The History Program has been making an effort to be more active, assistant professor of history Dr. Alistair Maeer said.

Texas Wesleyan is hosting the second annual Medievalists and Early Modernists of North Texas and Oklahoma undergraduate conference in February; the program has also added a public history certificate and will be offering eight-week courses soon, Maeer said.

“What makes (the conference) so unique is that there are very few organizations in the nation that are catered specifically for the regional exchange of information between small and big universities specifically for undergraduates,” he said.

The first MEMNTO conference was held at Southern Methodist University, he said. Wesleyan’s MEMNTO will be held on campus at 9:30 a.m. on Feb. 17, Maeer said.

“MEMNTO is a conference and an organization designed specifically for undergraduate students to share their knowledge, interests, and perspectives of medieval and early modern history,” Maeer said.

Anyone that had a research paper based on the time period between the fall of Rome until 1650 could have applied to present at MEMNTO. Twenty-four applicants from multiple universities in the Metroplex area and Oklahoma will be participating, Maeer said.

“(The presentation topics are) going to be loads of different things from loads of different perspectives from English majors to art majors,” he said. “What makes it so cool is that Wesleyan is a small school, so we have a really strong history program. We’ve got English; and we’ve got religion and we’ve got all these things, but we don’t have everything.”

A small team of professors can’t teach every topic, but MEMNTO allows the students to experience new ideas in the same field in an engaging way, he said.

“SMU has art history and one of their art historians teaches medieval studies, so her students are going to present,” he said of Dr. Danielle Joyner. “We’re just going to have this amazing array of interdisciplinary undergraduate work. It’s an opportunity for our students to learn from other students and also from their faculty.”

Joyner is going to lead a workshop at the conference about understanding and deconstructing medieval imagery and the medieval concept of time, Maeer said.

The conference was created by Joyner; Maeer; Dr. Margaret Cotter-Lynch from Southeastern Oklahoma State University; and Dr. Kelly Gibson at the University of Dallas. The conference has continued to grow, and the founders hope to start an online undergraduate journal as well.

“Imagine if we could share the faculty knowledge and faculty resources,” Maeer said. “We took four Wesleyan students to SMU. We got to look at medieval manuscripts, honest to God medieval manuscripts, and go to a conference hosted by SMU all because we’re a part of this undergraduate kind of research consortium.”

Maeer said when he first arrived at Wesleyan he couldn’t believe all of the museums and libraries that are close to campus. The department then came up with the idea to add another class to their curriculum and that created a public history certificate opportunity.

“Which might sound daunting but really what it is it’s an applied studies opportunity for any student at Texas Wesleyan,” Maeer said. “If you’re in the humanities or the sciences and you really like museums, archives or libraries, but you just kind of want to work at a museum, then the public history certificate is designed specifically for those people in mind.”

The public history certificate gives students an applied knowledge and field experience that will give them a leg up when applying for jobs, Maeer said.

“If that had existed when I was an undergraduate,” Maeer said, “I would have jumped on it. What’s really cool about this (is that) master’s programs in public history have become exceedingly popular in the last ten years, but there are few if any public history certificates for undergraduate students. It’s just a great opportunity for Wesleyan students.”

In the next few years, Wesleyan will offer this program and will allow them to translate what they are learning in the classroom to the workplace, Maeer said.

History major Alanna James said her professors do a really good job of encouraging their students to participate in conferences.

“The history professors are really good at wanting us to expand our skills and this was a really cool thing Wesleyan is doing because a lot of schools don’t recommend their undergraduates to go out and do conferences,” James said.

James said the reason she wants to present is because she is proud of her paper; she also wants to improve her public speaking skills.

“We had our history meeting last week and they’re trying really hard to amp up the history major,” James said. “We’re getting a public history certificate and eight-week history classes. It’s growing and it’s trying to expand. They’re trying to get more types of classes and (get more) people to go to conferences. You don’t even have to be a history major to present. I love all of the professors here and I think they deserve to have more students to share their knowledge with, so I’m glad it’s growing.”

