WONDER BOYS SET FOR SATURDAY'S FAMILY DAY HOME GAME
WITH THIRD-RANKED NORTH ALABAMA

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech Football returns home for the first time in nearly three weeks on Saturday when it welcomes third-ranked North Alabama to Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field for a 6 p.m. Gulf South Conference match-up. The game is part of Family Day activities on the Tech campus.

Tech (3-1 on the season) and UNA (5-0 on the season) are two of the four remaining undefeated teams in the league through the first three weeks of GSC play. UNA is 3-0 in GSC play after collecting a 52-0 win last Thursday at home over Harding, while Tech is 2-0 after posting a 38-35 win last Saturday at Arkansas-Monticello thanks to a 20-yard field by senior punter/kicker Michael Podobnik (Frankfort, Ill.) with 1:55 left in the game. The other two undefeated teams in league play are No. 1 ranked Valdosta State (2-0) and No. 14 Delta State (2-0), who play each other this Thursday as part of the “GSC-TV Live” Game of the Week package in Valdosta, Ga.

          North Alabama comes into Saturday’s game with the league’s No. 1 rated offense and the No. 2 rated defense. The Lions have shut out its last two opponents by a combined margin of 105-0 and has recorded nine consecutive scoreless quarters going back to the fourth quarter of its 45-20 win over Henderson State on Sept. 13. In addition, UNA enters the game with a seven-game regular season winning streak and have won 16 straight games against Arkansas schools since losing to UCA during the 2005 season.

          “In my 12 years in the league, this is by far the best team I’ve seen,” Tech Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Steve Mullins said. “They are an outstanding team that is strong in all three phases of the game. They just don’t have any weaknesses.”

          Mullins said that UNA’s numbers could be worse, but they have shut things down in the second half of its previous two games after getting out to large leads. In addition to its 52-0 win over Harding, the Lions also posted a 53-0 win at West Georgia on Sept. 20.

          “Against Harding, they (UNA) led 49-0 at the half and then basically shut it down from that point,” the 12th-year Tech coach said.

          On the season, UNA’s defense has allowed just 45 points, with 20 of those points being scored by Henderson State. In addition, they are allowing just 295.2 yards per game and have a GSC and NCAA Division II-best +14 turnover margin. The Lions have forced 18 turnovers and have only committed four turnovers on offense this season.

          “I’m excited to see how we will do against them (UNA) on Saturday,” Mullins said.

          While its defense has pitched two consecutive shutouts and allowed only 45 points in five games, the Lions offense is averaging 555.6 yards per game and scoring 45.4 points per contest. In the win over Harding, UNA passed for a school-record 492 yards and gained 702 yards of total offense, which was its second-highest total in school history.

          UNA’s offense is spearheaded by senior quarterback A.J. Milwee, who is 26-3 as a starting quarterback for the Lions. On the season, Milwee, who was named this week’s GSC Offensive Player of the Week, is averaging 322.2 yards of total offense and is averaging 303.2 passing yards per game. He is 92-for-131 through the air for 1,516 yards and has completed nearly 70 percent of his passes and has thrown 13 touchdowns and been intercepted only two times. In addition to Milwee, UNA is led by a trio of senior receivers, including Bobby Williams, who is averaging nearly 19 yards per catch and two senior running backs, including Mike McClendon, who is averaging 120.5 all-purpose yards per game and has scored five times.

          “UNA has nine seniors and two juniors starting on offense, so they bring a lot of experience to the table,” the Tech coach said.

          Meanwhile, Tech enters Saturday’s game fresh off its finest offensive performance of the season as the Wonder Boys gained a season-high 446 yards and scored a season-high 38 points in its victory last Saturday over the Boll Weevils. 

          “I thought we had a good performance and played well, but we still didn’t play a complete game for 60 minutes,” Mullins said. “We need understand as a football team that we have to find a way to finish off an opponent when we have a chance.”

          In the win over UAM, senior quarterback Cole Barthel (Decatur, Ala.) was 21-for-34 passing for a season-high 284 yards and had three touchdown passes and threw only one interception. In addition to Barthel, senior receiver Tracey Stiger (Russellville, Ark.) caught five passes for 92 yards and scored three of Tech’s five touchdowns in the win, while junior receiver Landon Turner (Destrehan, La.) caught six passes for 71 yards.

          “Cole’s play has been steady all season and did a job of protecting the ball last time out,” the coach said. “He just goes out there and produces for our offense every game.”

          Mullins said that his team will need to play its best game of the season on Saturday against UNA and also be able match the Lions intensity early on the game as they have gotten off to fast starts the past two weeks.

          “We have a good football team, but we’re playing what I believe to be the best football team in all of Division II on Saturday,” Mullins added. “This game should be a great measuring stick for us. We have nothing to lose, all the pressure is on UNA, we just have to go out and play our game.

          “We’ll also need to match their intensity early on the game.”

          Saturday’s match-up will be the 12th all-time meeting in the series dating to 1970. UNA leads the all-time series, 8-3 and has won four straight games in the series, including last season’s 27-20 win in Russellville, since Tech’s 24-21 win in Russellville in 1999.

Following Saturday’s game, Tech will return to the road as they travel to Magnolia, Ark., to face Southern Arkansas in a 2:30 p.m. game at Wilkins Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 11.

         North Alabama Game Notes

-- Tech Athletics --