WAXAHACHIE, Texas – History was made on Saturday afternoon at Lumpkins Stadium as the 16th-ranked OUAZ football defeated Southwestern Assemblies of God University (SAGU), 33-14, to clinch the Sooner Athletic Conference championship in the program's second year of competition.
With the win, OUAZ finishes the regular season with a 9-1 overall record and they went 7-1 in SAC play. While they shared the league's crown with Langston, the Spirit defeated the Lions earlier this season to own the tiebreaker for the conference's invite to the NAIA Football Championship Series.
It wasn't their prettiest day of football on Saturday as the offense struggled to find a rhythm in gaining 342 total yards and converting just 3 of 18 on third down. Despite those struggles, OUAZ scored 30-plus points for eighth time this season.
The Spirit defense did its part in holding SAGU (0-10, 0-8 SAC) to just 246 total yards. The Lions only offensive touchdown came on a one-yard drive following a blocked punt. They got a kick return touchdown for their second score.
Trailing 7-0 after one quarter,
Austin McCullough found
Devin Benjamin on a 35-yard pass early in the second quarter. Two possessions later the Spirit would take a 9-6 lead when
John Williams hit a school-record long 44-yard field goal.
Kristopher Ewens got things going in the second half with a pair of rushing scores to highlight his fourth straight 100-yard rushing day of 120 yards. Williams would add a second field goal and then Benjamin had another TD reception in the fourth quarter to cap the day.
McCullough had 199 passing yards with completions to seven different receivers.
Jeremiah Greylock led the way with four catches and
Richard Montello had a team-best 65 receiving yards.
Marcos Garcia led the Spirit defense with 12 total tackles and 1.5 tackles-for-loss.
Amare Burks added 10 tackles. OUAZ forced four turnovers with
Christian Woo and
Jevan Hogan each posting an interception.
OUAZ will learn its opponent for the first round of the NAIA Football Championship Series on Sunday when the field of 16 is released via the NAIA Facebook page. Fans are invited to Faith Arena to watch the bracket reveal with the team on the video board. The first round game will be played on Saturday, November 23.
