2017 A&M-COMMERCE LIONS FOOTBALL SUPER REGIONAL SEMIFINAL • at Central Washington • Nov. 25, 2017 • Noon PST No. 8 A&M-Commerce (10-1, 7-1 LSC) LIONS SCHEDULE at Date Opponent Time No. 7 Central Washington (11-0, 8-0 GNAC) S1 (Fr) at No. 6 North Alabama W 8-7 Tomlinson Stadium • Ellensburg, Wash. S9 WILLIAM JEWELL W 59-6 S16 EASTERN N.M. * W 51-22 RADIO: Lion Sports Network S23 at A&M-Kingsville * W 38-7 PxP: Charlie Chitwood • COLOR: Brock Callaway O7 at No. 10 Midwestern St. * L 42-47 LIONS WIN ON THE ROAD, ADVANCE AGAIN WASHINGTON IS FAR AWAY TM O14 WESTERN N.M. * W 52-3 • The Lions’ 20-6 win at Winona State was their first • Travel notes are always fun in the playoffs, and the O21 ANGELO ST. * W 34-20 playoff victory on the road since a 1990 first round Lions got a doozy this week, with the third-longest O28 at West Texas A&M * W 35-16 victory at Grand Valley State. possible road trip in Division II football from Com- N4 UT PERMIAN BASIN * W 52-0 • A&M-Commerce has advanced to the second round merce. of the Division II playoffs for the fourth time in its five • When Portland State was still in Division II, that N11 at Tarleton St. * W 33-21 P appearances in the tournament. playoff game was 2,068 miles away. N18 at No. 12 Winona St. W 20-6 • This marks the seventh time in program history • Using Google Maps, Ellensburg is 2,035 miles from N25 at No. 7 Central Washington P Noon PT that the Lions have won five or more true road games Commerce. That is direct driving with no trip through (non-neutral), including a six-win road season in the SeaTac Airport. 2016. The Lions also had six road wins in 1951, 1953, • The only farther possible trips in Division II football WILDCATS SCHEDULE and 1980. The Lions had five road wins in 1957 and for the Lions would be Simon Fraser (Burnaby, British Date Opponent Time 1990. Columbia - 2,271 miles) and Western Oregon (Mon- • Each of those seasons with the exception of 1951 mouth, Ore. - 2,127 miles). S2 at Texas A&M-Kingsville W 34-10 concluded with a postseason appearance. • A trip to Humboldt State in Arcata, Calif., is some- S9 vs. Western Oregon * W 30-23 how one mile shorter than a trip to Ellensburg. S16 at No. 22 Azusa Pacific * W 17-16 STILL PUSHING #ToTheTop S23 at Dixie St. W 58-40 • The Lions ended the regular season at No. 8 in the Site Years Miles One-Way S30 SIMON FRASER * W 62-0 nation in both the AFCA and D2Football.com polls. Portland, Ore. 1995 (NCAA) 2,068 O7 No. 17 HUMBOLDT ST. * W 55-27 • A&M-Commerce has been ranked in 38 straight Ellensburg, Wash. 2017 (NCAA) 2,035 AFCA polls, dating back to the 2015 preseason poll. Davis, Calif. 1999 1,771 O14 at Western Oregon * W 42-0 • This is A&M-Commerce’s 44th all-time appearance Big Rapids, Mich. 2015 (NCAA) 1,109 O21 NORTH ALABAMA W 17-10 in the AFCA poll since its inception in 2000. Orlando, Fla. 1952, 1953, O28 AZUSA PACIFIC * W 34-23 • Central Washington is the fourth nationally-ranked 1957, 1958 (Tangerine) 1,062 N4 at Simon Fraser * W 51-0 team the Lions have faced this season, all inside the Fargo, N.D. 1997 1,060 N11 at No. 16 Humboldt St. * W 42-28 top 12. Allendale, Mich. 1990, 2016 (NCAA) 1,047 N25 No. 8 A&M-COMMERCE P Noon PT •A&M-Commerce is the fourth nationally-ranked team the Wildcats have faced, none inside the top 15, AGAINST THE GNAC FOLLOW THE LIONS • This will be a short note. The GNAC was initiated in CARTHEL 5TH IN SCHOOL HISTORY IN WINS 2001 and the Lions have never played any present or • Twitter updates will be provided at @Lions_FB. • Head coach Colby Carthel now ranks fifth in past member in football action. • Live video and statistics are available at A&M-Commerce history in coaching wins with 44 • Since rejoining Division II for the 1998 season, the WildcatSports.com wins. Wildcats have played LSC foes seven times, with a 2-5 • All Lion games will be broadcast on the Lion Sports • However, he will be in fifth for a while, as his 44 wins record and a 1-1 playoff mark. Network, with KETR 88.9-FM as the flagship station. are still 19 behind J.V. Sikes’ 63 wins in fourth place. • Live audio will be available at KETR.org. GO WEST, YOUNG MAN • Charlie Chitwood will provide play-by-play for all 1....... Ernest Hawkins ....... 1964-85 ........... 132-92-6 • This will be the Lions’ fourth all-time game against Lion Football games. Color commentary will be provid- 2 ...... Eddie Vowell ............ 1986-98 ..............74-71-1 a team from the Pacific time zone. ed by Brock Callaway. 3 ...... Bob Berry ................ 