WONDER BOYS SET TO BEGIN TWO-GAME GSC ROAD SWING SATURDAY AT SOUTHERN ARKANSAS

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech Football is set to embark on a two-game road swing beginning Saturday when the Wonder Boys travel to Magnolia to face Southern Arkansas in a Gulf South Conference match-up. Kickoff for Saturday’s game is slated for 2:30 p.m. at Wilkins Stadium on the SAU campus.

Saturday’s contest begins a two-game road stretch against the only two winless teams remaining in the GSC standings. Southern Arkansas enters the weekend with an 0-5 overall record and an 0-3 mark in league and next Saturday’s opponent, West Georgia, is 0-5 on the season and 0-3 in the league heading into its “GSC-TV Live” match-up this Thursday at Arkansas-Monticello.

“We still have goals in front of us as a team and if we want to make the NCAA Playoffs that push begins on Saturday,” Tech Head Football Coach and Athletic Director Steve Mullins said. “We don’t have control of being able to win the league title, but our ability to make the playoffs is still in our hands.”

Tech, who is ranked seventh in the initial NCAA Division II Super Regional Two poll that was released on Monday, enters Saturday’s game sporting a 3-2 overall record and 2-1 record in the GSC after suffering a 45-24 loss last Saturday at home on Family Day to No. 2 ranked North Alabama. Tech, who trailed 24-3 at the half against the Lions, scored 21 points in the second half and had UNA’s lead down to a seven point margin twice, before the Lions scored the game’s final 14 points to seal the win.

“I was proud of our effort at times last Saturday against what I still feel like is the best team I’ve seen in my 12 years in the league,” Mullins said. “We did things to UNA that no one had been able to do to them all season and that was a positive.

“We had it to a one score game in the fourth quarter, but we didn’t take advantage of our opportunities, so I hope we learned from that experience and apply it to this weekend’s game.”

In last Saturday’s loss to UNA, Tech’s offense amassed a season-high 354 passing yards, gained 421 yards of total offense and scored 24 points against a Lion defense that came into the game allowing just 295.2 yards and 9.4 points per game. The Lions had allowed only six points on defense in the second half all season before the Wonder Boys scored 21 points.

“Our offense moved the ball well against a very good UNA defense,” the 12th-year Tech coach said. “We were able to get some big plays, two of our receivers gained over 100 yards and our offensive line didn’t allow a sack the entire game.”

Senior quarterback Cole Barthel (Decatur, Ala.) was 34-for-50 passing for 354 yards with two touchdowns and two late interceptions against UNA. The 354 yards was the fourth-highest single-game total in school history. In addition to Barthel, senior receiver Tracey Stiger (Russellville, Ark.) caught a school-record 13 passes for 121 yards and senior receiver Justin Ray (Benton, Ark.) caught seven passes for 110 yards. Stiger enters Saturday’s game leading not only the GSC, but all NCAA Division II Football with 8.4 receptions per game.

While Saturday’s opponent, Southern Arkansas, hasn’t won a game all season, the Muleriders still will present a challenge to the Wonder Boys. SAU enters Saturday’s game fresh off a 39-33 loss last Saturday at Harding, where they posted season-highs in rushing (251 yards), total offense (469 yards) and points (33).

“SAU is an offense in transition as they are moving from a wishbone-type set they’ve been running for years to more of a spread look,” Mullins said. “With that change, they’ve been plagued all season by turnovers and have put its defense into a bind with a short drives.”

On the season, SAU has had 11 interceptions and has lost 11 of its 27 fumbles through five games and enters Saturday’s game with a turnover margin of minus-12.

“We can’t go into Saturday’s game with the expectation of SAU turning the ball over like they have all season,” Mullins added.

In last Saturday’s loss to Harding, fullback Mark Johnson, this week’s GSC Offensive Player of the Week, gained 231 yards on the ground and scored four touchdowns. In addition to Johnson, quarterback Ryan McCombie was 20-for-38 passing for 218 yards and had one interception and a touchdown.  

“Their quarterback was hot during the Harding game and seemed to develop some confidence,” the Tech coach said. “SAU had a lot of good things come out of the Harding game despite the loss.”

One area of concern for Tech is SAU’s kick return game. The Muleriders are averaging 20.2 yards per kickoff return and have two returners averaging over 20 yards per return on the season. Senior safety Clarence Wright is averaging 20.8 yards per return and is averaging a team-best 104.8 all-purpose yards per game, while junior halfback Chris Metcalf is averaging 22.8 yards per kickoff return on just six returns.

“We have to be able to contain SAU’s return players,” Mullins said. “We can’t give their offense a short field to work with.”

 In addition to containing SAU’s kick return game, Mullins said that the keys for his team on Saturday are being able to handle SAU’s pressure on defense and to have our defense play a solid and smart game.

“SAU’s defense will try and create bad plays on offense due to their pressure,” the coach added. “We also need to make SAU work on offense and contain its big plays.”

Saturday’s game marks the 72nd meeting all-time in the series between the two teams that dates to 1916. Tech leads the all-time series, 41-26-4 and has won five of the last seven games in the series. The Muleriders won last season’s match-up 56-49 in Russellville. Tech leads the series 20-11-3 in Russellville and leads 21-15-1 in Magnolia, where the Wonder Boys have won two straight games. 

“Magnolia is a touch place to play, plus they have made Saturday’s contest its homecoming game,” Mullins added.

Following Saturday’s game, Tech will remain on the road for a GSC match-up at West Georgia on Saturday, Oct. 18. Kickoff for the West Georgia game is set for 1 p.m. at Grisham Stadium in Carrollton, Ga.

         Southern Arkansas Game Notes

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