Lane Kelly, a sophomore history major, said he is most excited for the conference since it will be his first time presenting a history paper; he also wants to hear Joyner lead her workshop.

“Each presentation should be somewhere around 10 to 15 minutes,” Kelly said. “There is not a definite time yet since we do not know how many people will be attending and we do have to fit all the speakers in the time window.”

Head football coach Joe Prud’homme said Tuesday that the team is excited to use the off-season to improve.

The team plans to use the off-season for “getting bigger, stronger, faster and more disciplined and installing a new offense and sharpening up the mental dimension of the game,” Prud’homme said.

The Rams’ goals are a little bigger than just getting better at football, he said.

Their biggest goal during off-season is “[to come] together and ramp up a sense of urgency for the upcoming season and to add to the core of the team and developing more leadership,” Prud’homme said.

He said he was “not sure” when the schedule for the 2018 season would be released. According to wbuathletics.com, the website for Wayland Baptist University’s athletic program, Texas Wesleyan will play WBU in Plainview on Oct. 27.

On Monday, the team did height and weight measurements; the rest of the week is devoted to strength training, running back Da’vonte Mitchell-Dixon said.

The players are eager to start working out together again, Mitchell-Dixon said.

“I’m glad to be back with the team,” he said. “This team is my family and always will be.”

The team hopes to use the off-season to get stronger and faster so they can apply that to games next season, Mitchell-Dixon said.

“We are going to work on being the best we can be to compete,” he said, “and make this next season way better than it was last year.”

Mitchell-Dixon hopes to use the off-season to strengthen his injured shoulder.

“As long as I approach everything with a positive attitude,” he said, “I’ll get positive results.”

Hard work bonded the team together last season so they’re excited to get back to work, quarterback Justin Arth said.

“It feels great to be back with these guys that I worked hard with all season long,” Arth said. “There’s no feeling like the feeling of brotherhood and a bond created when giving everything we have to accomplish the same goal.”

The team is using the off-season to change up their offense, Arth said.

“We will be installing an all-new, fast-pasted spread offense that will help us simplify the game and score a ton of points each and every game,” he said. “Other than that we, as a team, will be getting in better shape, physically and mentally, to perform well on the field and bring home some wins next season.”

The team has its heart set on improvement, he said.

“My goals for this off-season are to constantly become one percent better than the day before,” he said. “Anything from mastering the offense, to getting bigger, faster, stronger and more consistent in order to help this team achieve our goals this next season.”

The Blue and Gold game will be played in April, Mitchell-Dixon said.

“It will be similar to last year,” Prud’homme said, “definitely a scrimmage set up with the Blue and Gold game.”

The team doesn’t know the exact date yet but the players are excited for the Blue and Gold game.

“I expect it to be competitive,” Mitchell-Dixon said.

The Rams love the Blue and Gold game because it’s a chance to challenge each other to get better, Arth said.

Fernando Luis Santillan was born a Mexico citizen to his parents Esteban Santillan Ceniceros and Carolina Salas Reyes. His brother, Esteban Santillan Jr. was born a United States citizen to the same parents. 

“So, my brother was born in El Paso, Texas because my mom decided to have him there and for me, she had the same plan,” Santillan said. “She stayed nine months in El Paso with one of my uncles and then on December 15, 1995, she decided to visit my grandma and that was the day I was born in Mexico. So, my brother is an American citizen and I’m Mexican.” 

When Santillan was growing up in Mexico he knew Spanish and then learned Portuguese as his second language, he said. Santillan attended Lydia Patterson Institute in El Paso Texas and was required to take English as a second language classes. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

“I went straight to high school, which was different, because everyone in El Paso is bilingual so if you don’t know English you can speak Spanish, and when I came [to Texas Wesleyan University] it was so hard because my English wasn’t that good. And I don’t know; it was so hard to communicate.” 

Santillan Jr. didn’t have to apply for a student visa to attend college in the United States but Luis Santillan did. 

“To get a visa you have to apply in the United States Embassy in Mexico,” Santillan said. “You have to do your application online and then they give you this number but you have to go and pay.” 

