The East Central University football team will open the 2016 home schedule Saturday, Sept. 10 against No. 9 Henderson State at 6 p.m. The game will be covered live by the American Sports Network. The Tigers fell in their opening game of the season, while Henderson State picked up a come-from-behind win.
Game Notes
The Broadcast: ECU's radio home for Tiger football is Ada's KXFC, 105.5, FM 'The X-Factor'. Mike Manos returns to broadcast the games for his 20th consecutive season. Manos has worked 202 Tiger games since taking over the play-by-play duties in 1997.
The Coverage: Fans who can't be at the game can find links to live stats, live video and the KXFC radio broadcast on ECUTigers.com. Go to the football schedule page. You can also download the KXFC radio app for your smartphone by searching '105.5 the X Factor.'
The Voice of the Tigers: Mike Manos has been the Voice of the Tigers on 105.5 The X-Factor radio broadcast for the past 20 seasons. Last year Manos marked his 200th Tiger game since taking over the play-by-play duties in 1997, what is thought to be a record for broadcasters of ECU Football.
The Series: Saturday's game is the 28th meeting in school history, with ECU picking up a victory last year (35-28) in Arkadelphia, Ark. The Reddies currently hold an 11-15-1 advantage in the all-time series, including a 1-4 mark when playing at GAC opponents. However, the Tigers are 5-3-1 when playing at Norris Field.
Scouting Henderson State: The Reddies are 1-0 on the season after earning a come-from-behind 13-11 win over Southeastern at home. HSU has a more balanced attack than in the past few years, with 170 yards rushing and 237 passing. The Reddies defense also did a good job on opening day, allowing only 269 (122-147) total yards.
Andrew Black is the shot caller for HSU, going 20-of-34, with one interception, in his first outing of 2016. His top receiver was Ben Johnson with two catches for 68 yards, while Austin Bennett caught five passes for 58 yards.
The Reddies scored just one touchdown in their first game, with Evan Lassiter earning the points on one of his two rushes for four yards. Jaquan Cole was the top rusher in the game with 13 attempts and 93 yards.
Cameron Sonnier was the top defensive performer, with 12 (10-2) total tackles, with 2.0 TFL and one sack.
GAC Poll: ECU was picked to finish seventh in the annual GAC Preseason Poll, as voted on by the league's head coaches.
The Tigers finished with 65 points and earned one first-place vote.
The Tigers return 61 players, including four offensive and three defensive starters. The list of starters includes senior
David Moore, who already holds the records for receiving touchdowns in a single season and career and was the first ECU player to record over 1,000 reception yards in a single season.
Moore Returning: Senior wide receiver
David Moore returns to the team after setting several records in 2015 and earning several postseason honors.
Moore has already started to receive honors for the 2016 season, as he was named to Football Gameplan's 2016 Preseason DII All-America Third Team Offense list. The 2015 All-GAC First Team and all-America selection is one of six players to earn a spot on the three teams.
Biggest Question for 2016: After losing the 2015 starting quarterback (
Rocky Moore) to graduation, the biggest question facing the offense for 2016 is who will fill the role.
This year there are six quarterbacks all fighting for the position, with senior
Brooks Holder and sophomore
Jackson Lamb leading a group that includes four freshmen. While Lamb and Holder are the current front runners, don't expect that the battle will not continue all season.
Defensive Depth: One of the areas that the Tigers will have great depth and experience is on the defensive side of the ball. Last year was a growing season for the defense, who saw big changes including a new defensive coordinator just weeks before the start of the year.
The Tigers will be bolstered by the return of
Vernon Johnson and
Lexus Jackson. Johnson will come back to the field after a very promising start in 2015 before an injury sidelined him. Jackson took up the slack and earned All-Great American Conference honors as a defensive back.
The defensive line as a whole is expected to produce, as in 2015 the Tigers had so many options it allowed them to role the players through every three or four plays, yet each player still got valuable experience in each game. That depth will continue this season, giving ECU several options to keep their legs fresh throughout the game.
Up Next: The Tigers will hit the road for the short trip to Bethany, Okla., to face Southern Nazarene, Saturday, Sept. 17 at 6 p.m.
Next at Koi Ishto Stadium: The next time fans can see the Tigers in action at Norris Field at Koi Ishto Stadium will be Saturday, Sept. 24 for the annual Homecoming game. ECU will host Oklahoma Baptist for a 6 p.m. kickoff.
