NATCHITOCHES – Al Phillips, a record-shattering receiver from 1967-70 for the Northwestern State football team, is the first Exchange Bank Demon Great of the Game for 2016.

Phillips will be recognized as the Exchange Bank Demon Great of the Game during NSU's home opener Thursday evening at Turpin Stadium. He will be introduced during the first quarter of the Demons' 6 p.m. contest against Incarnate Word, the Southland Conference debut for both teams.
 
A member of the Top 100 Demon Players of All Time roster selected for the 2007 NSU football centennial celebration, Phillips was a three-time All-Gulf States Conference standout who played for coach Glenn Gossett's Demons. He was a redshirt on coach Jack Clayton's unbeaten 1966 team.
 
Phillips set 14 school records. He is still tops in school history with 10 touchdown catches in a season (1968). He averaged 27.9 yards on kickoff returns as a senior and 25.2 for his career.
 
The 1989 N-Club Hall of Fame inductee was so skilled that the Demons used him both ways in his senior season. He played defense in the secondary in passing situations in 1970.
 
A Demon Great of the Game is spotlighted at each NSU home football game. Former NFL players Petey Perot and Keith Thibodeaux, iconic two-sport letterman and beloved coach Johnnie Emmons, two-sport professional athlete Steve Graf and another two-sport legend, major league baseball pitcher Jim Willis, were NSU greats honored at home games this season.

In its first three years, the Demon Great of the Game presented by Exchange Bank and Trust of Natchitoches honored 17 of the most outstanding performers in the 108-year history of NSU athletics. Exchange Bank has been a key supporter of NSU Athletics throughout its long history as the oldest financial institution in Natchitoches.