In order to start the visa application process, the applicant has to pay between $500 and $700. Then the United States Embassy schedules an appointment to meet with the applicant and they have to pay another fee between $1000 and $1500, according to mx.usembassy.gov. 

“They ask you all these questions like, ‘What are you going to do? Where are you going to go to school?’” 

After the appointment, the embassy can either accept the applicant or deny them. 

“But, if they deny it you don’t get your money back,” Santillan said. “You don’t get your money back and you have to apply again.” 

The entire process takes between three or four weeks and typically takes place after the visa applicant has applied and been accepted to American colleges, according to mx.usembassy.gov. 

“It’s not hard it’s just a lot of money that you spend,” he said. “You have to apply to college before and then if you want to work in the US you have to apply for work [visa] first too. 

“[The embassy has] to accept you and [the employers] have to say that they’re going to pay for your work visa if you want to have a work visa which is more money. It’s more time and it’s hard to get someone to employ you because no one wants to pay more money for you.” 

Santillan said facing discrimination has gotten easier the longer he has been in America. 

“I feel like my freshman year I got so, not bullied or anything, but like I can feel like people are talking shit about me or something like that. But now I don’t even care.” 

Santillan ignores the negative comments he sometimes hears but discrimination against his family or his whole country is too big to ignore. 

“I hate when people are like ‘Oh this Mexican chick’ and really she’s Cuban or Colombian like no that is so different,” he said. “Even the language is different. Like to me they speak weird; Americans and Canadians have the same language but a different accent and some words aren’t the same.” 

Even when he’s around people that love him Santillan feels pressured to be a model citizen, he said. 

“It’s hard because every time I wake up it’s like I have to be the best citizen,” Santillan said, “because if I do something wrong I can get deported. Like if I don’t stop at a stop sign or something like that they can pull me over and just yea…” 

The culture in Northern Mexico and Texas aren’t extremely different but Texas has a more diverse population, Santillan said. 

“The laws are almost the same,” he said. “It’s just like the food and the people. The people are white, black- we’re not used to that. In the city where I live it’s more mixed or white. We don’t really see black people or Asians but that’s it.” 

After graduation in May 2019, Santillan plans to either stay in Texas or move to Georgia to attend law school. 

“I don’t really know what’s going to happen with this whole Trump thing,” Santillan said. “If things are going to get worse or they’re going to get better, but I think if I hold my student visa I’m going to be fine.” 

After graduating from law school Santillan plans to stay in America and apply for jobs. He wants to get dual citizenship and split the year living between Mexico and America. 

“I want to have dual citizenship so that if something goes wrong here I can go back home and still work and still be able to buy a house and things like that.” 

Santillan dreams of working for the United Nations. Dual citizenship would allow him the opportunity to represent Mexico or America. 

Susporiea Harris, Santillan’s fiance said his Mexican heritage enriches her life. 

“Overall, I feel like he’s a normal person,” Harris said. “His accent reminds me all the time but I don’t really feel any different. 

“Although now with everything going on, I’m not really afraid of deportation, but I know how real it is. My friend’s boyfriend just got deported so it’s hard to think about.” 

Harris is always encouraging Santillan to be a safe driver and to always use his blinker. 

“[Deportation is] not something that I think is going to happen but it’s something that could happen,” Harris said. 

Harris has already taken to Santillan’s Mexican heritage by trying authentic Mexican food. 

“I love Mexican food. He takes me to places that look sketchy,” she said, “but the food is so good. You can really taste the difference from like Tex-Mex.” 

Harris said Santillan is proud to be a Mexican. 

“He thinks we’re patriotic but he has so much pride in Mexico like you can’t say one thing wrong,” she said. “But I like that though; that’s good.” 

Matt Mayfield, Santillan’s roommate, believes their cultural differences bring them closer together. 

Santillan is a dependable and trustworthy friend that would sacrifice anything for his friends’ happiness, said Matt Mayfield Santillan’s roommate. 

“Friendship with Luis is something that can last a lifetime,” Mayfield said. “No matter where our paths take us I know we can always be there for each other.” 

