NATCHITOCHES – While his 1988 Southland Conference champion Northwestern State football team celebrates its 25th anniversary Saturday evening at Turpin Stadium, coach Sam Goodwin will be recognized as the Exchange Bank Demon Great of the Game.
 
Goodwin will be spotlighted at the end of the first quarter of NSU's homecoming game at 6 p.m. against Southeastern Louisiana. He and the entire 1988 squad will be recognized at halftime following the Spirit of Northwestern Marching Band show and presentation of the homecoming honor court.
 
The 1988 team members are asked to contact Adam Jonson, NSU's associate athletic director, at jonsona@nsula.edu or 318-357-5251 to confirm their participation and get details on the reunion.  Registration is also available online at the NSUDemons.com/1988reunion. A Friday night reception after the homecoming parade and pep rally downtown will be held for those arriving early.
 
Goodwin, a Pineville native, won 102 games, a school record, in 17 seasons (1983-99) as the Demons' head coach.  Goodwin broke the Southland Conference's all-time football coaching wins record.
 
He is a member of the Arkansas Sports Hall of Fame, the Southland Conference Hall of Honor, the Graduate N Club Hall of Fame at Northwestern, and won numerous Coach of the Year honors at NSU. He won five state championships in seven seasons in the mid-1970s at Little Rock-Parkview High School and was a great player himself in the mid-1960s at Henderson State.
 
He coached 22 All-Americans, two Academic All-Americans, a National Football Foundation Scholar-Athlete, 42 first team All-Southland selections, and had 38 of his players go on to the NFL.
 
Goodwin's Northwestern teams won four conference titles, the 1984 Gulf Star Conference championship, and Southland Conference championships in 1988, 1997 and 1998. Goodwin guided the Demons to three NCAA FCS playoff appearances, highlighted by the 1998 season in which Northwestern reached the semifinal round of the FCS playoffs. That team tied the school record with 11 wins. His 1988 team, which advanced to the FCS quarterfinals, won 10 games and is the only NSU team to go unbeaten in Southland play.
 
The "Road Warriors" earned that tag with a string of five straight Southland or playoff wins away from Turpin Stadium. Two of those victories came over teams, North Texas and Stephen F. Austin, which had been ranked No. 1 nationally. The season-ending 20-17 NSU triumph at SFA came in a showdown for the conference crown. No other Southland coach picked the Demons to beat top-ranked "Stephen F. Awesome" but NSU rolled up 437 yards against the nation's No. 1 defense.
 
Goodwin's 1988 Demons won their first-ever playoff game in wintry weather, 22-13 at Boise State. A return trip to Big Sky country ended with a dramatic 38-30 loss at Idaho, capping a season that netted NSU's most wins in 49 seasons.
 
Setting school single-season records for points, touchdowns and rushing yards, Northwestern's 1988 squad was led by 17 players who received All-Southland recognition. The Demons finished with a No. 8 national ranking.
 
Prior to coaching at Northwestern, Goodwin spent two seasons as an assistant coach at the University of Arkansas, where he coached running backs and quarterbacks under Lou Holtz. Goodwin helped the Razorbacks make appearances in the Gator Bowl and the Bluebonnet Bowl.
 
Goodwin was the head coach at Southern Arkansas University in 1979 and 1980, and he was the head coach at Parkview High School in Little Rock from 1970-78. During his nine seasons at Parkview, Goodwin won 72 percent of his games and led the Patriots to five state championships.
 
A native of Pineville, Goodwin attended Pineville High School and played on the 1960 state championship football team. In his senior year, he was named team captain and played offensive guard and defensive end while weighing only 160 pounds. He only played in two games during his senior year - the first one and the last one - because of a broken ankle.
 
Dr. William Broussard, a two-time All-America center for Goodwin in 1998 and 1999, was this year's first Demon Great of the Game. Butch Ballard, the All-Louisiana quarterback in 1974, was in the spotlight at the last home game, Sept. 28 against Langston.
 
The Demon Great of the Game, presented by Exchange Bank and Trust of Natchitoches, spotlights some of the most outstanding performers in the 105-year history of NSU football. Exchange Bank has been a key supporter of NSU Athletics throughout its long history as the oldest financial institution in Natchitoches.