COMMERCE - After picking up its first NCAA Division II Playoff win in 25 years last weekend, Texas A&M University-Commerce heads to the top seed in Super Region Four this weekend for the second round. The Lions play at Grand Valley State University at 1 p.m. EST (Noon CST) with a berth in the regional final on the line.

WHO: Texas A&M University-Commerce at Grand Valley State University
WHERE: Allendale, Mich. | Lubbers Stadium
WHEN: 1 p.m. EST (Noon CST) on Saturday, November 26
RECORDS: Texas A&M-Commerce is 11-1 overall and 8-1 in the Lone Star Conference, winning the LSC Championship. Grand Valley State is 11-0 overall and 10-0 in the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference, winning the GLIAC Championship.
RANKINGS: Texas A&M-Commerce is ranked No. 8 in the AFCA Coaches' Poll and No. 7 in the D2Football.com Media Poll. The Lions are the fourth seed of Super Region Four. Grand Valley State is ranked No. 2 nationally in both the AFCA Coaches' Poll and the D2Football.com Media Poll. The Lakers are the top seed in Super Region Four and received a bye in the first round.

LIVE AUDIO: Lion Sports Network -- KETR 88.9 FM, Commerce (http://www.ketr.org) | Thunder Country KRVA 101.7 FM, Sulphur Springs (http://www.mythundercountry.com/)
LIVE VIDEO: ESPN3, WatchESPN app on mobile devices, http://WatchESPN.com
LIVE STATS: http://www.sidearmstats.com/gvsu/football/
TICKETS: Ticket information is available on the Lions' Playoff Central page.
WATCH PARTY: A Dallas-area watch party will be held at Lakewood's 1st & 10 on Mockingbird. More information is available on the Lions' Playoff Central page.

LIONS EARN FIRST PLAYOFF WIN IN 25 YEARS
• Saturday's 34-23 first round playoff victory over Colorado Mesa gave the Lions their first playoff win since 1991.
• That 1991 win was also the last time A&M-Commerce hosted playoff action.
• Oddly enough, the Lions' last previous home playoff game was against this week's opponent - Grand Valley State.
• A&M-Commerce is 4-1 all-time in postseason games in Memorial Stadium.
• The Lions have made 12 overall trips to the postseason with a 9-6-1 record.
 
WE ARE THE CHAMPIONS
• With the 30-10 win over Tarleton and an Eastern N.M. win over Midwestern State in the final game of the season, the Lions won the 2016 Lone Star Conference championship outright.
• This is the third consecutive LSC Championship for A&M-Commerce.
• In LSC history, a three-year championship run has happened 12 times since the league's founding in 1932.
• A&M-Commerce has had a three-year championship streak four times.
• This is the first since 1957-59.
• ET won five straight championships from 1951-55, which was the beginning of eight championships in nine seasons in the 1950s.
• The last time an LSC team won three straight titles was West Texas A&M from 2005-07.
 
ELEVEN WINS TIES SCHOOL'S BEST
• The 11th win of the season on November 19 puts the 2016 Lions' squad in a tie for the most wins in a season in school history.
• The 1952 ET team went 11-0 with a win in the Tangerine Bowl.
• Perhaps the most dominant team in Lion history, that 1952 squad won every game by at least 20 points.
 
CARTHEL 5TH IN SCHOOL HISTORY IN WINS
• Head coach Colby Carthel now ranks fifth in A&M-Commerce history in coaching wins with 34 wins.
• However, he will be in fifth for a while, as his 34 wins are just over half of J.V. Sikes' 63 wins in fourth place.
 

1	Ernest Hawkins	1964-85	132-92-6
2	Eddie Vowell	1986-98	74-71-1
3	Bob Berry	1935-41, 46-50	72-34-8
4	J.V. Sikes	1954-63	63-34-4
5	Colby Carthel	2013-pres.	34-13
6	M.A. Smith	1951-53	30-2-1

 
SENIORS HAVE A SHOT AT HISTORY
• Since joining the Lions as the original "eight-day" signing class of coach Carthel, this year's senior class has gone on an exceptional four-year run.
• Standing at 11-1 entering this weekend's second round playoff game at Grand Valley State, the Lions have gone 35-13 in the last four seasons.
• The school record for a four-year span is 36 wins, from 1951-54.
 