The cultural differences between Mayfield and Santillan allow them to form a strong bond through shared experiences, Mayfield said. 

“Luis being from Mexico allows a cultural mix-up for a city-boy from Atlanta like myself. Trying different foods he makes, understanding what matters to each other, and even bonding over our differences makes our relationship awesome.” 

Mayfield said Santillan can easily cheer up his friends and gives great advice. 

“Now, it’s my senior year,” Mayfield said, “and I’m not only roommates but also like brothers with Luis.” 

 

The Oklahoma Panhandle State University Aggies (7-3, 6-2 CSFL) were relentless against the Rams on Saturday, beating Texas Wesleyan 65-6.

In their final game of the season, the Rams (0-11, 0-8 CSFL) didn’t score until late in the fourth quarter, when Cole Maxwell caught a 30-yard Erik Richards pass, according to ramsports.net.

“I️ feel like a great moment of the game is when Cole scored for us,” running back Da’vonte Mitchell-Dixon said. “It showed that we wouldn’t stop fighting no matter what the score is and I️ love that.” 

“People should remember that this season was an important part of history for Texas Wesleyan University,” quarterback Erik Richards said. “This is the inaugural season that brought a new sports team to the university that will hopefully bring new graduations to the school.”

The moments the Rams spent on the field were the most important part of the season because it gave them experience to use in the future, Richards said.

“The moments most important to the team were spent on the field,” he said. “As we all know our team was young and those guys getting to be out on the field playing in actual college football games will help them tremendously in the future.”

Things that held back the Rams:

1. Injuries.

Injuries hold back the team because they cause the players to be benched instead of on the field, Richards said.

“The injuries have definitely held us back,” Richards said. “All five of our starting offensive linemen were out for the last few games and through the season, a lot of guys, including me, spent time on the sidelines due to injury.”

The injuries caused a lot of changes in personnel throughout the season, not just against the Aggies, linebacker Tristen Blake said.

“The injuries definitely hurt us this year,” Blake said. “We had to move some people around so we could keep playing and we ended up having to have people that start on offense or defense go on more special teams than what they were already on.”

Injuries have been the most harmful factor the Rams face this season, Mitchell-Dixon said.

“Half of our receiving core went down with injuries and half of our defense too,” he said. “If we didn’t have these injuries, we could be seeing a different season favoring us.”

2. Fighting.

“I️ feel like our team was deflated when we started arguing and fighting with them early in the second quarter,” he said. “Us having one of best players be kicked out of the game for fighting killed us big time.”

Running back Jermarcus Jones was kicked out of the game, he said.

3. Small mistakes and execution.

There wasn’t one moment that lost the Rams the game against OPSU; it was a lot of small plays that added up, Blake said.

“There really wasn’t a big moment in the game, it was just a bunch of little things,” Blake said.

Richards thinks that if kickoff had gone differently the game would’ve been more of a competition.

“The most important part of Saturday’s game was the opening kickoff when we got the onside kick,” he said. “However, we weren’t able to capitalize on the drive and quickly lost the momentum to OPSU.”

The Rams are eager to play Oklahoma Panhandle State University (6-3,5-2 CSFL) in Goodwell, Okla. on Saturday.

The team will do well in this, the season’s final game, if they can play well during the whole game and not just the second half, head coach Joe Prud’homme said.

The Rams have to do three things to be competitive in Saturday’s game.

1. Execute.

The Ram’s offense, defense, and special teams have to play well during the entire game for the Rams to be competitive, Prud’homme said.

“[The Rams are trying to improve] execution, and taking advantage of opportunities and playing well in all three phases for four quarters,” he said.

2. Perfect the fundamentals.

“[We’ve been] working on fundamentals and preparing for their schemes,” Prud’homme said.

The Rams have had an emphasis on perfecting their fundamental plays and abilities all year. The fundamentals are so important because they are the base for everything the team does, Prud’homme said.

The team is trying to improve at each practice, quarterback Kane Hardin said.

“[We’re] just continuing to get better every day and trying to master our craft we realize it’s our last week, so we want to go out swinging,” Hardin said.

