By KEVIN GORE
Sentinel Staff
Stephen F. Austin's goal of winning the Southland Conference football title will largely depend on winning road games the rest of the season.
The Lumberjacks, who are alone at the top of the league standings at 3-0, play three of their last four games on the road, starting with a 2 p.m. contest Saturday against Texas State in San Marcos.
After the Texas State game, SFA hosts Nicholls State Nov. 7 before going on a two-game road trip to end the regular season. The team plays at Southeastern Louisiana Nov. 14 and at Northwestern State Nov. 21.
SFA is 2-1 in its three road games this season — a loss to SMU and wins over Western Illinois and Central Arkansas.
"I don't know what we can do, other than just go play, like we did against SMU, Western Illinois and Central Arkansas," SFA coach J.C. Harper said. "Whatever stuff we did on those trips, we'll continue to do.
"I've been pleased with the way that we've traveled. We talk about being focused and disciplined. We've got to do those things on the road."
While SFA is hitting the road, Texas State is coming off a road trip. Since losing a 51-50 decision to Southeastern Louisiana on Oct. 10, the Bobcats have wins over Nicholls State and Northwestern, both in Louisiana, the last two weekends.
Texas State is 2-1 at Bobcat Stadium. The Bobcats play three of its last four games at home.
Saturday's home is homecoming for Texas State.
"It has nothing to do with the team — it's what number of weekend it is," Texas State coach Brad Wright said. "This just happens to be the game we have homecoming."
Texas State lost 31-24 to Central Arkansas in its homecoming game last season.
Texas State will be without junior running back Karrington Bush the remainder of the season.
Bush suffered a knee injury in the Bobcats' Oct. 10 win against Nicholls State. He rushed for 163 yards on 20 carries in that game.
Bush is still listed as the team's top rusher with 385 yards on 59 carries with four touchdowns.
"He was special," Wright said of Bush. "He rushed for 163 yards in one game and in three games, was up to 400 yards.
"We've just got to go to the next guy and see who gets the carries. We've got confidence in those guys to get the job done."
With Bush out of the lineup, Texas State leans on Alvin Canady and Frank Reddic.
Canady, a 5-8, 200-pound junior from San Marcos, has 321 yards on 62 carries with five scores. Reddic, a 5-11, 195-pound freshman from Kilgore, has rushed for 194 yards on 45 carries.
Canady rushed for 82 yards on nine carries in the Bobcats' 20-17 win over Northwestern State Saturday. Reddic was limited to nine yards on six carries.
Back up quarterback Tim Hawkins rushed for 57 yards on one carry.
Coach J.C. Harper is receiving recognition for a coaching award that coincides with his team's success.
He is in the running for the Liberty Mutual Coach of the Year honor. Fans wishing to cast their votes for Harper can go to www.sfajacks.com and follow the directions to go to Liberty Mutual's site.
Should Harper finish in the Top 15 in the fan voting, he will enter an evaluation process and committee voting.
The annual winner of the award receives $50,000 for his charitable causes and an additional $20,000 will be donated to the alumni association of each winner's school.
SFA's six-game winning streak is the school's longest since the program won six straight over the 2003 and 2004 seasons. SFA hasn't won seven straight games since starting 1995 on a seven-game streak.
Kevin Gore's e-mail address
is kgore@dailysentinel.com.