Years	Record
1951-54	36-5-2
2013-16	35-13
1957-60	34-7
1972-75	32-13-1
1936-39	31-8
1990-93	31-16-1

 
LIONS NCAA HISTORY
• A&M-Commerce is making its fifth appearance in the NCAA Division II Playoffs.
• Colby Carthel led the Lions to the playoffs in 2015 as the seventh seed in the region, losing on the road to Ferris State in the first round.
• This is the third time the Lions have advanced to the second round of the playoffs.
• The Lions also made three playoff trips under coach Eddie Vowell in 1990, 1991, and 1995. The 1990 and 1991 teams each defeated Grand Valley State in the first round before losing at Pittsburg State in the second round.
 
AGAINST THE LAKERS
• A&M-Commerce is 2-0 all-time against Grand Valley State, with wins in the first round of the playoffs in 1990 and 1991. The 1990 game was played in Allendale, with the 1991 contest in Commerce.
• GVSU is well-known for their winning tradition, but A&M-Commerce is distinct within for their unblemished mark against the Lakers.
• Only six schools have played Grand Valley more than once and have not lost. Only two of those schools are still in Division II.
 

School	Current Division	Rec vs GV
A&M-Commerce	II	2-0
Bowling Green	I-FBS	2-0
Eastern Illinois	I-FCS	2-0
Northeast Missouri (now Truman State)	II	2-0
South Dakota State	I-FCS	2-0
Western Michigan	I-FBS	2-0

 
• 1990 in Allendale • Lions 20, Lakers 14 • NCAA First Round
The Lions capped the game with a field goal after a 13-play, 83-yard drive to seal the victory. All-Americans Eric Turner and Terry Bagsby came up with key interceptions in the fourth quarter.
• 1991 in Commerce • Lions 36, Lakers 15 • NCAA First Round
The ET defense forced eight turnovers and Gary Perry had 118 rushing yards and two touchdowns on a bitterly cold day. The Lions scored 22 points in the third quarter of the first NCAA event ever hosted in Commerce.
 
LION FANS TURN OUT IN RECORD NUMBERS
• Bolstered by a stadium-record 9,629 attendance in the Homecoming win over West Texas A&M and over 9,000 fans for the Midwestern State game, the Lions' attendance has achieved new heights.
• In only four regular season home dates counted by the NCAA, A&M-Commerce drew 34,379 total fans. That total attendance ranks 14th in Division II.
• In terms of average attendance, the Lion faithful turned out at a rate of 8,595 per game. That ranks seventh nationally.
• Over the last four years (available in the NCAA rankings database), the Lions have nearly doubled their average turnout since the 2013 season. The next closest season since 2009 was over 2,400 fans per game fewer.
• Just six years ago, A&M-Commerce drew less than 1,500 fans per game.
 

Year	Home Gms	Total	Rank	Average	Rank
2016	4	34,379	14th	8,595	7th
2015	7	40,049	12th	5,721	19th
2014	6	36,757	11th	6,126	18th
2013	5	21,673	40th	4,335	42nd
2012	5	11,774	-	2,355	95th
2011	4	9,002	-	2,251	98th
2010	5	7,352	-	1,470	125th
2009	4	13,640	-	3,410	56th
2008	5	12,504	-	2,501	88th

 
PEREZ NOMINATED FOR HARLON HILL TROPHY
• A&M-Commerce quarterback  Luis Perez was named the first team all-Lone Star Conference quarterback following the completion of the regular season.
• He was announced as a nominee for the Harlon Hill Trophy on Monday.
• Perez is the first A&M-Commerce quarterback to earn first team all-LSC honors in 20 years. A Lion quarterback has earned first team all-LSC honors a total of 16 times since the league's formation in 1931.
 

LION FIRST TEAM ALL-LSC QUARTERBACKS
2016	Luis Perez
1996	Cole Cayce
1990, 1991	Bobby Bounds
1982	Kyle Mackey
1979, 1980	Wade Wilson
1977	Terry Skinner
1972	Will Cureton
1960	James Williams
1959	Sam McCord
1954	Bobby Fox
1953	Jim Gray
1948	Bobby Griffin
1933, 1934	R.A. Hitt

 
• Perez has 29 touchdown passes this season, which ranks third in a single season at A&M-Commerce - and third-most in the last three seasons.
• Tyrik Rollison had 31 passing TDs in 2014, followed by Harrison Stewart with 30 in 2015.
• With his 14-yard touchdown completion to Darby Smith in the fourth quarter of the win over Colorado Mesa, Perez became the third Lion trigger man with 3,000 passing yards in a season.
• He has been exceptional in terms of interceptions, having thrown all of three picks this season.
• He has had seven games of over 250 yards passing and four games of over 300 yards passing, with a season-best 396 yards at Panhandle State. He had five touchdown passes in wins at Eastern New Mexico and UT Permian Basin.
 