3. Be intense.

The Rams didn’t have the intensity they normally have during games, running back Da’vonte Mitchell-Dixon said.

“The team could have given more effort. Just like last week, we came out like we didn’t care if we won or lost and that was the deciding factor,” he said.

It felt like the team just couldn’t get the job done, Mitchell-Dixon said.

“I honestly feel like we couldn’t do anything well,” Mitchell-Dixon said. “We were being outplayed at the very end. They just wanted it more than us.”

The Rams will travel to No Man’s Land Stadium to play the Aggies Saturday at 2 p.m.. Live stats and video are available to watch at opsuaggies.com.

The Rams didn’t get the outcome they were hoping for on Saturday.

Texas Wesleyan (0-10, 0-7 CSFL) fell to the Arizona Christian University’s Firestorm (7-3, 5-3 CSFL) 63-7 at Farrington Field.

“We played pretty bad; they played pretty good,” head coach Joe Prud’homme said.

The Firestorm scored 49 points before the Rams returned a punt for a touchdown in the third quarter. Trey Jackson ran the ball 70 yards to score and the Bryce Nye kick was good, bringing the score to 49-7.

The Firestorm scored once more in the third quarter and again in the fourth to make the final score 63-7.

The Rams fell short in several important areas.

1. Making easy plays.

The team missed plays that they could have made easily, Prud’homme said.

“We missed a lot of plays that we could have made,” he said. “They were the better team and they showed it.”

“[The Rams] needed to play as a team,” linebacker Tristen Blake said.

2. Stopping big plays.

“As a defense, we could have defended the long passes better,” linebacker Vincent Stephenson said. “We allowed too many big plays this week.”

Even though the defense did allow some big plays, the team didn’t give up, Blake said.

3. Making the most out of opportunities.  

“Special teams was strong,” Stephenson said, “putting our offense and defense in good starting field position.” 

Jackson was the first Ram since the team returned to play after more than 70 years to return a punt for a touchdown, according to ramsports.net.

“The best part of the game was the punt return for a touchdown,” Stephenson said. “It gave us life late in the game.” 

 

Prud’homme said he would like to thank everyone for all of the support they’ve given the Rams during their first season.

“I appreciate everybody sticking with us,” he said, “and hanging in there. I know it’s not easy for anybody. I appreciate all the support.”

The Rams finish their season next Saturday with a game against Oklahoma Panhandle State University. Kickoff is at 2 p.m. in Goodwell, Ok. For more information go to ramsports.net.

 

The Rams are gearing up to play No. 23 Arizona Christian University in the last home game of the season.

The Firestorm (6-3, 4-3 CSFL) won the Central States Football League Conference Championship in 2015 and in 2016.

The Rams have a lot to work on after losing last week’s game to Wayland Baptist University, head coach Joe Prud’homme said.

“In every phase, we have to make improvement, it was our sloppiest game overall since McPherson,” Prud’homme said.

The Rams took their first lead of the season two weeks ago in the game against Lyon College, which excited the team, Prud’homme said.

“We were all pretty disappointed in our performance last week,” he said, “especially after the strong effort at Lyon.”

The Rams need to improve in these areas if they want to perform better against Arizona Christian University.

1. Continue to work as a team.

“We’ve got a better understanding of the playbook,” quarterback Erik Richards said, “and our assignments opposed to that of the first game, and we also have nine games under us so the guys have some experience to build on and relate to.”

The team has better chemistry now but the players have to continue to trust each other, cornerback Jordan Sutherlin said.

“We’ve become more comfortable with each other,” Sutherlin said. “We know each other’s strengths and weaknesses so we know how to help each other.” 

2. Keep the Firestorm from scoring early.

Richards said it will be important to get momentum early on Saturday and keep it. It can really hurt a team mentally if their opponent scores extremely early in the game.

“Wayland scoring hurt us initially because they got up on us so quick,” Richards said, “so I think we got the wind knocked out of us a little bit.”

It’s hard to play without being discouraged when the team is behind only 30 seconds into the game, Sutherlin said.

