MARSHALL, Texas – It's time to hit the field and start the 2017 season as the East Texas Baptist University football team comes off their bye-week to face NAIA's Southwestern Assemblies of God. ETBU heads to Waxahachie, Texas, for a night game to open up the season.
 
"We will be ready to go and face Southwestern Assemblies of God and understand that they are a very strong opponent. They played well with us last year until their quarterback went down. This is the best team I have seen them field in a number of years and they are very proud of their program," said head coach Scott Highsmith.
 
This will be the fourth meeting of the two teams as ETBU holds a 3-0 advantage. Last year, ETBU won 85-23 in Marshall setting several offensive records. The 85 points were the most scored by any ETBU team in a single game. Before 2016, the two teams hadn't met since 2001. The first meeting went to ETBU in 2000, 42-6, and then the Tigers also took the 2001 meeting, 49-7.
 
Southwestern Assemblies of God, though, has a different offensive mentality this year as they are coming off a 63-34 victory over American Southwest Conference member Howard Payne University. They had 509 yards of total offense evenly spread out with 255 yards passing and 254 yards rushing. JP Lowery recorded 168 yards rushing and Matthews added three rushing touchdowns. CJ Collings threw for all 255 yards and three touchdowns. Williams led their defense with 11 tackles.
 
Needless to say, Southwestern Assemblies of God will want to avenge the loss from 2016. To do that though, they will face an ETBU team that has had back-to-back winning seasons.
 
Highsmith will have a very talented and senior laden team for 2017 as eight players return on defense and six on offense. He is in his first year as a head coach picking up the reigns in April when Scotty Walden left for Southern Mississippi. He enters his third year at ETBU after two seasons as the passing game coordinator. A veteran of the game, Highsmith has been at the NCAA Division I, II, III, and NAIA levels and learned his offensive schemes under Hal Mumme and the Air Raid Offense.
 
Looking to be a part of the high-potent offense and back for his senior year running it is Dru Smith. Smith threw for over 3,000 yards in 2016 and broke the single-season record for passing touchdowns with 34. He had a passing efficiency of 155.43 and completed 63 percent of his passes. His top target returning is Richard Johnson (RJ) who caught 13 touchdowns, another ETBU single season record, posting 51 catches for 931 yards. Senior Xavier Gray brings back nine receiving touchdowns and 499 yards receiving while Dominic Haggerty had three receiving touchdowns and 260 yards rushing.
 
Leading the rushing game will be a rotation trying to fill Jourdan McNeill's shoes. Austin Morriel has received the start but Haggerty and Day'Lonzo Freeman will see time in the backfield. Haggerty averaged five yards per carry while Morriel posted 6.8 yards per carry.
 
Tony Jones II and Bryston Parker will carry the load on the offensive line. Both players are two-year starters and Jones is a preseason All-American through both D3football.com and HeroSports.com. Parker was a USA Football Network All-American Rookie in 2015, too. Both linemen have been a part of record setting offenses in two years.
 
Khilan Wright and CJ Johnson are rocks on the defensive line both being a part of the defense the past two years. Johnson had a breakout season in 2015 being named All-ASC first-team and last year 29 tackles. Wright finished with 19 tackles and two sacks.
The linebacker core is the one of the strongest in the American Southwest Conference. Ty Parsons (100 tackles) and Caleb Taylor (95 tackles) combined had close to 200 tackles last year. Parson posted three sacks, 7.5 tackles for loss, and two fumble recoveries. Dylan Bowman, Zach Biles, Grant LaPoint-Teate, and Hardy Hill add some of the best coverage around. Bowman had 39 tackles and four breakups last year while Biles was third on the team in tackles at 57 with four interceptions including one for a touchdown. LaPoint-Teate led the team with 14 breakups while also picking off two passes.
 
This defense will be tested on Saturday, September 9, in the season opener facing a strong, motivated Southwestern Assemblies of God offense.  
 
ETBU will kick off at 7:00 p.m. at Lumpkins Stadium in Waxahachie, Texas. The game will be played at the WISD Stadium.