• Perez is featured prominently in the NCAA Division II and Lone Star Conference statistical rankings
 

Stat	LSC	D2	Stat
Completion Pct	2	21	64.6%
Completion/Gm	3	38	19.91
Pass Efficiency	2	13	165.6
Pass TDs	1	14	29
Pass Yds	1	21	3,007
Pass Yds/Gm	1	23	273.4
Pass Yds/Att	2	20	8.87
Pass Yds/Cmp	2	38	13.73
Pts Responsible	2	25	174
Pts Resp/Gm	2	31	16.0
Total Offense	2	36	273.5

 
HANGIN' WITH MR. COOPER
• Running back Richard Cooper has continued his march upwards in the all-time A&M-Commerce rushing record books.
• He earned first team all-Lone Star Conference honors for the second consective season.
• He is the first Lion running back to repeat as a first team all-LSC honoree since Ricky Dirks did so in 1982 & 1983.
• Cooper ranks 39th nationally in rushing yards per game (93.5 yards per game).
• He became the fifth 3,000-yard career rusher in the fantastic history of Lion football with his first quarter touchdown carry vs West Texas A&M.
• He is within reach of fourth place on the all-time rushing charts.
• He also has 15 career 100-yard rushing games after his performance vs. WT.
 

Rk	Yards	Player	Years
1.	4,285	Arthur James	1966-69
2	3,757	Aundra Thompson	1972-75
3.	3,268	Cary Noiel	1978-81
4.	3,191	Ricky Dirks	1982-84
5.	3,105	Richard Cooper	2013-pres.

 
• Cooper is only the fifth Lion running back to come back for the season following a 1,000-yard season.
• Three Lions repeated their 1,000-yard season with another such milestone year.
 
THE HOG MOLLIES
• The Lion offensive line had Gene Upshaw Award nominee Jared Machorro named first team all-Lone Star Conference at tackle to lead honors for one of the top units in the land.
• Guards Christian Rodriguez and Jason Osei earned second team all-conference, in addition to John Thomas at tight end.
• Center John Aguliar, tackles Malik Ellis and Poet Thomas, and tight end Chris Chumley earned all-LSC honorable mention.
•  In addition to blocking for one of the nation's top rushers and the one of the top offenses in the Lone Star Conference, the Lion offensive line has prided itself on its protection of Perez.
• The Lions now rank 2nd nationally in sacks allowed per game (0.36), with four total sacks allowed.
• A&M-Commerce has not allowed a sack in the last five games, dating back to the Western New Mexico game.
• Harding is the national leader in sacks allowed per game at 0.33 sacks per game, which is 4 sacks allowed in 12 games, where as the Lions have allowed their 4 sacks in 11 countable games.
• Even more impressive is the Lions have allowed their four sacks on 375 pass dropbacks. Harding has allowed its four sacks on only 65 dropbacks.
• Averaging it out, the Lions allow a sack every 93.75 dropbacks, while the Bisons allow one every 16.25 dropbacks.
 
HOOKS' RETURNS SPARK LIONS
• For an exceptional season of punt returning, Shawn Hooks earned first team all-Lone Star Conference honors.
• Hooks sealed the LSC Championship with a 70-yard punt return for a touchdown in the fourth quarter of the Lions' 30-10 victory over Tarleton State.
• That was his third punt return for a touchdown this season.
• He is one of three players in all four divisions of NCAA football with three punt returns for touchdowns this season.
• Hooks is joined by Texas A&M's Christian Kirk and James Madison's Rashard Davis in the club of players with three punt return TDs.
 
EVANS REPEATS AS FIRST TEAMER
• Wide receiver Lance Evans repeated as first team all-Lone Star Conference after another stellar season for the Lions.
• Vernon Johnson was the last Lion receiver to repeat as a first team all-conference honoree, when we was the LSC Receiver of the Year in 2013 and 2014.
• Prior to that, the most recent Lion to repeat as first team all-LSC at receiver was Gary Compton in 1988 & 1990.
• Evans – a senior from Mansfield – finished third in the conference in receiving yards per game. He caught 34 passes for 556 yards and seven touchdowns in the regular season, with a season-high seven catches for 110 yards and two touchdowns in the win at Oklahoma Panhandle State.
 
