Eric Brock said Haskell Indian Nations UniversityâÂÂs football program was âÂÂa little firecracker waiting to explodeâ shortly after becoming head coach of the Fightinâ Indians last spring.

There have been few big bangs since, but just enough that Brock continues to talk about turning around the struggling program.

âÂÂI do think the potential is still there,â Brock said. âÂÂIt doesnâÂÂt show in WâÂÂs or losses, but weâÂÂre all upbeat. The kids can see improvements.âÂÂ

The Indians (1-7) will end their season today against 0-8 Southwestern Assemblies of God U. Kickoff will be at 2 p.m. at Haskell Stadium.

The Indians do have a win Ãi¿½” a rather convincing one Ãi¿½” when Haskell snapped its 24-game losing skid with a 68-0 stomping of Trinity Bible College on Oct. 20.

The Indians fell to Colorado College, 30-0, last week after two weeks off, but Brock said that loss belies other breakthroughs for this team.

âÂÂLast year, we averaged a punt being blocked against us a game,â Brock said. âÂÂThis year weâÂÂre a hundred percent at not getting blocked and our special teams have played well.âÂÂ

Brock is also quick to note two other positives.

Junior cornerback Brett Blythe is second in the NAIA in interceptions with eight, and sophomore linebacker Matt Kalfsbeck has 69 tackles, six sacks and two interceptions.

âÂÂA lot of kids have grown up. TheyâÂÂre doing the things we asked them to do since summer drills,â Brock said. âÂÂTheyâÂÂre starting to understand why we told them those things.âÂÂ

Brock likens a win against SAGU to a stepping stone.

âÂÂTomorrowâÂÂs one big building block which we hope will be the beginning of a streak towards a positive direction,â Brock said. âÂÂI think the kids our as optimistic as I am about the future. I think theyâÂÂre starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel.âÂÂ

SAGU was thumped 42-0 last Saturday by Southern Nazarene.