Pioneers face another well-rested, red-hot opponent in No. 22 SAGU

It's simply the way the schedule falls, but the Wayland Baptist football team will be facing a well-prepared, well-rested team for the second straight week when the Pioneers travel to Waxahachie to face No. 22 Southwestern Assemblies of God University on Saturday afternoon.

Like Oklahoma Panhandle State last Saturday, the Lions will be coming off their bye week when they host the Pioneers, giving SAGU an extra week to rest and recuperate.

That said, Wayland and head coach Butch Henderson aren't using that as a built-in excuse.

"We believe we're fixing to beat the No. 22 team in the nation," Henderson said.

It's that belief system which Henderson often talks about that sustained the Pioneers through a three-game losing skid to open the season, propelled them to a last-minute win over Lyon College, and that's given them strength since last week's hard-to-swallow loss to OPSU which saw the Pioneers race to a 24-7 only to fall 35-24.

"The kids are still battling. They've practiced well," Henderson said Wednesday. "But we need to win to keep that belief system going."

The Pioneers' next test comes at 2 p.m. Saturday at Lumpkins Field against a Southwestern Assemblies of God team that has put together three dominant victories in its last three outings. The most recent, on Sept. 30, was a 43-6 drumming of then 10^th-ranked and two-time defending Central States Football League champion Arizona Christian. That followed road wins over Texas Wesleyan (42-7) and Texas College (52-7).

SAGU opened the season with two home games, a 63-34 win over Howard Payne followed by the Lions' lone loss, 56-17, to East Texas Baptist.

"They're sitting there at the top of the conference undefeated with Langston and OPSU," Henderson said of the Lions.

No. 8 Langston takes on Texas College on Saturday, while OPSU travels to Phoenix for a matchup against No. 16 Arizona Christian.

Henderson said SAGU's dominating victory over the Firestorm two weeks ago was no fluke.

"Arizona Christian turned the ball over a lot (two interceptions and a fumble), but (SAGU) is a good football team," the Wayland coach said. "They got things going their way and the flood gates opened. They made a lot of big plays."

The Lions average 459 yards and 43.4 points a game, which ranks first in the CSFL and 12^th in the NAIA.

"They put points on the board," said Henderson, who called SAGU's well-balanced offense "explosive."

To illustrate how well-balanced the Lions' offense is, 6-foot-4, 225-pound junior quarterback CJ Collins ranks 17^th in the NAIA in passing yards per game at 267, while 5-10, 200-pound senior running back JP Lowery also ranks 17^th in the NAIA in rushing yards a game at 107. Lowery's CSFL-leading rushing average is just ahead of teammate Ricky Bickham (5-7, 170, Sr.), who is second in the conference at 72.2 ypg. Both are getting just over seven yards a carry.

SAGU also boasts the CSFL's top two receivers in Roderick Brown (5-8, 180, So.) and Jeremy Carr (6-0, 185, Jr.), who average 83 and 71 yards per game, respectively. Brown has 23 catches on the season while Carr is averaging 26 yards a grab.

On the season, Collins, who threw for 443 yards and five touchdowns against Texas College, has completed 68-of-128 passes with 16 touchdowns and six interceptions.

"They'll run, run, run, throw underneath, then all of a sudden throw deep. They throw the deep ball well," Henderson said. "Their receivers find a way to get loose."

Defensively, the coach called the Lions "very sound. They don't do anything real fancy but have solid technique."

Leading SAGU in tackles with 35 is Matt Williams, a senior defensive back from Rotan. He's followed by 6-1, 215-pound sophomore linebacker Landon Jones with 32.

The Pioneers are 2-3 in the all-time series with SAGU, rallying to win last year, 24-14, after falling behind by two touchdowns. De'Sean Johnson scored twice in the game for Wayland. The Lions had won three in a row before that, which followed Wayland's 58-37 victory in its 2012 restart season.

Danny Andrews will be in Waxahachie for complete coverage beginning at 1:30 locally at 1090-AM and on the Internet at www.network1sports.com/player.php?name=kvopnet. Those and other coverage links are available at www.wbuathletics.com.