SUWANEE, Ga. -- In exclusive balloting by the league's head coaches, McMurry University has been selected to finish atop the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference and take home the 2024 league football title.

In what will be the SCAC's first season back on the gridiron since 2016, the War Hawks were the unanimous choice to finish atop the conference, earning 25 points in the balloting and all five first-place votes. Texas Lutheran University, who ended the 2023 campaign with a 2-8 mark (1-5 ASC), finished second in the polling with 19 points.

Centenary College, who will kick off its first season of varsity football in over 50 years, was the coaches' third choice and finished with 12 points in the balloting followed closely by Austin College (1-9; 0-6 ASC) with 10 points and Lyon College, who finished 4-4 in its first season playing an NCAA Division III schedule, with nine points.

As a five-member football league, the SCAC will play a double round robin schedule in 2024 with each team playing the other home and away for an eight-game conference schedule. Conference competition will begin the second weekend of the season, September 14.

McMurry head coach Jordan Neal returns 14 all-conference players from last season's squad that ended the season on a four-game winning streak and an overall mark of 6-4, the most single-season wins by the program since 2012. Among those returnees are four who earned second-team All-American Southwest Conference accolades, led by three-time all-conference honoree super senior wide receiver Kristopher Martin. Martin led the War Hawks with 1,006 yards receiving on 63 catches and scored 10 touchdowns. Entering the 2024 campaign, he is sixth on the school's all-time receiving list with 2,028 yards and eighth with 138 receptions. 

Other second team all-conference returnees for McMurry include sophomore quarterback Jess Hoel, who completed 230 of 331 passes (69.5 percent) for 2,558 yards and 23 touchdowns over his freshman campaign, and junior center Kobe Moore, who led an offensive front that helped the War Hawks finish second in the ASC in scoring (33.7 points per game) and third in total offense (387.9 yards per game).

Senior linebacker Herman Lee, who had 45 tackles (24 solo) and registered nine tackles for loss including four sacks, is the War Hawks' lone second-team all-ASC returnee from the defensive side of the ball.

Sophomore Thomas Chandler, who is moving from wide receiver to quarterback this season, and a trio of McMurry defensive linemen - sophomore Jackson Harris, senior Markeis Williams and senior Kane Strohman - all return as third team honorees from a year ago.

Other players to watch in the SCAC in 2024:

• Cameron Welch, Texas Lutheran (senior punter) - led the ASC and ranked sixth in NCAA Division-III in punting average, finishing with a 42.4 yard average.
• Troy Tomaselli, Texas Lutheran (sophomore defensive back) - recorded 42 tackles (34 solo) to finish second on the team.
• Vance Feuerbacher, Centenary (sophomore quarterback) - expected to start under center for the Gents; was QB1 to open 2023 before an injury ended his season.
• Joshua Ware, Centenary (sophomore running back) - one of the team's leading ground gainers, including team-high 48 yards on 16 carries in season finale against Lyon.
• Jaylon Talton, Austin College (sophomore quarterback) - threw for 1,220 yards and six touchdowns while also rushing for 245 yards.
• Jeremiah Contreras, Austin College (senior cornerback) - had 17 pass breakups and was fifth on the team with 46 tackles. Also had a forced fumble and a recovered fumble.
• Jaylin Babers, Lyon College (senior running back) - led team with 94 carries for 282 yards and four touchdowns.
• Nate Sarver, Lyon College (senior linebacker) - recorded team-high totals of 14 tackles for loss and five sacks; was third on the team in tackles with 46.

The SCAC football season begins on Saturday, September 7, with all five teams in non-conference action. The first week's schedule is highlighted by Centenary hosting its first football game since the 1960s with an on-campus tilt against future conference opponent Hendrix College. 

The first slate of conference games will follow on Saturday, September 14 as Centenary travels to Texas Lutheran and Lyon heads to McMurry for the first conference football games since November 2016. Both of those games are scheduled for 6 pm CT kickoffs. Austin College will be the last team to kickoff its conference schedule when the 'Roos host Centenary on Saturday, September 21. For a link to the complete 2024 SCAC football schedule, click here.