“The thing I believe hurt the most was how fast Wayland scored to begin the game so we were playing from behind the whole way,” he said.

3. Execute third downs.

The offense needs to capitalize on every down, but especially third downs, Richards said.

“As an offense, we could’ve executed third downs better,” he said. “We had a few drives fall short because of missed third down opportunities.”

If the offense can fix “[their] passing game and finish drives and avoid the three and outs,” the team will be get better, Prud’homme said.

4. Improve energy.

“The energy was high in warmups because Wayland was more or less taunting us in pre-game,” Richards said. “So, the coaches did a good job of firing us up.” 

The energy the team had in warmups quickly sputtered out after Wayland scored so early on. The team needs to prevent this and not allow it to affect the rest of the game, Sutherlin said.

“It kind of killed the momentum and made us lack energy,” he said.

5. Stop big plays.

The defense has been trying to get better at stopping big plays all season, Sutherlin said.

“We need to stop the big plays,” he said. “That’s been the struggle this whole year. We thought we had it last week. But those big plays during the game killed what we had going.”

Last week’s defense was led by Parrish Dixon-Smith, who had two interceptions, including a pick-six for a 36-yard touchdown early in the second quarter, according to ramsports.net. His performance gave him the title of Central States Football League Defensive Player of the Week.

The Texas Wesleyan Rams will play the Arizona Christian University Firestorm at 2 p.m. Saturday at Farrington Field. For more information go to ramsports.net. The game will be shown on ramsports.net; go to the team’s schedule and then click Live Video.

The Rams fell to Wayland Baptist University on Saturday at Farrington Field.

If the 54-24 loss was not bad enough, head coach Joe Prud’homme said he did not see the team make any improvements over last week’s loss to Lyon College.

“We didn’t come back from as well as we were last week,” he said. “Last week we played really really well and we didn’t make many mistakes this time we made the mistakes and we paid for it and that’s what happens when you’re not ready.”

Wayland Baptist scored two touchdowns in the game’s first minute, the first on Devonte Hayden’s 95-yard opening kickoff return, and then less than 30 seconds later on a 32-yard pass from Caleb O’Connor to Ben Owen; add in two extra points and the Rams trailed 14-0.

The Rams answered a few minutes later with a 23-yard Erik Richards pass to Cole Maxwell. Bryce Nye’s extra point was good to make the score 14-7.

But Wayland got a safety and then a 28-yard touchdown put the Rams behind 23-7 with only the first quarter gone.

In the second quarter, Parrish Dixon-Smith returned his first interception of the season 36 yards to close the gap to 23-14 after a Bryce Nye kick. Wayland Baptist scored another touchdown and then made a field goal bringing the score to 33-14 at halftime.

Nye kicked a field goal early in the third quarter, but the Pioneers answered with three touchdowns and extra points; by the end of the third quarter, the Rams trailed 54-17. The Rams scored the final touchdown of the game on a 33-yard Richards pass to Maxwell, followed by Nye’s extra point, bringing the final score to 54-24.

The Rams needed to improve on several things to be more competitive:

1. Energy.

The Rams had plenty of confidence going into the game but lacked focus and attention, Prud’homme said.

“I think we just came out flat,” he said. ”We came out flat when we warmed up and that kind of carried over into the first quarter.”

The team allowed their energy to be affected by Wayland’s actions too much, linebacker Tristen Blake said.

“Our energy level was fine until some things happened and we just kind of went flat,” he said.

The problems really started before the game for the Rams, said running back Da’vonte Mitchell-Dixon. He agreed with Prud’homme that the team’s energy during the warmups wasn’t good enough.

“I feel like our energy during warmups and pre-game really dictated the outcome,” he said. “I feel like most of the team came out like it was just a normal day. It was the first time I thought our team didn’t care what the outcome would be and we cannot have that at all.”

2. Cohesiveness.

The team didn’t improve from last week’s game against Lyon College, Prud’homme said.

“For the whole season,” he said, “we’ve definitely made some big strides from the beginning of the season to now.”

As each game is played, the Rams learn something new and come closer together, Blake said.

