with our program. With so many young guys this year, there are other factors such as the speed of the game that many of them will have to adjust to right out of high school.

On quarterback situation
Fabian [Baeza] and Paul [Rodriguez] have really had a good camp. They're system guys. They've also had they're shares of ups and downs and I think that showed from Saturday's scrimmage . They didn't get a lot of help from our receivers with passes that were right on mark but were dropped. But it's a battle between the two and I'm happy with what both of those guys have shown in camp. It will be week-to-week with them.

Thoughts on special teams
Junior [Manuel Retana] is back and punting the ball really well.  He had some tightness in his leg during fall camp but otherwise getting some solid punts for us and that showed during Saturday's scrimmage. We have two freshman battling it out for our go-to field goal kicker spot.

Thoughts on facing ACU for the second time
They're very similar to our program in that they also graduated a bunch of seniors last year.  But they're well coached. They'll throw some zone and read options at us so we'll have to play disciplined playing the dive. It's going to be a good challenge for us playing in the dessert heat under the lights.

On new DC Michael Vite
Coach Vite has really brought new energy to our defense. We're more multiple up front which is the direction I wanted to go.

On the overall health of the team heading into season opener
Coming through camp, you're always going to be a little beat up. The coaches made it really tough and physical. But nothing major with folks being out for a long period of time. We had 10 players who were nursing some injuries and were not able to compete in Saturday's scrimmage. So hopefully they'll get their rehab in this week and get ready for the game in Phoenix.