SFA offense tops defense in Graylan Spring Game, honors legacy

Stephen F. Austin’s fourth Graylan Spring Game was less a referendum on a 70-47 final and more a revealing first look at how Colby Carthel’s defending Southland Conference champions are being rebuilt for 2026. More than 500 family members, friends and supporters filled Homer Bryce Stadium on Sunday afternoon as the Lumberjacks wrapped spring practice with a free, family-friendly showcase that mixed evaluation, ceremony and a reminder of what the program had just achieved.

The quarterback room was one of the day’s biggest focal points. Gavin Rutherford, Bryson Broadway, JT Kitna and Myles Lopez all worked alongside freshman Jacob Janecek, giving SFA a deeper and more competitive spring at the position than the usual one-man storyline suggests. That traffic in the passing game helped Stetson Sarratt stand out as a frequent target, and he made several catches of 20-plus yards while stretching the defense vertically. The offense also hinted at a backfield that could become a major strength, with Jeffery Jones Jr., Rickey Stewart and Caleb Crenshaw joining returnees Braden Lewis and Jaylen Jenkins in a group that looks fast, physical and versatile enough to support multiple personnel packages.

The defense had its own flashes. Jamal Acosta Lewis and Kentrelle Omar each came away with interceptions, the kind of takeaway plays that matter in a spring setting because they show how quickly a secondary can close on the ball and finish a play. At linebacker, first-year Jacks Eli Ennis and Gary Seidenberger drew attention in a unit that should be one of the most closely watched battles heading into the fall, especially as SFA continues to blend veterans with newcomers across all three phases.

The ceremony around the game carried equal weight. The Graylan Spring Game is played in memory of Graylan Spring, who died on Jan. 21, 2023 after injuries suffered in a car accident the day before. Graylan was the son of former Lumberjack student-athletes Gary and Krista Spring, and the family created a scholarship to carry his legacy forward. SFA also recognized its national championship-winning cheer and dance teams, reinforcing that the afternoon was about more than spring reps.

That wider celebration fit the moment for a program coming off its fifth Southland title, its first since 2010, a ninth FCS postseason appearance, a perfect league season for the first time in 99 years and an 11-win year, the most for the Lumberjacks since 1995. The 70-47 offense victory mattered, but the larger takeaway was clearer: SFA left spring with depth, competition and momentum.