The SFA Lumberjacks football team could adopt Willie Nelson’s “On the Road Again” as the squad has four games scheduled thus far and all are on the road.
Stephen F. Austin officials did say they are in ongoing talks to secure home games for the fall non-conference schedule.
One of the most intriguing matchup is against UTSA.
Jeff Traylor, the new Texas-San Antonio coach, will lead his Roadrunners against his alma mater, SFA.
UTSA will play host to the Lumberjacks on Sept. 19 at the Alamodome in San Antonio.
The matchup with the Roadrunners will fill the slot that was set to serve as SFA’s conference opener against Lamar, which was vacant as a result of the Southland Conference decision to postpone all conference competition to the spring.
The first meeting between the Roadrunners and the Lumberjacks replaces the previously scheduled UTSA home game on Sept. 19 against Grambling State, which has postponed its football season to the spring as a member of the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
Traylor, the former standout Gilmer High School coach who served as an assistant at Texas, SMU and Arkansas before becoming the Roadrunners head coach, played at and earned both his undergraduate (1990) and graduate (2002) degrees from SFA.
UTSA now has 10 games scheduled for this fall, beginning with the I-35 Rivalry against Texas State on Sept. 12 in San Marcos. The Roadrunners also have a home date with defending American Athletic Conference champion Memphis on Sept. 26.
The Roadrunners currently have seven Conference USA contests on the slate, with home games against Louisiana Tech (Oct. 24), UTEP (Nov. 14) and North Texas (Nov. 28) and road matchups with UAB (Oct. 3), Florida Atlantic (Oct. 31), Rice (Nov. 7) and Southern Miss (Nov. 21). UTSA was scheduled to host Old Dominion on Oct. 17 but the Monarchs opted out of all fall sports earlier this month.
The Lumberjacks also added three more games to their 2020 schedule, road games in Dallas, El Paso and Richmond, Kentucky.
SFA’s opener is against UTEP on Sept. 5 at the historic Sun Bowl, followed by a Sept. 19 meeting against UTSA at the Alamodome and a Sept. 26 contest against SMU at Gerald J. Ford Stadium in Dallas.
The ‘Jacks and EKU will meet on Nov. 7 at Roy Kidd Stadium.
It will be the first meetings between the Lumberjacks and the Miners, Roadrunners and Colonels. This will be the fourth meeting between SFA and SMU.
Kickoff times and broadcast information will be announced at a later date.
HIGH SCHOOL RANKINGS
Expect another good season from those Malakoff Tigers as the Henderson County squad is ranked No. 4 in Class 3A Division I by TexasFootball.com computer rankings. Dave Campbell’s Texas Football Magazine partners with Jerry Forrest at PigskinPrep.com to formulate the polls.
Joining the Tigers in the Top 10 is the Gladewater Bears at No. 6.
Brock is ranked No. 1, followed by Grandview and Pottsboro. Wall is at No. 5. Following Gladewater are Rockdale, Hallettsville, Troy and Jourdanton.
Other area teams and their rankings include: No. 16 Diboll; No. 18 Atlanta; No. 26 Winnsboro; No. 28 Jefferson; No. 33 Mineola; No. 36 Crockett; No. 37 Tatum; No. 41 Mount Vernon; No. 44 Emory Rains; No. 47 Sabine; No. 70 Elkhart; No. 73 Commerce; No. 75 Kemp; No. 84 Palestine Westwood; No. 86 White Oak; No. 87 New Boston; and No. 95 Eustace.
In Class 3A Division II, Daingerfield is No. 3 with Omaha Paul Pewitt at No. 4. Gunter is No. 1 with Canadian No. 2.
Rounding out the Top 10 are: No. 5 Newton; No. 6 Abernathy; No. 7 East Bernard; No. 8 Franklin; No. 9 Eastland and No. 10 Holliday.
Area squads and their rankings include: No. 17 Hughes Springs; No. 22 Waskom; No. 23 West Rusk; No. 25 Hooks; No. 28 Elysian Fields; No. 29 Harmony; No. 34 Edgewood; No. 46 Winona; No. 50 Corrigan-Camden; No. 53 Troup; No. 57 DeKalb; No. 69 Corsicana Mildred; No. 73 New Diana; No. 75 Grand Saline; No. 76 Arp; No. 77 Ore City; No. 84 Lone Oak; No. 85 Paris Chisum; No. 86 Scurry-Rosser; No. 88 Redwater; No. 98 Prairiland; No. 102 Queen City; and No. 104 Quitman.