Football Lions focus on goals

Bacone comes to town on Saturday

SAGU can qualify for post-season play

WAXAHACHIE, Texas -- The air may have leaked out of the upset balloon late last Saturday at Lumpkins Stadium, but Southwestern Assemblies of God University still has some lofty goals within reach for the football team.

At the midway point in the season, the Lions have more to play for than any team in the program’s previous 12 years.

Goal #1:  NAIA Playoff Berth

SAGU, now 3-2 thanks to losses to a pair of Top 15 nationally ranked squads, are still very much in the hunt for one of two potential berths in the NAIA playoffs for the Central States Football League’s top two teams. Should the Lions manage to win the rest of their games they would stand a great chance of being one of the 32 teams in the tournament field.

How this unit bounces back from the loss to #10th ranked Southern Nazarene University will be evident this Saturday. That’s when SAGU plays host to Bacone College (1-5) this Saturday night, October 8, at 6:00pm.

What follows is a key road game on October 15 when they face Langston University (3-2), a team that has yet to play the Lions in Waxahachie. The 2:00pm contest, in which Southwestern will be the LU Lions' homecoming opponent, is expected to be in front of 20,000 fans.

Goal #2: Play in the NCCAA's Victory Bowl

An exciting second option at the end of the regular season could be a sweet first for the Lions.

The National Christian College Athletic Association’s top two teams meet in the annual Victory Bowl. The game will be played at the home site of the highest seeded squad on Saturday, November 19.

Currently, the Lions are in a 5-way tie for second in the NCCAA rankings. Top-ranked Azusa Pacific University (4-1), who are from Los Angeles, are ranked #12 in the current NAIA Coaches Poll. The Cougars play McPherson College (Ks) this week, one of seven home games for APU.

If they make the NAIA playoffs, they would not play in the victory bowl.

The teams who are knotted with SAGU in second include; Campbellsville University (Ky), Malone University (Ohio), Northwestern College (Minn) and the defending NCCAA champion North Greenville University (SC).

Those teams have the following games slated for this Saturday, Oct. 8

Campbellsville University (3-2) @ Georgetown University (Ky) (4-0)
McPherson College (Ks) (2-3) @ Azusa Pacific University (4-1)
North Greenville University (3-2) @ Central State Univ (Ohio) (NCAA DII) (0-5)
College of St. Scholastica (Minn) (NCAA DIII) (4-0) @ Northwestern College (3-2)
*Saint Xavier (Ill) (5-0) @ Malone University (3-2)
Bacone College (Ok) (1-5) @ Southwestern Assemblies of God University (3-2)

If not stated otherwise, teams are members of the NAIA.  *No. 1 ranked team in the NAIA

Contact: Mark “Link” Warde , Sports Information Director, at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or at 469-658-2847.