1935-41, 46-50...72-34-8 • The Lions dropped the 1995 playoff game at Port- • Air time for the pre-game show is 12:30 p.m. 4 ...... J.V. Sikes ................. 1954-63 .............63-34-4 land State and went 0-2 in a home-and-home series 5 ..... Colby Carthel .........2013-pres. ......... 44-15 with UC Davis, playing the Aggies in Davis in 1999. 6 ...... M.A. Smith .............. 1951-53 ................30-2-1 23-TIME LONE STAR CONFERENCE CHAMPIONS • LION FOOTBALL 1 LION FOOTBALL WHAT’S THIS STUFF? SUPER REGION FOUR HARLON HILL TROPHY NOMINEES • With the proliferation of artificial surfaces at all levels of football, the Lions rare- Player Pos Ht Wt Cl School ly play on a natural surface anymore. Western New Mexico’s Ben Altamirano Field Dennis Gardeck LB 6-0 230 SR Sioux Falls is the only grass surface remaining in the Lone Star Conference, with the opening Ja’Quan Gardner RB 5-7 205 SR Humboldt State of Eastern New Mexico’s Greyhound Stadium in 2016. Chad Hovasse WR 6-1 215 JR Adams State • Central Washington’s Tomlinson Stadium has a natural surface, surrounded by Cameron Mayberry RB 5-11 200 SO Colorado Mines a track. Luis Perez QB 6-3 220 SR A&M-Commerce • The last non-conference game the Lions played on a grass field was the 2011 Layton Rabb QB 6-5 225 JR Midwestern State trip to Upper Iowa to start that season. Somehow, this is the second straight week Paul Revis WR 5-9 175 SR Western Oregon that the Peacocks from Fayette, Iowa, have worked their way into the game notes. Shane Zylstra WR 6-4 215 SO Minnesota State SENIORS BREAK SCHOOL RECORD • Perez’ passing average has vaulted him to the top of the Division II ranks. He • With the win at Tarleton, the senior class broke the school record for wins in a is one of nine passers in Division II averaging over 300 yards passing per game. four-year period. The previous record stood since the Tangerine Bowl runs of the • He is the only quarterback in the top 10 of this ranking to still be playing in early 1950s. the Division II playoffs after Shepherd and Bowie State were bounced in the first • That record extended with the win at Winona State to 38 games won in a four round. year span. • The next closest in yards per game remaining in the playoffs is Midwestern State’s Layton Rabb in 15th at 284.9 ypg. Years ........................................................................................................ Record 2014-17 ............................................................................................. 38-10 Rk Team Cl. Gms A-C-I TD Yds Avg 1 Luis Perez, A&M-Commerce Sr. 11 426-305-6 38 3,737 339.7 1951-54 .....................................................................................................36-5-2 2 Connor Jessop, Shepherd Sr. 11 394-249-9 40 3,532 321.1 2013-16 ........................................................................................................35-14 3 Tanner Garry, Slippery Rock Sr. 11 437-268-9 32 3,522 320.2 4 Amir Hall, Bowie St. Jr. 11 381-249-4 41 3,519 319.9 1957-60 ......................................................................................................... 34-7 5 Grant Russell, Ohio Dominican Sr. 10 305-221-3 30 3,182 318.2 1972-75 .....................................................................................................32-13-1 6 Brook Bolles, Central Mo. Jr. 11 396-223-12 21 3,485 316.8 7 Nick Rooney, Adams St. Jr. 10 441-271-10 29 3,153 315.3 1936-39 ........................................................................................................ 31-8 8 Y. Gavalas, LIU Post Sr. 10 363-257-8 37 3,087 308.7 1990-93 .................................................................................................... 31-16-1 9 Javia Hall, Western N.M. Sr. 10 458-255-12 24 3,006 300.6 10 Chas Stallard, Central Okla. Sr. 11 361-238-6 28 3,209 291.7 THREE-HEADED MONSTER • As you will read below, Luis Perez is very good at throwing the football to his PEREZ GAME-BY-GAME teammates, who in turn, are quite adept at finding the endzone. 2016 • Two Lion receivers tied for third in the Lone Star Conference in terms of receiv- Opponent Cmp Att Int Yds TDs at Delta State 17 23 0 322 2 ing touchdowns, with another in fourth. at Eastern New Mexico 24 31 0 342 5 • Darrion Landry, and Buck Wilson each have nine receiving touchdowns this TEXAS A&M-KINGSVILLE 10 19 0 133 1 at Panhandle State 34 48 1 396 3 season. D’Arthur Cowan is right behind them with eight. All eight of Cowan’s MIDWESTERN STATE 18 34 0 243 2 touchdown receptions have come in LSC play.