WONDER BOYS RECEIVE ONE VOTE IN THIS WEEK'S AFCA
DIVISION II FOOTBALL COACHES' POLL

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Thanks to its 38-35 win on Saturday at Arkansas-Monticello, the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys received one vote in this week’s sixth American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) Division II Coaches’ Poll, which was released on Tuesday.

Tech earned one vote in this week’s poll to place them 14th among the 16 teams receiving votes in this week’s poll. It is the first time Tech has received votes in the AFCA poll since they received 13 votes in the final poll of the 2006 season.

Four Gulf South Conference schools, including Tech, are either ranked or receiving votes in this week’s sixth poll of the regular season. Defending NCAA Division II Champion Valdosta State (4-0, 2-0 GSC) continues to headline the poll as the Blazers received 640 points and 21 out of a possible 26 first-place votes. North Alabama (5-0, 3-0 GSC) remains third in this week’s poll as they earned 601 points and one first-place vote, while Delta State (3-1, 2-0 GSC) jumps three spots to No. 14 this week after picking up a 35-17 home win last Saturday over Ouachita Baptist. The Statesmen, the defending GSC Champions, earned 297 points in this week’s poll. Tech was the only GSC school to receive votes in this week’s poll, after Ouachita Baptist and Arkansas-Monticello received votes last week.

This week’s sixth poll features 13 teams with unblemished records and saw only one new team (Ferris State) move into the Top 25.

Valdosta State leads the poll and is followed by Grand Valley State (4-0) at No. 2 as the Lakers earned 619 points and two first-place votes, while North Alabama is ranked third and Abilene Christian (4-0) remains fourth as they received the final two first-place votes. West Texas A&M (5-0) rounds out the Top 5 at No. 5 after moving up spot following its 55-35 win last weekend over Texas A&M-Kingsville.

Pittsburg State (5-0) jumps up one spot to No. 6 after posting a 49-28 win last weekend over then-No. 19 Central Missouri and is followed by Northwest Missouri State (4-1) at No. 7, Bloomsburg [PA] (5-0) at No. 8. California [PA] (4-1) climbs five spots to No. 9 and Minnesota-Duluth (5-0) advances five spots to No. 10 to round out the Top 10 this week.

The next 10 is headlined by Tuskegee (4-0) at No. 11 and is followed by Central Washington (4-1) at No. 12 and Tarleton State (5-0) at No. 13. Delta State is 14th, while Chadron State (4-1) moves up three spots to No. 15 and Nebraska-Omaha (3-1) falls 11 spots to No. 16 after its 42-0 loss last weekend to then-No. 8 Northwest Missouri State. Midwestern State (4-0) climbs four spots to No. 17, while Wingate (5-0) moves up four spots to No. 18 and is followed by Indiana [PA] (3-1) at No. 19 and Catawba [NC] (3-1) at No. 20.

The final five begins with Edinboro [PA] (4-1) at No. 21 and is followed by Central Missouri (4-1) at No. 22 and Carson-Newman (2-2) at No. 23. West Virginia State (4-0) and Ferris State (4-1) round out this week’s poll at Nos. 24 and 25 respectively.

 Tech returns to action on Saturday, Oct. 4, when they host No. 3 ranked North Alabama in a 6 p.m. match-up in Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field. The game will be part of Family Day activities on the Tech campus. Last season, UNA picked up a 27-20 win over the Wonder Boys in Russellville.

        Other Tech Football News:

* - With its 38-35 win on Saturday over Arkansas-Monticello, Tech opened GSC play with a 2-0 mark for the first time since the 2005 season and the sixth time overall since joining the league in 1995.

* - Senior receiver Tracey Stiger (Russellville, Ark.) extended his pass catching streak to 22 consecutive games with his five receptions against UAM. In that same game, Stiger also scored three touchdowns, becoming the first Wonder Boy to score three touchdowns in a game this season. In addition to extending his pass catching streak, Stiger moved into second place on the school’s career receptions list (127) and moved to ninth on the school’s all-time receiving yardage chart (1,355 yards). He is now just 16 receptions and 975 yards shy of the school’s all-time receptions (143) and receiving yards mark (2,330 yards), which are both held by Rick Thone (1968-71).

* - In the latest NCAA Division II statistics, Tech is ranked 38th nationally in passing offense (251.5 yards per game), 45th in net punting (33.9 yards per game) and 46th in total offense (390.8 yards per game). In addition, Stiger is 10th nationally in receptions per game (7.3) and 20th in all-purpose yards (150.5 yards per game), while senior quarterback Cole Barthel (Decatur, Ala.) is 24th nationally in total offense (265.5 yards per game).  

Complete AFCA Division II Coaches' Poll

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