COMMERCE - The No. 8 Texas A&M University-Commerce Lions' football team closes out the 2017 regular season with an important game in the regional playoff picture, taking on the Tarleton State University Texans at 2 p.m. Saturday in Stephenville.

WHO: Texas A&M University-Commerce at Tarleton State University
WHERE: Stephenville | Memorial Stadium
WHEN: 2 p.m. on Saturday, November 11
RECORDS: A&M-Commerce is 8-1 overall and 6-1 in the Lone Star Conference schedule. Tarleton State is 6-4 overall and 4-3 in the LSC.
RANKINGS: Texas A&M-Commerce is ranked No. 8 in the AFCA Coaches' Poll and the D2Football.com Media Poll. Tarleton State is unranked.

LIVE AUDIO: Lion Sports Network -- KETR 88.9 FM, Commerce (http://www.ketr.org)
LIVE VIDEO: Tarleton Sports Network
LIVE STATS: StatBroadcast
TICKETS: HERE

LIONS LOOK FOR 5TH STRAIGHT PRESIDENT'S CUP
• A&M-Commerce and Tarleton State battle every year for the President's Cup and the Lions will look to hold onto the traveling trophy for the fifrth straight year.
• The Lions are 14-11 all-time in the trophy game, with a 7-5 record away from Ernest Hawkins Field at Memorial Stadium.
• The Lions have won the last five matchups (four President's Cups and an LSC Playoff game) against the Texans, taking a key 30-10 win in 2016 on the way to LSC Championship honors.
•The Lions' last visit to Stephenville resulted in a 63-0 victory to close out the 2015 season.
• The Lions won the first eight matchups, followed by the Texans winning 11 of 12 before A&M-Commerce's recent five-game winning streak.
 
STILL PUSHING #ToTheTop
• The Lions moved up one spot to No. 8 in the nation in both the AFCA and D2Football.com polls.
• A&M-Commerce has been ranked in 37 straight AFCA polls, dating back to the 2015 preseason poll.
• This is A&M-Commerce's 43rd all-time appearance in the AFCA poll since its inception in 2000.
 
LIONS TAKE OVER LSC LEAD IN ALL-TIME WINS
• The Lion victory over UT Permian Basin was their 303rd Lone Star Conference victory in football action.
• With A&M-Kingsville's loss at Western N.M. last week, A&M-Commerce took over the all-time lead in LSC wins at 302.
• A&M-Kingsville sits on 301 wins in LSC play.
 
LIONS POISED FOR PLAYOFFS
• The Lions are ranked seventh in Super Region Four entering the final week of play in 2017.
• This is the final regular season publication this season of the Super Region rankings, which are officially used by the NCAA Division II Football Committee to select the playoff field on Sunday, November 13. The top seven teams from each of Division II's four Super Regions will qualify for the playoffs.
• The first seed will receive a bye to the second round, while the second, third and fourth seeds would host first round games.
 

Rk	School	In-Reg	D-II
1	Minnesota State	10-0	10-0
2	Central Washington	9-0	10-0
3	Midwestern State	7-0	8-0
4	Winona State	9-1	9-1
5	Sioux Falls	9-1	9-1
6	Colorado Mesa	9-1	9-1
7	A&M-COMMERCE	6-1	8-1
8	Minnesota-Duluth	8-2	8-2
9	Eastern New Mexico	6-1	8-1
10	Humboldt State	8-1	8-1

 
CARTHEL 5TH IN SCHOOL HISTORY IN WINS
• Head coach Colby Carthel now ranks fifth in A&M-Commerce history in coaching wins with 42 wins.
• However, he will be in fifth for a while, as his 42 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.	42-15
6	M.A. Smith	1951-53	30-2-1

 
SENIOR DAY SPECIAL
• All eligible offensive seniors for the Lions entered the game and participated in a touchdown in the 52-0 win over UT Permian Basin on Senior Day.
• This included QB Jacob Norton completing the only pass of his career at this point for a 2-yard touchdown to fellow senior WR D'Arthur Cowan. This give Norton a career quarterback efficiency rating of 448.60.
• Austin Jordan caught a 1-yard touchdown pass for his first career score.
• Gabriel Rodriguez (rushing), Luis Perez (4 passing), Buck Wilson (receiving), and Richard Whitaker (rushing) also found paydirt in their final regular season home game as Lions.
 
