#24 ARIZONA CHRISTIAN FIRESTORM (5-1, 2-0 SAC) at #16 OUAZ SPIRIT (0-0, 0-0 SAC)
Game Details	Saturday, March 6 • 11 a.m. • Surprise, Ariz. • Spirit Field
Video Stream	ouazspirit.com/digital
OTT App	NAIA Network (Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku)
Live Stats	ouazspirit.com/sidearmstats/football
Game Notes	OUAZ (PDF)
Tickets	SOLD OUT
All times local to Arizona (Mountain Standard)

OUAZ FOOTBALL GAME 1 NOTES
•    After a long offseason and having its season moved to the spring, the 16th-ranked OUAZ football team will begin the 2020-21 spring season on Saturday when they host No. 24 Arizona Christian.

•    Saturday's game at Spirit Field will kickoff at 11 a.m. It is the first of three scheduled home games for the Spirit this season.

•    A limited capacity has been approved by the City of Surprise and all available tickets have been reserved for the game.

•    When the Spirit returns to action, it will have been 468 days since the team played in the Opening Round of the NAIA Football Championship Series against the College of Idaho in Caldwell, Idaho.

HOW TO FOLLOW
•    The game will be broadcast live on the OUAZ Digital Network with Gordon Spencer calling the action. Fans can watch the OUAZDN online at OUAZSpirit.com/network.

•    The broadcast will also be available on the NAIA Network which is available on Android TV, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, and Roku devices.

•    There will also be a live stats feed available during the game at OUAZSpirit.com/stats.

•    Links for all of the live features can be found on the football schedule page on the OUAZ website or at OUAZSpirit.com/live.

SPIRIT TIDBITS
•    OUAZ enters this new season after going 9-2 last season and advancing to the NAIA Football Championship Series Opening Round in just its second season of competition.

•    The Spirit won the Sooner Athletic Conference title with a 7-1 mark in conference games. Going back to the 2018 season, OUAZ has gone 11-1 in the last 12 conference games they have played.

•    In the program's first two years of competition, OUAZ has recorded a 9-3 record at Spirit Field. In those games, the Spirit are averaging 48.7 points per game and outscoring the opposition by 25.6 points per game on average.

•    The 2020-21 team features 38 players that have played in at least one game for the Spirit over the past two seasons. That includes eight offensive starters, three defensive starters, and the punter from last year's squad.

PRESEASON ACOLADES
•    OUAZ starts the season with a No. 16 national ranking in the NAIA Coaches' Poll. They received 144 points in the voting to hold the same No. 16 position they held at the end of the 2019 season. 

•    Along with the national ranking, OUAZ was chosen as the favorites to win the Sooner and repeat as conference champions. OUAZ received 45 points and five first-place votes to edge out Langston for the No. 1 position by one point. In addition to the five votes as the favorite, the Spirit received a second-place vote and one fourth-place vote.

•    This past fall, senior Tristan Shehorn was named to the Street & Smith's College Football Yearbook NAIA Preseason All-America Team at center. The annual publication releases preseason All-America teams at all levels of college football.

•    The College Football America Yearbook named Christian Viville to its NAIA Preseason Starting Lineup.

NATIONAL POLL
•     With its No. 16 ranking in the first 2020-21 NAIA Football FirstDown PlayBook Top 25 Poll of the season, OUAZ starts this season with its highest-ever ranking in the preseason poll.

•    The Spirit has now been ranked in 12 consecutive polls dating back to the first regular season poll of the 2019 season. During that time, OUAZ has been ranked as high as No. 12. That came in the poll released on October 28, 2019.