Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU) football Howard Payne University
“With a new team, guys are looking for other players to step up. In the first half we were just waiting for somebody else to do that,” explains SAGU Head Coach Frank Tristan , “In the second half the change was that we did have some great individual efforts. Throughout the whole game I was most impressed with the way the team was positive and didn’t really blame others for the errors.”
SAGU’s JP Lowery had a strong showing, scoring three of SAGU’s four touchdowns. His first touchdown came in the first quarter after a four yard run.
The Yellow Jackets turned around and scored 18 straight points to gain an 18-7 lead over the Lions going into halftime.
Last season, the Lions were very much a second-half team. If one game is any indication, the same might be true this year. SAGU’s defense held HPU to only three points in the second half.
In the third quarter, Lowery picked up his third touchdown on an 18-yard run.
In the second play of the fourth quarter, SAGU’s JP Lowery rushed for 10 yards to make the score 20-18 in SAGU’s favor.
On Howard Payne’s next drive, they made it to their own 9-yard line before it was intercepted by SAGU’s Matt Williams . This was Williams’ second interception of the night.
With 10:58 in the game, SAGU regained possession of the ball. Quarterback CJ Collins completed a touchdown pass to Jeremy Carr for 89 yards. The entire possession 
took less than 40 seconds.
HPU’s Jason Disney kicked a 33-yard field goal to make the score 27-21.
With three minutes left on the clock, SAGU got a first down after Collins completed a 38-yard pass to Derek Shelby, making it to the HPU six. Just to add flare to the end of the game, SAGU fumbled the ball and HPU regained control on their own seven yard line with 1:35 left to play.
The Lions forced HPU to a fourth and four situation, before regaining control of the ball and ultimately taking a knee.
SAGU’s JP Lowery had 16 carries for 101 yards and three touchdowns. CJ Collins rushed for 70 yards, he was also 22-for-33 passing for 299 yards with one touchdown and one interception. Sophomore Jeremy Carr had four catches for 122 yards and one touchdown.
Senior Ethan Eastwood had 13 tackles, one tackle for loss and one sack. LeDarius Osborne added 10 tackles. Senior All-American D’Vonn Brown had six tackles, three and a half of those for a loss. Brown also had 1.5 sacks.
Looking ahead to next week, the Lions will play a strong East Texas Baptist University on Saturday, September 10, 2016. ETBU is currently 1-0 after beating no. 21 Texas Lutheran. The Lions will travel to Marshall, Texas and game time is at 7pm.
Coach Frank Tristan believes the Lions will be able to fix the errors in anticipation of ETBU, “In moving forward, the big mistakes are all things that we can control so that is a positive.”
Southwestern Assemblies of God University is a private, Christian university located 30 minutes south of the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex in Waxahachie, Texas. The university was established in 1927, and now offers more than 70 associate, bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees on campus or online. More information is available at www.sagu.edu or by calling 1-888-YES-SAGU.
Contact: Natalie Tristan, SAGU SID, [email protected]
