The Louisiana Christian University football team makes its longest trip facing long odds, but the Wildcats have already exceeded expectations by getting into position to win a championship in coach Ben McLaughlin’s second season.
Saturday, the Wildcats (7-3, 6-1 in the Sooner Athletic Conference) can clinch a share of the SAC championship, with a chance of earning the conference’s automatic bid to the NAIA Football Championship Series.
They are headed to Surprise, Ariz., to take on the NAIA’s 11th-ranked team, Ottawa. Kickoff against the Spirit (8-0, 7-0 SAC) is set for 7 p.m. MST/8 p.m. CST from Spirit Field.
The Wildcats have won three in a row. Their only SAC loss came Oct. 11 at Texas Wesleyan, 61-28. Last week Ottawa outlasted TWU 42-35.
LCU has come a long way since last year’s 4-7 season. The latest landmark came Monday when freshman safety Kylon Polk was named the NAIA’s National Defensive Player of the Week
Polk, a freshman safety from Loreauville, intercepted four passes, one of which he returned 53 yards for a touchdown, during last Saturday’s 77-6 win over Arkansas Baptist.
Three of Polk’s four interceptions came during the first half, two in the first quarter and one in the second. The 53-yard pick-six, his final interception of the day, came with 4:23 left in the third quarter.
Polk earned the program’s first national football weekly award since LCU moved to the NAIA for the start of the 2021-22 academic year.