Editor's Note: In the days leading up to the Live United Texarkana Bowl, we are reliving SWOSU Football's previous Bowl Game. Today, we share this story that appeared in SWOSU's newspaper, The Southwestern, on December 11, 1977 following the NAIA National Championship Game, the Apple Bowl, played in Seattle, Washington. SEATTLE – A first quarter touchdown and field goal by the Texas Abilene Christian Wildcats proved to be enough to beat the Southwestern Oklahoma State Bulldogs in the NAIA final game in the Apple Bowl Saturday afternoon.
The wildcats added another touchdown in the second quarter to match the sole touchdown scored by the Bulldogs, but it turned out to be superfluous, as the Bulldog offense was unable to reach the Wildcat end zone the rest of the afternoon.
Abilene Christian began its first scoring drive early in the first period, when quarterback John Mayes, apparently thrown for a loss by the Southwestern defense, broke loose and galloped to the Bulldog 35-yard line.
Several plays later, Wildcat tailback Alex Davis scored from seven yards out to put the Wildcats on top, 6-0. The kick by James McCoy was good, and with 9:04 left in the period, Abilene Christian led 7-0.
After both teams stalled in attempts to move the ball and exchanged punts, Abilene Christian once again punted to Southwestern. Lewis Blanton fumbled the punt and the Wildcats recovered on the Bulldog 22-yard line.
It didn't take Abilene Christian long to capitalize on the situation as Mayes hit Cleotha Montgomery for a 20-yar pass reception down to the Southwestern three.
The Bulldog defense stiffened then, moving the Wildcats backwards to the ten. With 49 seconds left in the first quarter, Ray Nunez kicked a 27-yard field goal to give the Cats the ten points that would be sufficient to beat the Bulldogs.
Abilene Christian kicked off and the Bulldogs wound up with a first down on their own 23. The Bulldogs then began a 77-yard drive that included key passes of 20 and 31 yards from quarterback Mike Sekul to Mike Brown.
After each team failed to generate a drive, a Southwestern punt gave the Wildcats possession on their 35-yard line. From there, the Wildcats proceeded to march 65 yards in ten plays for yet another score.
Key plays in the drive included a 13-yard scamper by Kelly Kent on a draw play and a 16-yard pass from Mayes to Cleotha Montgomery.
Alex Davis scored this touchdown too, going in from the eight, and Ray Nunez kicked the extra point. With 5:52 left in the second quarter, the Wildcats led 17-7.
After Southwestern failed to sustain a drive, the Wildcats went on offense again. With time running out in the first half, Abilene Christian tried a halfback pass which was intercepted by Gary Calip.
Southwestern took the ball and was moving it, reaching Wildcat territory. On a third down play, Sekul hit Blanton in the hands with a pass, but he dropped it to stall the drive and Southwestern had to punt with just seconds left in the first half.
The Bulldogs had another good opportunity to get back into the game in the fourth quarter when Freddie Hurd broke a 42-yard gainer all the way to the Abilene Christian before being hauled down from behind.
Southwestern was unable to move the ball and elected to try for a field goal. The kick was long enough but just off to the left.
The Bulldogs defense held the Wildcats on their next possession, forcing them to punt the ball back. The Southwestern offense stalled once again, however, and was faced with fourth-and-four at the Wildcat 31.
The Bulldogs lined up to punt, but the center snapped the ball to Don Willis, who was in as a blocking back, in an attempt to go for the first down.
It was no good though, as the Wildcats had the play smelled out from the beginning. Willis was stopped short of the first down and Abilene Christina put together another drive.
The Wildcats chipped away at the Southwestern defense, moving the ball down to the Bulldog 26-yard line. From there, Mayes hit tight end Kirby Jones with a 16-yard pass to give the Wildcats first down at the Southwestern ten.
The Wildcats punched it in from the ten, and with Nunez's kick, led 24-7, the final score of the game.
The Bulldogs accumulated 266 yards of total offense for the afternoon, while the Wildcats rolled up 369 yards. Of that total for Southwestern, 97 yards of it came in the air as the Bulldogs completed seven of 20 passes. The Wildcats rolled up 159 yards in the air and 210 on the ground.
