Southland Football News, Notes and Awards: Four teams top the standings

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A log jam has four teams at 5-2 in the Southland Conference. In all, seven teams still have a shot at winning the conference. Let’s see what we got for this past week of football.

Central Arkansas (7-3, 5-2) finds itself at the top of the standings but fell back to the pack after a huge 34-0 loss to Southeastern La. (6-3, 5-2). In the win, SLU QB, Cole Kelly tied a single-game school record with four rushing touchdowns while throwing for 273 yards and another score. His team totaled 490 yards of offense and he helped them to their second win over a Top 10 FCS team this year. The defense also stepped up allowing just 68 yards rushing to Central Arkansas. The win also put SLU into a tie with UCA for the conference lead. SLU defensive back, Ferlando Jordan earned Defensive Player of the Week honors picking off two passes to go along with four pass breakups. He was able to shut down UCA WR Tyler Henderson to just one catch on the day.

Down in Nacogdoches, Tx. Stephen F. Austin (2-8, 2-5) got its second win of the year with a gutsy performance over Incarnate Word (5-5, 4-4). SFA did not overwhelm offensively, but they were efficient as QB Cam Arnold was 15-22 for 201 yards with 132 of those going to Xavier Gipson. The big catch for Gipson was a 70-yard catch in the opening moments of the fourth quarter to put SFA up 28-21. They would never give up the lead again in the win. With the loss, UIW lost ground in their quest to win the Southland. QB, Jon Copeland, threw often going 35-62 for 349 yards, a touchdown, and an interception in the loss.

Nicholls and Sam Houston St kept pace with UCA at 5-2. Nicholls cruised to an easy 48-27 win over a Houston Baptist team that has bottomed out after a great start to the year. Sam Houston had no issue with Abilene Christian in a 24-10 rout.

Stay with us at NGSC Sports as we take you all the way to the end of the Southland football season.