YOU SHALL NOT PASS
• The Lions are in the lead in the conference and rank 5th nationally in interceptions as a team, picking off 22 of their opponents' passes at this point in the year.
• While this is impressive, perhaps more impressive is that 16 different players have notched interceptions, including five linebackers and two defensive linemen.
• The Lions four picks vs. West Texas A&M are their most in one game this season.
 

Hatari Byrd	at Delta State
Garrett Blubaugh	at Delta State
D.J. White	at Delta State
Anthony Smith	at Eastern New Mexico
Chris Smith	at Eastern New Mexico
Brent Walker	at Eastern New Mexico
Trey Porter	at Panhandle State
Danny Huckaby	vs. Midwestern State
Brucks Saathoff	at Western New Mexico
Cameron Rogers	at Western New Mexico
Brent Walker (2)	at Western New Mexico
Jaylon Edwards-Cooper (TD)	at Angelo State
Pierre Leonard	vs. West Texas A&M
Uriah Harris (TD)	vs. West Texas A&M
Chris Smith (2)	vs. West Texas A&M
Yusef Sterling-Lowe (TD)	vs. West Texas A&M
Yusef Sterling-Lowe (2)	at UT Permian Basin
Neema Behbahani	vs. Tarleton State
Yusef Sterling-Lowe (3)	vs. Tarleton State
Brucks Saathoff (2)	vs. Colorado Mesa
Adam Sagapolu	vs. Colorado Mesa
Uriah Harris (2)	vs. Colorado Mesa

 
HARRIS PICKS UP LSC DB OF THE YEAR
• Leading the team with an individual honor was cornerback Uriah Harris, who was named the LSC Defensive Back of the Year.
• The senior from Frostproof, Fla., averaged 4.9 tackles per game, had an interception which he returned 85 yards for a touchdown, and broke up three passes.
• He was named the LSC Defensive Player of the Week after the 36-0 shutout win over West Texas A&M. He also earned first team all-LSC honors.
• He added six tackles, another interception, two pass breakups and a forced fumble in the first round playoff win over Colorado Mesa.
• Harris is the first Lion to earn LSC DB of the Year honors since Darvin Peterson did so for the North Division in 2006.
• The Lions have won this honor five times since it was inaugurated in the 1984 season.
• Kevin Mathis won the award in 1996 and Eric Turner was the back-to-back winner in 1991 & 1992.
 
FAAIU STORMS TO FIRST TEAM HONORS
• Tavita Faaiu earned first team all-LSC honors at defensive tackle for a fine season of pass rushing.
• The senior from San Francisco, Calif., led the team in sacks with four and had eight tackles for loss mixed in his 23 total tackles during the regular season.
• He forced a fumble, had four quarterback hurries, and broke up a pass.
• In the playoff win over Colorado Mesa, Faaiu added four tackles with two sacks for losses of 14 yards and a quarterback hurry.
 
WINNING THE TURNOVER BATTLE
• The Lions plus-five turnover margin both at Angelo State and on Homecoming vs. West Texas A&M helped put them at the top of the NCAA standings in turnover margin.
• A&M-Commerce added to their margin with a plus-four margin vs. Colorado Mesa.
• A&M-Commerce was alone in the national lead in turnover margin, last week. This week, the Lions are tied for the national lead after Indiana (Pa.) had a plus-six day in its first round playoff win over Fairmont State.
 

Rk	Team	G	W-L	FR-INT	Plus	FL-INT	Minus	Mgn	Avg
1	A&M-COMMERCE	11	10-1	15-22	37	7-5	12	25	2.27
	Indiana (Pa.)	11	10-1	11-24	35	6-4	10	25	2.27
3	Azusa Pacific	12	9-3	11-23	34	10-4	14	20	1.67
	Emporia St.	12	11-1	11-21	32	4-8	12	20	1.67
5	Virginia St.	11	9-2	14-11	25	5-4	9	16	1.45
6	Miles	9	5-4	12-16	28	9-7	16	12	1.33
7	North Alabama	9	8-1	10-14	24	4-9	13	11	1.22
8	Winona St.	11	8-3	13-15	28	4-11	15	13	1.18
	Shippensburg	11	7-4	9-14	23	1-10	10	13	1.18
10	Grand Valley St.	11	11-0	10-16	26	5-9	14	12	1.09

 
• In addition to the 22 interceptions gained by the defense, the Lions have also recovered 15 fumbles, which ranks fifth in the nation.
• The total of 37 turnovers gained is leading the nation.
 
