Although the season has not looked the best for the Lions, Running back ShunDerrick Powell has come out every game and shown out every single time. After Saturday’s loss, he has officially set the season rushing record for the Lions with 1,467 yards. Saturday alone he rushed 151 yards. 

This record has not been broken since 1993. Leaving ShunDerrick Powell as the first person in 29 years to break the record. The record in 1993 was 1,466 yards in a season by Tyrone Rush. 

The game Saturday was a close one with the final score being 35-27. ShunDerrick Powell was the first player to score a touchdown after Sam Contorno kicked for 3 points making the score 14-10 in the second quarter. After Tennessee Tech scored again with a score of 21-10, Noah Walters completed a pass to Demarcus Lacey to make the score 21-17 at halftime. 

A little after halftime Tennessee Tech scored again followed by Takieree Kenebrew receiving a pass from Noah Walters and a kick from Sam Contorno making the score 28-24. 

This will be the last touchdown the lions score for the rest of the game with one more kick by Sam Contorno making the final score 35-27. 

After this game, the Lions record for the season is 1-9 and Tennessee Tech’s record is 4-6. Next week the Lions will travel to Memphis to play on November 19. This will be the Lions final game of the season and fans are hoping they can get at least one more win under their belt before the season ends. 

This game was a little different considering we did not have a head coach after coach Willis was evidently fired after the previous loss. He served the Lions for 21 seasons and was the head coach for North Alabama since 2016. Athletic Director Josh Looney states that immediately begin a search for a new head coach position somewhere else. 

According to AL.com, head coach Chris Willis went 20-34 in his six seasons as head football coach. That is not something the Lions need with being established into Division I as well as trying to prove why they belong in this division. A 1-9 record proves nothing as of right now.

Ryan Held who was formerly an offensive coordinator has taken over for the last few games of the season with his first game taking over as head coach resulting in a 35-27 loss which is not a terrible score for a team who has just had so much change over the span of a week. 

Hopefully next season the Lions will have a more solid coaching staff and will prevail in the future. 

The Lions will face Memphis at Memphis on Sat. Nov. 19 for their final game of the season.