ABILENE – McMurry finishes it first season in the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference at home at noon on Saturday against Centenary.
 
McMurry will honor 26 seniors, including student coaches Cole Carlson and Jacob Gallimore, before the game. Senior players being recognized are Julian Anderson, Travis Alonge, Vern Angton III, Luke Bradshaw, Kyle Canada, Damon Dozier Jr., Raul Gamez, Zha'Destian Griffin, Drew Hagler, Jack Ishmael, Zachary Lambert, Timothy Leatherman, Herman Lee, Kristopher Martin, Devlin Offutt, Jonny Rhodes, Kane Strohman, Nate Weatherspoon, Patrick Wenger, James White, Markeis Williams and Jaden Wilson.
 
McMurry Storylines
 
WITH A WIN: A win by McMurry on Saturday gives the War Hawks a share of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference crown. It would be the first conference title for McMurry since winning the Texas Intercollegiate Athletic Association in 1983. It would be the 10^th conference championship in football in McMurry history. A 7-3 record also would be the most wins since 2012 when McMurry went 8-3.
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: McMurry defensive back Timothy Leatherman was selected Monday as the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference's Defensive Player of the Week. Leatherman had six tackles, a sack, three tackles for loss and returned an interception for a touchdown in McMurry's 28-0 win over Lyon. It is Leatherman's second such honor. He won the award after taking two interceptions back for touchdowns against Lyon in September. Three War Hawks have now won the defensive award. Kane Strohman has won it twice and Zachariah Mitchell won it last week. McMurry also has captured the offensive award three times (all Jess Hoel) and Jax Rodriguez and Bruce Brown have each been selected for the special teams award.
 
A DOZEN WILL DO: Kristopher Martin, who two weeks ago broke the career receiving record, needs a dozen catches on Saturday to surpass Greg Livingston's mark of 202. Martin has 191 and with nine receptions would become the second player to 200 career catches. Martin leads the SCAC this season with 800 yards receiving, 88.9 yards per game and 5.9 receptions per game.
 
KANE-DO: Kane Strohman leads the SCAC with 0.83 sacks and 1.8 tackles for loss per game. He needs three tackles for loss today to tie Brian Valenzuela's school record of 19 (2000 season) and 1.5 sacks to match Herman Lee's 9.0 in the 2022 season.
 
HOEL HUNDRED-HUNDRED: Jess Hoel last week to become the first player to rush for 100 yards in a game since 2019. He is the first McMurry quarterback to have passed for more than 100 and rushed for more than 100 yards in the same game since Kevin Hurley, Jr. did it in 2017 against Howard Payne,
 
RECENT HISTORY: McMurry overcame a four-turnover night and finished the first half of its SCAC schedule at 4-0 with a 28-10 road win at Centenary in September. Kane Strohman set a school record with 6.5 tackles for loss, breaking David O'Shields' record of 5.5 against Louisiana College in 2001. He threw Gents ball-carriers for 24 yards in losses, including 2.5 quarterback sacks for losses of 15 yards. McMurry had 18 tackles for loss in the game, tying the SCAC school record, originally set in 2002 by Rose-Hulman College against Earlham. Jess Hoel finished the night with 251 yards passing on 18 of 32 attempts with one touchdown against three interceptions. Bryce Neves, Dylon Davis and Cole Riha were credited with one interception each. Nathan Weatherspoon had three tackles for loss.
 
SCOUTING CENTENARY: The Gentlemen are looking for a .500 season this weekend, coming in at 4-5 overall and 4-3 in the SCAC. Centenary lost to Texas Lutheran last week, 46-23. Quarterback Zin'Tavious Smith leads the team in rushing and passing.
 
DOMINANT DEFENSE: McMurry leads the SCAC in 13 team defense categories and are nationally in the top 10 in two. The War Hawks are seventh nationally with 11 fumbles recovered and ninth in Red Zone defense at .571. Will Snyder's defense also leads the league in third down conversion (.333), fourth down conversion (.278), first downs allowed (121), passing yards per game (156.2), rushing yards per game (91.3), total defense (247.6), scoring defense (11.9), team sacks per game (2.56), tackles for loss per game (7.3), turnover margin (1.11) and turnovers per game (2.2).
 
TURNOVER GUYS: Noah Hatcher leads the SCAC with his two forced fumbles and Timothy Leatherman tops the league with four interceptions.
 
SPECIALS: McMurry is fifth nationally in kickoff coverage, allowing 11.80 yards per kickoff return. The punt return team also leads the SCAC, gaining 10.35 yards per punt return.
 
AND HE CAN THROW IT: Jess Hoel leads the SCAC in seven categories: completion percentage (65.6), completions per game (20.56), passing efficiency (142.1), passing touchdowns (15), passing yards (2146), passing yards per game (238.4) and total offense, 272.8. As a team, McMurry leads the SCAC in passing offense (265.3), completion percentage (64.8), passing efficiency (142.8) and time of possession (31:53).
 
SCORING STREAK: McMurry has scored in 48 consecutive games, dating back to a loss against top-ranked Mary Hardin-Baylor in 2019. The record is 97 consecutive games, which ended in 2005.
 
MASSEY SAYS: The Massey Ratings, a computer-generated predictor, has been 7-2 this season in its McMurry picks. The computer picks the War Hawks to win Saturday, 35-10, and finish the season at 7-3.