REALLY SPECIAL TEAMS
• The Lions have been exceptional in the kicking and coverage phases, ranking highly in the nation in all punt and kickoff categories.
 

Stat	LSC	Nation	Stat
Kickoff Return Defense	1	2	12.54
Punt Return Defense	1	6	2.73
Net Punting	1	16	37.13
Punt Returns	1	8	16.96
Kickoff Returns	3	71	21.03

 
DOMINGUEZ BOOMS IT TO FIRST TEAM HONORS
• Lion punter Hector Dominguez has been a big part of the success on special teams.
• The senior from Hacienda Heights, Calif., earned first team all-LSC honors.
• Dominguez placed 18 of his 37 punts inside the opponents' 20-yardline this season and had an average of 41.2 yards per punt, which ranked second in the league.
• He earned LSC Special Teams Player of the Week honors twice this year and had the longest punt of the season with a 70-yarder at Western New Mexico.
• Dominguez is the Lions' first punter to earn first team all-LSC since  Juan Velasco in 2008.
 
MARTINEZ LEADS LSC KICKERS IN SCORING
• In only his sophomore season, kicker Kristov Martinez led the conference in scoring for kickers in the regular season and was named second team all-LSC.
• The sophomore from Edinburg connected on 15-of-21 field goals this year with a long of 44 yards. He also made 48-of-51 point after field goal attempts. He recovered his own onside kick against Tarleton and had 20 touchbacks on 67 kickoffs.
 
LUCE, MARTINEZ NAMED ALL-ACADEMIC
• In addition to his second team all-conference laurels, Martinez was named Lone Star Conference All-Academic.
• He was joined on the All-Academic list by wide receiver Chochy Luce.
• The All-Academic Team is selected by the league's sports information directors, who vote on the basis of both academic and athletic achievement.
• To be eligible for LSC academic honors, student-athletes must have played in at least 50 percent of team's contests, reached sophomore athletic and academic standing (true freshmen and redshirt freshmen are not eligible), completed at least one full academic year at the nominating institution, and have a minimum 3.30 cumulative grade point average based on the 4.0 system for his/her entire collegiate career.
 
LONE STAR HEAVY ROSTER WITH ONE HOMECOMING
• 85 of the 99 players who were listed on the gameday roster at some point this season hail from Texas, which comes as no surprise.
• With heavy junior college recruiting in California, 10 players hail from the West Coast.
• Intermingled in the roster is one player who will be making a bit of a homecoming with this week's trip to Allendale.
• Tackle Poet Thomas is from Beverly Hills, Mich.,  where he graduated from Detroit Country Day School in that suburb.
• The Texas Tech transfer was a two-time All-Oakland County selection at Country Day.
• He earned honorable mention all-LSC in his junior season.
• According to Google Maps, Beverly Hills is 157 miles from the GVSU campus in Allendale.
 
ON THE ROAD AGAIN
• The Lions' road trip to Michigan will be a flight, which will make for a comfortable voyage for what has already been a year of substantial treks.
• By the nature of the state of Texas, the Lone Star Conference has always featured some long road trips, but that was added to this year with the addition of Oklahoma Panhandle State, Western New Mexico and UT Permian Basin to the Lone Star Conference.
• A&M-Commerce visited all three new schools to the league.
• Below is a chart of mileage to all of the Lions' road games, should someone want to see plenty of the nation's highways and byways.
 

Opponent	1-way mileage
Delta State	362
Eastern New Mexico	476
Oklahoma Panhandle State	483
Western New Mexico	853
Angelo State	341
UT Permian Basin	418
Grand Valley State	1,047
TOTAL	3,980

 
THIRD TRIP TO THE MITTEN
• With the majority of the Lions' all-tome games contested in Texas and nearby states, such a long road trip as the trek to Allendale is quite rare.
• This is the fifth-longest road trip in school history, with four of the sites coming in the postseason.
 

Site	Years	Miles One-Way
Portland, Ore.	1995 (NCAA)	2,068
Davis, Calif.	1999	1,771
Big Rapids, Mich.	2015 (NCAA)	1,109
Orlando, Fla.	1952, 1953, 1957, 1958 (Tangerine)	1,062
Allendale, Mich.	1990, 2016 (NCAA)	1,047