“Each week we have become closer as a team and have started to play more as a unit and not individuals,” he said.

The biggest gain the team has made since the first game is chemistry, linebacker Vincent Stephenson said.

“We have gained chemistry and learned how to better react off of each other as the play is developing,” he said.

The team has come together as a unit and realize execution is just as important as energy and force, Mitchell-Dixon said.  

“I feel like we’ve became more of a unit and we started realizing we have to execute,” he said. “Our coaches always say if we have everybody doing what they’re supposed to do we’ll see better results.”

3. Staying calm.

Wayland scoring so early in the game threw the Rams off their game a little bit, Blake said.

“We were not focusing on what we needed to,” he said. “Keep our composure and not retaliate against the other team when they try to get in our head.”

The early points shocked the team, Stephenson said.

“That’s usually not how it happens,” he said. “It took us a few drives to buckle down and put it behind us.”

Being behind 14-0 so early messed up the Rams’ momentum, Mitchell-Dixon said.

“Them catching us off guard like that was the turning point in the game,” he said. “It messed us up mentally.”

4. Preventing mistakes.

The Rams could’ve executed better. If a few mistakes were eliminated the team could’ve stopped some of Wayland’s big plays and scored more often, Mitchell-Dixon said.

“There was plenty of times we came close to scoring or getting in the end zone and we made mistakes, he said. “If we cut the mistakes down we could of seen a different outcome.”

The mistakes hurt the team most. The Rams don’t have a lack of talent or ability but a few mistakes add up, Mitchell-Dixon said.

“We have two more games left and if we can fix our mistakes or at least limit them, I know we’ll end this losing streak,” Mitchell-Dixon said.

5. Responding to penalties.

The Rams have to work on being consistent regardless of how the game is called or how the other team performs, Blake said.

“[Our biggest weakness is] not being consistent,” he said, “not responding with the right attitude to all the penalties.”

The team should’ve responded better to Wayland scoring so quickly, Stephenson said.

“I think we could have handled adversity during the game better,” Stephenson said, “especially after them scoring so early on.”

The Rams will play Arizona Christian University in the last home game of the season on Saturday at 2 p.m..

Prud’homme appreciates all the fans that have supported the Rams this season. It just takes time to gain experience and create a winning program, he said.

“The only way they can get the experience is to actually play,” he said, “and there is no magic solution for it except they have to play get experience and playing time.”

The Rams have one goal in mind for this Saturday.

“Score more than Wayland,” head coach Joe Prud’homme said, referring to the Wayland Baptist University Pioneers, the team the Rams will be playing at 2 p.m. at Farrington Field.

But within that goal, there are smaller ones as well, Prud’homme said.

“Limit penalties, have extended drives on offense, continue to force turnovers on defense. Score with our special teams,” he said.

The Pioneers (3-5, 3-3 CSFL) have had a mediocre season. They won two of their three wins by two points or less. Their biggest win was last Saturday, when they beat Bacone College 48-21, according to wbuathletics.com.

The Rams, meanwhile, did noticeably better than in past weeks in last Saturday’s game against Lyon College. Not only did they only lose by just seven points, 21-14, but they also took the lead for the first time all season on a first quarter one-yard touchdown run by Jermarcus Jones, followed by Bryce Nye’s extra point.

Here are five ways the Rams have been preparing to achieve their goals this Saturday.

1. Getting to know Wayland.

The Rams have been watching film on Wayland to get to know their style better, running back Da’vonte Mitchell-Dixon said.

“To get ready for Wayland, we’ve been looking at certain formations they line up in to put us one step ahead,” Mitchell-Dixon said.

Understanding the opposing team is important to every game, cornerback Kameron Brown said.

“We are going to review what we need to review on the opposing players,” Brown said. “Know their tendencies and what they like to do on each side of the ball and attack them accordingly.”

2. Changing the game plan.

Each week the Rams incorporate new plays to keep the other teams guessing and to adapt to their opponent, Mitchell-Dixon said.

“The less predictable we are, the more we’ll see better outcomes in certain situations,” Mitchell-Dixon said.