SENIORS LOOK TO BREAK SCHOOL RECORD
• With one more win, the senior class will break the school record for wins in a four-year period with the Tangerine Bowl runs of the early 1950s.
 

Years	Record
1951-54	36-5-2
2014-17	36-10
2013-16	35-14
1957-60	34-7
1972-75	32-13-1
1936-39	31-8
1990-93	31-16-1

 
THREE-HEADED MONSTER
• As you will read below, Luis Perez is very good at throwing the football to his teammates, who in turn, are quite adept at finding the endzone.
• Three Lion receivers are tied for second in the Lone Star Conference in terms of receiving touchdowns.
• D'Arthur Cowan, Darrion Landry, and Buck Wilson each have eight receiving touchdowns this season. All eight of Cowan's touchdown receptions have come in LSC play.
 
PEREZ SETS SCHOOL RECORD, LEADS THE NATION
• After 387 passing yards in Canyon against WT, Luis Perez' passing average has vaulted him to the top of the Division II ranks. He is one of 10 passers in Division II averaging over 300 yards passing per game.
 

Rk	Team	A-C-I	TD	Yds	Avg
1	Luis Perez, A&M-Commerce	335-243-6	33	2,947	327.4
2	Connor Jessop, Shepherd	312-206-6	34	2,914	323.8
3	Brook Bolles, Central Mo.	362-205-12	19	3,223	322.3
4	Tanner Garry, Slippery Rock	382-234-7	30	3,215	321.5
5	Amir Hall, Bowie St.	321-215-4	39	3,187	318.7
6	Grant Russell, Ohio Dominican	280-205-2	24	2,843	315.9
7	Y. Gavalas, LIU Post	325-233-8	34	2,831	314.6
8	Javia Hall, Western N.M.	430-238-11	22	2,811	312.3
9	Nick Rooney, Adams St.	401-245-9	24	2,789	309.9
10	David Salmon, Mars Hill	294-173-8	23	2,710	301.1

 
• His last touchdown pass in the UTPB game broke his own school record for touchdown passes in a season.
• The Lions have had their quarterback pass for 30 or more scores in each of the last four season. Prior to that, the record of 22 scoring passes in a season had stood for 52 years.
 

SINGLE SEASON PASSING TOUCHDOWN LEADERS
1.	33	Luis Perez	2017
2.	32	Luis Perez	2016
3.	31	Tyrik Rollison	2014
4.	30	Harrison Stewart	2015
5.	22	James Gray	1952

 
• Perez is also the Lion career leader in three major passing categories.
 

CAREER PASSING YARDAGE LEADERS
1.	6,273	Luis Perez	2016-pres.
2.	5,955	Bob Bounds	1987-91
3.	5,800	Kyle Mackey	1980-83
4.	5,635	Terry Skinner	1973-77
5.	5,362	Tyrik Rollison	2013-14

 

CAREER PASSING COMPLETION LEADERS
1.	487	Luis Perez (487-724-11)	2016-pres.
2.	375	Bob Bounds (375-706-36)	1987-91
3.	372	Kyle Mackey (372-751-44)	1980-83
4.	367	Terry Skinner (367-813-45)	1973-77
5.	353	Adam Farkes (353-700-30)	2009-10

 

CAREER PASSING TOUCHDOWN LEADERS
1.	65	Luis Perez	2016-pres.
2.	51	James Gray	1951-53
3.	48	Harrison Stewart	2013-15
4.	43	Jim Dietz	1967-70
	43	Tyrik Rollison	2013-14

 
• He ranks third in Division II and 11th in all of the NCAA in career passing efficiency.
 
KICKIN' IT WITH KRISTOV
• Kicker Kristov Martinez ranks 12th among career leaders in Division II in scoring with his 274 career points. This ranks second in school history, only 7 points from the lead.
• The A&M-Commerce all-time leader in scoring is Billy Watkins, who scored 281 points from 1990-93 on 134 PATs and 49 field goals.
• Martinez is currently the leader in scoring amongst kickers in the Lone Star Con at 8.1 points per game. ENMU's Bailey Hale and Angelo State's Connor Flanigan are the closest competitors in the LSC with 7.2 ppg.
• Martinez moved up to third on the career field goal list with a pair of 30-yarders at UNA.
 

