2017 A&M-COMMERCE LIONS FOOTBALL NATIONAL SEMIFINAL • vs. Harding • Dec. 9, 2017 • 2:30 p.m. No. 8 A&M-Commerce (12-1, 7-1 LSC) LIONS SCHEDULE vs Date Opponent Time Harding (11-3, 8-3 GAC) S1 (Fr) at No. 6 North Alabama W 8-7 Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium • Commerce S9 WILLIAM JEWELL W 59-6 S16 EASTERN N.M. * W 51-22 TELEVISION: ESPN3/Watch ESPN PxP: Bob Picozzi • COLOR: Forrest Conoly S23 at A&M-Kingsville * W 38-7 RADIO: Lion Sports Network O7 at No. 10 Midwestern St. * L 42-47 PxP: Charlie Chitwood • COLOR: Brock Callaway O14 WESTERN N.M. * W 52-3 LIONS WIN ON THE ROAD, HOST SEMIFINALS 2001 (14-11 in Commerce). • The Lions took down the No. 1 ranked Minneso- • The Lions are 18-27-1 all-time against teams from O21 ANGELO ST. * W 34-20 ta State Mavericks, 31-21, on the road to clinch the the state of Arkansas. O28 at West Texas A&M * W 35-16 regional championship for the first time in school N4 UT PERMIAN BASIN * W 52-0 history. TOUGH ROAD TO THE SEMIS N11 at Tarleton St. * W 33-21 • This is the first time the Lions have played four • The Lions have won three straight road games to N18 at No. 12 Winona St. P W 20-6 games in a single postseason. advance to the National Semifinal. N25 at No. 7 Central Wash. P W (2OT) 34-31 • The win gave the Lions seven road wins, the most in • A&M-Commerce went through the toughest road P a season in program history. since the NCAA Division II playoff field expanded to D2 at No. 1 Minnesota State W 31-21 P five rounds in 2004. D9 HARDING 2:30 p.m. STILL PUSHING #ToTheTop • The Lions have defeated three opponents with a • The Lions ended the regular season at No. 8 in the combined record of 34-1. BISONS SCHEDULE nation in both the AFCA and D2Football.com polls. - Winona State (10-1) Date Opponent Time • A&M-Commerce has been ranked in 38 straight - Central Washington (11-0) A31 (Th) HENDERSON ST. * L 20-28 AFCA polls, dating back to the 2015 preseason poll. - Minnesota State (13-0) S9 at Southern Arkansas * L 24-35 • This is A&M-Commerce’s 44th all-time appearance • Only two other teams have beaten three teams with S16 SOUTHERN NAZARENE * L 27-28 in the AFCA poll since its inception in 2000. 33 combined wins in a single playoff - Grand Valley S23 at Oklahoma Baptist * W 45-14 • The Lions have played five nationally-ranked team State in 2015 (33-1) and Harding this season (33-2). sthis season, all inside the top 12. S30 ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO * W 56-46 • A&M-Commerce is the fourth nationally-ranked • 18 teams have won three games to advance to the O7 at Ouachita Baptist * W 31-28 team the Bisons have faced, all in the top 10 and all National Semifinals in the 13 years since the field -ex O14 at Northwestern Oklahoma St.* W 34-0 in the playoffs. panded to five rounds. O21 SOUTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA ST.* W 42-0 • Prior to this season, six teams advanced to the O28 at Southeastern Oklahoma St. * W 42-3 CARTHEL 5TH IN SCHOOL HISTORY IN WINS semifinals with no home games in the first three N4 EAST CENTRAL * W 44-13 • Head coach Colby Carthel now ranks fifth in rounds. A&M-Commerce history in coaching wins with 46 • In 2017, three of the four teams in the semifinals N11 at Arkansas Tech * W 24-17 wins. have advanced with three road wins - A&M-Com- N18 at No. 6 Indianapolis P W 27-24 • However, he will be in fifth for a while, as his 46 wins merce, Harding, and West Florida. N25 at No. 9 Ashland P W 34-24 are still 18 behind J.V. Sikes’ 63 wins in fourth place. • Of the 18 teams to advance to the semifinals with D2 at No. 10 Ferris St. P W 16-14 three wins, only the 2016 Shepherd team hosted their D9 at No. 8 A&M-Commerce P 2:30 p.m. 1....... Ernest Hawkins ....... 1964-85 ........... 132-92-6 semifinal matchup. That Shepherd team was also un- 2 ...... Eddie Vowell ............ 1986-98 ..............74-71-1 defeated until the semifinal loss to North Alabama. FOLLOW THE LIONS 3 ...... Bob Berry ................ 1935-41, 46-50...72-34-8 • Of the 18 three-win semifinalists, two have ad- • Twitter updates will be provided at @Lions_FB. 4 ...... J.V. Sikes ................. 1954-63 .............63-34-4 vanced to the National Championship Game, with the • Live statistics are available at LionAthletics.com 5 ..... Colby Carthel .........2013-pres. ......... 46-15 winner of today’s game guaranteed to be the third. A • All Lion games will be broadcast on the Lion Sports 6 ...... M.A. Smith .............. 