Close to six months after it started, the 2020-21 football season comes to a close for Wayland Baptist the same way it started: facing off against Arizona Christian University.
Saturday's season finale for the Pioneers and Firestorm will be a rematch of the teams' Oct. 17 battle in Phoenix in which Arizona Christian scored the final 10 points and won by a field goal in overtime, 31-28.
The rematch is set for 2 p.m. Saturday in Greg Sherwood Memorial Bulldog Stadium, where the Pioneers (2-4, 1-3 Sooner Athletic Conference) haven't taken the field in six weeks. Since then, Wayland has had one home game cancelled and two other road contests.
Saturday is Senior Day for the Pioneers with close to a dozen expected to be recognized during pre-game festivities. The game will be live streamed at no charge at www.wbuathletics.com/watch.
Arizona Christian (8-1, 5-0) comes to town as the 14
th-ranked team in the NAIA with an eye on locking down the conference's regular-season title. The Firestorm have won five straight, surviving a 23-20 nail-biter at Southwestern Assemblies of God University in their last outing two weeks ago. Nestor Higuera, the same 5-foot-5, 285-pound kicker who booted a 35-yard field goal to beat Wayland in October, sent through a 46-yarder as time expired to turn away SAGU.
Wayland will be looking for the upset against the Firestorm this weekend, and while the Pioneers will have their work cut out for them, coach
Butch Henderson knows his team has it in them.
"We get beat in an overtime ballgame early in the year, so there's some confidence you've gained," Henderson said.
Suffice it to say both teams will look a bit different than they did when they squared off 25 weeks ago, with rosters adjusted for reasons including injuries and the COVID-19-lengthened season.
For the Firestorm – who rank seventh in the NAIA in passing yards per game at 293 and 12
th in overall offense at 439 yards – that includes a new quarterback in Shea Morales, a 6-foot-4, 215-pound junior who in five games is averaging 249 passing yards while completing 57 percent of his throws. He has passed for seven touchdowns with four interceptions.
"Their offensive line does a good job protecting the quarterback," Henderson said.
Moreno will have many of the same targets that Wayland defensed in the first meeting, including Jon Cole, a 5-10, 176-pound senior from Dallas who ranks third in the NAIA in receiving yards per game at 131. Henderson said Cole lines up at numerous positions and ACU will get him the ball a variety of ways, including the speed sweep and lateral throws.
"They're going to get him the football," Henderson said.
Cole, who has nine touchdowns and averages 20 yards a catch, had four grabs for 46 yards against Wayland in their earlier meeting, only the fourth-best receiving performance on the day for ACU.
"Cole is their top receiver, but all their receivers are catching the ball," Henderson said. "We did a good job of holding (Cole) in, but he's not the only one. (Sid Turnbull-Frazier) made big plays against us."
The Firestorm's 6-foot-5, 230-pound junior tight end from Houston, Turnbull-Frazier logged six catches for 93 yards and a TD against the Pioneers.
"They have several out there and they'll complement each other. If you overcompensate on one, they'll get the ball to the other," Henderson said. "They don't have one outstanding player to key on. They're not depending on one person (anywhere on the field.) They have several weapons that really produce.
"They are very balanced in what they do."
The coach said ACU's defense offers the same depth.
"They have the same personality that you see in their offense with not one outstanding. They have a defensive back (Riley Tucker) who is leading (the NAIA) in interceptions (6), but also two freshmen starting around him. They all play real hard."
Henderson called the Firestorm defense, usually featuring two high safeties, conservative.
"They don't do a lot of gambling. They stay up on you and keep you in front of them and then come tackle you. Their system is not complicated. Their kids are well drilled. They have good athletes and play real hard."
As for the Pioneers, Henderson said his squad continues to look for ways to make impact plays, especially on offense.
"We're not making big plays," he said. "We're moving the ball well and have gotten better at being able to sustain things, but we're not scoring when we get to the red zone. It's critical in any athletic contest that you do things at the opportune times. When those opportunities are there, you have to take them. It's like we tell the kids, 'It's just like life. When those windows open you have to be able to get through them."
The coach the WBU defense is "battling very, very hard. I think you will see them play very well against Arizona Christian. Our defense played extremely well (last time), and I think we'll come back and play extremely well Saturday."
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