The team added both offensive and defensive plays to take advantage of Wayland’s weaknesses, Brown said.

“We added a couple plays to catch their defense slipping,” he said, “as well as on the defensive side we added a couple assets to get over on their offense.”

3. Fixing past mistakes.

“We are working on correcting the mistakes that we made last week,” Prud’homme said.

The Rams started to prepare for the Wayland Baptist game on Sunday by briefly touching on the things the team would be working on during the week and learning from mistakes during film, linebacker Tristen Blake said.

“We basically just looked at what we need to fix from this past week,” Blake said.

4. Being confident.

The Rams played very well against Lyon College and the team is hungry for a win after being so close, Prud’homme said.

“We gave ourselves a chance to win,” he said. “That has helped our confidence.”

The Rams are excited because they’re finally starting to see what they envisioned back in the fall of 2016 when the program started, Mitchell-Dixon said.

“I’m excited because I can see that we’re growing as a team and it’s something special,” Mitchell-Dixon said. “If we can have great momentum going into this game I know we’re going to have a fun Saturday.”

The Rams are eager to get back on the field, Brown said.

“We feel like this is a great opportunity to get our first win” he said.

5. Playing as a team.

The entire team has been working on trusting each other and playing as a unit, Brown said.

“Our focus this week is getting the entire defense to click,” he said. “Our defensive line is finally coming together and playing really great so now we’re focusing on getting the rest of the components of our defense to click as well.”

The game will be available to stream live or follow via live stats on ramsports.net. Tickets are $10 general admission and are available for purchase on ramsports.net or at the gate.

The Rams lost to Lyon College 21-14 on Saturday in Arkansas, but there was a significant sign of improvement.

For the first time in the season, the Rams (0-8, 0-5 CSFL) led an opponent. The team’s first quarter drive of 45 yards in 11 plays was capped by a fourth down Jermarcus Jones one-yard run; Bryce Nye’s extra point gave Texas Wesleyan a 7-0 lead, according to ramsports.net.

The Scots (3-5, 1-4 CSFL) kicked two field goals in the second quarter to make the score 7-6 Wesleyan; head coach Joe Prud’homme called this the game’s turning point.

“I think when we gave up the two FGs late in the second quarter was a turning point,” he said.

In the third quarter, Lyon scored on an 18-yard pass capping a seven play/50 yard drive, followed by a two-point conversion. They scored another touchdown in the fourth quarter, followed by an extra point.

The Rams scored a second time in the fourth quarter on a seven-yard pass from Erik Richards (seven completions out of 19 for 64 yards and no interceptions) to Jones, followed by a Nye extra point.

The Rams are getting better but they still need to focus on improving in these ways:

1. Getting momentum.

The Rams were encouraged to play harder by their first lead of the season, linebacker Vincent Stephenson said.

“It felt good to play with a lead,” Stephenson, “it gave us energy knowing we had a lead especially in the first half.” 

Linebacker Tristen Blake said taking the lead in the first quarter really motivated the team.

“Honestly, it gave us a lot of momentum going into the second half.” Blake said. “It was their homecoming, so it just made it that much sweeter to be up on them.”

2. Playing as a unit.

“I think we improved as a unit this week ability wise,” Stephenson said, “and also improved on our effort.” 

The Rams brought even more effort to the Lyon College game than any other game, Blake said.

“We were playing more as a unit, as a group,” he said. “It wasn’t just a bunch of individuals on the field. We played cohesively.”

3. Preventing big plays

“The defense created some really good opportunities and played well overall,” Prud’homme said. “We gave up a couple of throws that hurt us.”

The defense did a great job making plays in the backfield, Stephenson said.

“As a defense, we did a good job of getting pressure on the quarterback,” he said.

The Rams competed well but were lacking execution at times, Blake said.

“If you take a few plays away here and there,” he said, “maybe a play on offense and a play on defense, we win the game.”

4. Improve passing consistency.

“The offense did better,” Prud’homme said. “We need to be able to put together more consistent drives and improve our passing efficiency.”