1951-53 ................30-2-1 West Florida win at Indiana (Pa.) would be a fourth. Network, with KETR 88.9-FM as the flagship station. The previous two were Northwest Missouri State in • Live audio will be available at KETR.org. AGAINST THE BISONS 2005 and Wayne State (Mich.) in 2011. • Charlie Chitwood will provide play-by-play for all • A&M-Commerce is 3-1 all-time against Harding. Lion Football games. Color commentary will be provid- • The Bisons won the last matchup in 2013 in the Live ed by Brock Callaway. United Texarkana Bowl, 44-3. • Air time for the pre-game show is 2 p.m. • That game was the Lions’ first postseason appear- • Lion Athletics’ new weekly radio show - Lions Roar, ance since 1995. The Lions defeated Harding in 1995 hosted by athletics director Tim McMurray - will air (40-0 in Searcy), 1996 (43-28 in Commerce), and at 1:30 p.m. 23-TIME LONE STAR CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS • LION FOOTBALL 1 LION FOOTBALL SENIORS BREAK SCHOOL RECORD HARLON HILL TROPHY FINALISTS • With the win at Tarleton, the senior class broke the school record for wins in a Player Pos Ht Wt Cl School four-year period. The previous record stood since the Tangerine Bowl runs of the SUPER REGION ONE early 1950s. Connor Jessop QB 6-5 220 Sr. Shepherd • That record extended with the win at Central Washington to 40 games won in a Marc Jones RB 5-11 225 Jr. Gannon four year span. Marcus Martin DE 6-2 255 Sr. Slippery Rock SUPER REGION TWO Years ........................................................................................................ Record Amir Hall QB 6-4 180 Jr. Bowie State 2014-17 .............................................................................................40-10 Devontae Jackson RB/KR 5-8 171 Jr. West Georgia 1951-54 .....................................................................................................36-5-2 Harry Satterwhite QB 6-1 182 Jr. West Alabama 2013-16 ........................................................................................................35-14 SUPER REGION THREE 1957-60 ......................................................................................................... 34-7 Brook Bolles QB 6-3 190 Jr. Central Missouri 1972-75 .....................................................................................................32-13-1 J.T. Luper WR 5-9 175 Sr. Central Oklahoma 1936-39 ........................................................................................................ 31-8 SUPER REGION FOUR 1990-93 .................................................................................................... 31-16-1 Ja’Quan Gardner RB 5-7 205 Sr. Humboldt State Luis Perez QB 6-3 220 Sr. A&M-Commerce PEREZ’ OUTSTANDING SEASON AND CAREER LEAD TO HARLON HILL FINALIST • Lion quarterback Luis Perez was announced as a finalist for the Harlon Hill Tro- PEREZ GAME-BY-GAME phy. 2016 Opponent Cmp Att Int Yds TDs • He was also named a second team All-American by the AFCA on Wednesday. He at Delta State 17 23 0 322 2 was previously named as the Super Region Four Offensive Player of the Year and at Eastern New Mexico 24 31 0 342 5 TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE 10 19 0 133 1 First Team All-Region quarterback by the D2CCA. at Panhandle State 34 48 1 396 3 • He was won the Lone Star Conference J.W. Rollins Award as Offensive Player MIDWESTERN STATE 18 34 0 243 2 of the Year. He also earned First Team All-Lone Star Conference honors for the at Western New Mexico 22 35 2 319 4 at Angelo State 20 33 0 270 3 second consecutive season. WEST TEXAS A&M 17 23 0 230 1 • A Lion quarterback has earned first team all-LSC honors a total of 17 times since at UT Permian Basin 18 25 0 273 5 TARLETON STATE 22 35 0 274 1 the league’s formation in 1931. COLORADO MESA P 17 33 0 205 2 • He became the Lions’ fourth quarterback to repeat as a first team all-LSC se- at Grand Valley State P 25 50 2 319 3 2016 TOTALS 244 389 5 3,326 32 lection, joining Bobby Bounds (1990-91), LSC Hall of Honor member Wade Wilson 2017 (1979-80), and R.A. Hitt (1933-34), who was the second-ever all-LSC quarterback. Opponent Cmp Att Int Yds TDs at North Alabama 23 37 3 179 0 WILLIAM JEWELL 20 29 0 236 4 LION FIRST TEAM ALL-LSC QUARTERBACKS EASTERN NEW MEXICO 20 24 1 357 5 2016, 2017 Luis Perez at Texas A&M-Kingsville 24 32 0 319 4 1996 Cole Cayce at Midwestern State 43 55 2 437 4 1990, 1991 Bobby Bounds WESTERN NEW MEXICO 23 32 0 358 5 1982 Kyle Mackey 1979, 1980 Wade Wilson ANGELO STATE 34 46 0 373 4 1977 Terry Skinner at West Texas A&M 30 46 0 387 3 1972 Will Cureton UT PERMIAN BASIN 26 34 0 301 4 1960 James Williams at Tarleton State 34 50 0 482 3 1959 Sam McCord at Winona State P 28 41 0 308 2 1954 Bobby Fox at Central Washington P 41 65 4 394 3 1953 Jim Gray at Minnesota State-Mankato P 28 41 0 257 1 1948 Bobby Griffin HARDING P 1933, 1934 R.A.