CAREER SCORING LEADERS
1.	281	Billy Watkins (134 PAT, 49 FG)	1990-93
2.	274	Kristov Martinez (150 PAT, 38 FG)	2015-pres.
3.	224	David Dell (104 PAT, 40 FG)	1995-98
4.	222	Aundra Thompson (37 TD)	1972-75
5.	219	Saul Martinez (126 PAT, 31 FG)	2013-14

 

CAREER PATs MADE LEADERS
1.	157	Kristov Martinez (157-164)	2015-pres.
2.	134	Billy Watkins (134-143)	1990-93
3.	126	Saul Martinez (126-130)	2013-14
4.	121	Leonard Allen (121-134)	1973-76
5.	105	Kevin Garman (105-113)	1981-84

 

CAREER FIELD GOALS MADE LEADERS
1.	49	Billy Watkins (49-84)	1990-93
2.	40	David Dell (40-61)	1995-98
3.	39	Kristov Martinez (39-55)	2015-pres.
4.	31	Saul Martinez (31-38)	2013-14
5.	29	Ha'a Bento (29-44)	2004-05
	29	Leonard Allen (29-52)	1973-76

 
FIREWORKS AFTER A SCORE
• The Lions have excelled on kickoffs, both when kicking the ball away, and when receiving the kickoff.
• The Lions rank 1st nationally in kickoff return defense, allowing 12.25 yards per return.
• A&M-Commerce is 2nd in the nation in kickoff return average at 28.63 yards per return.
• Opponents have averaged starting at the 26.9 yard line on kickoffs, while the Lions average starting on the 38.1 yard line after kickoffs.
• Martinez has had touchbacks on 32 of 62 kickoffs.
 
WILSON TAKES IT TO THE HOUSE
• Buck Wilson returned a first quarter kickoff for a 100  yard touchdown against West Texas A&M, earning LSC Special Teams Player of the Week honors.
• He is the fourth Lion on record with a 100-yard touchdown. He is the 25th player in LSC history with a 100-yard kickoff return. He is the seventh player in Division II this season with a 100-yard kickoff return.
 

Bob Sloan	vs. Midwestern State, 1950
Marvin Brown	vs. Midwestern State, 1951
Gary Berry	vs. Sam Houston State, 1958
Buck Wilson	at West Texas A&M, 2017

 
• Wilson averages 35.7 yards per kickoff return on nine returns. The NCAA requires returners to have 1.2 returns per game to qualify for the statistical rankings. Wilson averages 1.0 returns per game.
• If he met the return quantity qualification, Wilson would rank third in the nation in kick return yardage.
 
ON THE SCOREBOARD
• The Lions rank in the top 15 nationally in both scoring offense and scoring defense.
• At 41.2 points scored per game, the Lions are 2nd in the LSC and 13th in the nation.
• At 14.2 points allowed per game, the Lions rank 1st in the LSC and 11th in the nation.
 
HOOKS ATOP PUNT RETURN LEADERBOARD
• Preseason All-American return man Shawn Hooks ranks first in the Lone Star Conference with an average of 13.1 yards per punt return this year.
• The only LSC player who has returned a punt for a touchdown this year was Jay Bias' five-yard punt block return for a score in the fourth quarter against Western N.M.
 
MULTI-FACETED ALL-AMERICAN ALONG WITH ACTUAL PUNTING INFO
• All-American tackle Jared Machorro has been fantastic on the left side of the offensive line, which could have been expected.
• Likely unexpected? He ranks 11th in the LSC in average punt yardage at 35.5 yards per  punt.
• That's just awesome.
• Actual punter Tristan Perry ranks fifth in the conference with a 40.1 yard punting average.
 
SCOUT TEAM PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• The Lions will announce scout team players of the week each Tuesday for the 2017 season. Winners so far this year are:
 

at North Alabama	OL Richard West, LB Bryse Burris
WILLIAM JEWELL	QB Mason Ray, DL Nick Petitti
EASTERN NEW MEXICO	WR Deonta Adams, DL Lamonte Williams
at Texas A&M-Kingsville	DL Kolt Fullen
at Midwestern State	OL Nic Smith, DL Ty Reed
WESTERN NEW MEXICO	RB Antonio Lealiiee, LB Kendric Ford
ANGELO STATE	QB Gunnar Palacios, DL Nick Petitti
at West Texas A&M	WR Arnezz Archie, LB Bryse Burris
Show Team Super Bowl MVPs	RB Antonio Lealiiee, DL Nick Petitti