It seems like just a couple of weeks ago that the Wayland Pioneers were playing their first football game in 72 years. Now, the team is preparing to play its final home game of the season as the Pioneers begin to wind down their first gridiron campaign since 1940.
As they do, nothing would thrill head coach
Butch Henderson more than picking up another win as the Pioneers (1-5) take on Southwestern Assemblies of God University (2-4) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Greg Sherwood Memorial Bulldog Stadium.
“We need a win . . . bad,” Henderson said.
Not only do the Wayland players and coaches “need a win” to help their own psyches – especially coming off the last-second dramatics of last Saturday's 24-23 loss to Austin College – Henderson said they'd like to do it as a reward to Wayland's faithful fans, especially on Wayland's homecoming weekend.
“Our Wayland family has just been tremendous,” Henderson said, alluding to the strong support shown the team again at last week's game in Sherman. “The stands there weren't big, but our fans filled it.”
Tickets to Saturday's home finale, available at the gate, are $10 for adults and $5 for students. All Tiger League and Pop Warner League players and coaches wearing their team jerseys will be admitted free.
HCSB is sponsoring a pre-game tailgate party, featuring free food, in the stadium's west parking lot beginning at 12:30 p.m.
The game can be viewed online at
www.wbuathletics.com and heard on KRIA 103.9-FM.
The Pioneers will be looking to recover from last week's one-point loss to Austin College when a potential game-winning 45-yard field goal on the last play of the game was blocked. As hard as that loss was to stomach, Henderson said it was much easier than the shutouts the Pioneers endured the previous two weeks against Langston (Okla.) and Texas College.
“When you feel like the kids have improved and gotten better and you see them doing things you have coached them to do, you can live with that,” Henderson said. “They feel successful and you feel successful in the attempt (to win). You come out of that with a lot more confidence than when you just don't do anything.”
The Pioneers enjoyed their most successful offensive showing of the season against Austin College, piling up 445 yards and 30 first downs. Henderson added that his team converted 10-of-13 third-down attempts and never punted.
“Our guys played well and battled hard. They never gave up,” Henderson said. “We just have to find the little extra that's going to get that win.”
What that will be against Southwestern Assemblies of God is a little unclear. Henderson said the Lions do a variety of things well.
“They're well-coached and do a nice job of executing,” he said.
Maybe the thing the Lions do best is play defense, specifically pass defense. SAGU is ranked No. 1 in the NAIA in that category, allowing just 126 yards per game.
Henderson said the Lions' defense “struggled making some mistakes” that hurt them early in the season, mostly giving up big plays.
“But they made some changes and have played a lot better since then,” he said.
While the Pioneers might have a bad taste in their mouths after last week's hard-to-swallow loss, the Lions can relate. SAGU has suffered three losses at the wire, all by a touchdown or less, and in each they had the ball and a chance to win in the closing minutes. One of those was a 25-17 home loss to Austin College, the team that edged Wayland last Saturday.
SAGU notched its first win over Howard Payne University, 27-17, on Sept. 8, a week before the Pioneers defeated the Yellowjackets, 27-23. The Lions' other win was a 41-0 blowout last week of Haskell (Kan.). SAGU's lone lopsided loss was 34-9 to Bacone (Okla.), the team Wayland faces next week.
One thing that stands out about the Lions, according to Henderson, is their size.
“They have big linemen,” he said.
Much of that bulk can be found along the offensive front, where the Lions have four players weighing 300 pounds or more.
Henderson said the Lions, who operate out of the spread pistol offense, are capable of moving the ball on the ground or through the air. Often making it happen in both cases is junior quarterback Reid Golson, who has completed almost half of his passes (69-of-146) for 1,107 yards with seven touchdowns and 10 interceptions. Golson also is the team's top ground gainer, averaging 76 yards a game.
“He's pretty fast and makes a lot of yardage with his feet,” Henderson said. “We have to keep him boxed up.”
Golson's favorite target is 6-1 sophomore receiver Jeremy McDonald, who has 25 catches and averages 81 yards an outing.
Henderson said it won't be easy, but the Pioneers will try their hardest to secure a homecoming win, again not only for the team but their fans as well.
“Those people have stayed with us,” he said. “I've been in football a long time, and you just don't have a family fan package like we have at Wayland.”
NOTES: SAGU is located in Waxahachie just south of Dallas … SAGU is one of four schools that will join the Sooner Athletic Conference next season. Others are Northwood University in Cedar Hill, Texas Wesleyan University in Fort Worth and Southwestern Christian University in Bethany, Okla. … Like Wayland, SAGU competes as an independent in football but within the Red River Athletic Conference in other sports … Other Red River teams the Pioneers have or will face are Texas College, Langston and Bacone … Wayland will play its final two games of the season in Oklahoma against Bacone (Muskogee) and Panhandle State (Goodwell.)
