WONDER BOYS FOOTBALL FALLS AT HOME ON FAMILY DAY TO
THIRD-RANKED NORTH ALABAMA

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech Football accomplished something that no other team had been able to do this season against third-ranked North Alabama here Saturday evening and that is score 21 second-half points in its 45-24 loss to the Lions in front of a Family Day crowd of 6,475 fans in Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field.

UNA came into Saturday’s game having allowed just six points defensively in the second half and just 13 points overall through five games, including shutting out its last two opponents, West Georgia and Harding. Henderson State scored on a 45-yard interception return in the fourth quarter of its 45-20 loss to the Lions on Sept. 13.

“I was proud of our team tonight. We were down 24-3 at the half and then we were able to make it a one score game going into the fourth quarter against a very good UNA football team,” Tech Head Football Coach Steve Mullins said. “The score is not indicative of the game we played.”

Tech, who fell to 3-2 overall and 2-1 in the GSC with the loss, gained 421 yards of total offense and passed for a season-high 354 yards in the loss. The 421 yards of offense was the most allowed this season by the Lions, who came into the game just allowing 295.2 yards per game.

          UNA (6-0, 4-0 GSC) opened the game’s scoring on a 12-yard run by A.J. Milwee just a little under four minutes into the contest. The Wonder Boys, though, came right back and scored on a 19-yard field goal by senior punter/kicker Michael Podobnik (Frankfort, Ill.) to complete a 13-play, 60-yard drive.

          The Lions answered Podobnik’s field goal by driving 65 yards in eight plays and scoring the game’s second touchdown on a 24-yard pass from Milwee to Joemal Campbell with 2:23 remaining in the first quarter. The lead grew to 21-3 just 90 seconds into the second quarter as David McCants scored on a 39-yard run, which came three plays after senior receiver Tracey Stiger (Russellville, Ark.) fumbled the ball on Tech’s first possession of the second quarter. UNA closed the first half with a 44-yard field goal by Tom Schneider to go into halftime with a 24-3 lead.

          “We had some chances in the first half, but we dropped several balls on first down and we didn’t execute well at times,” Mullins said.

          Tech pushed within 24-10 just a little under five minutes into the third quarter as senior quarterback Cole Barthel (Decatur, Ala.) hooked up with junior receiver Rolaundo Wright (Sulphur Springs, Texas) for a 9-yard touchdown pass to complete a 10-play, 51-yard drive. The touchdown by Wright was the first defensive points allowed by the Lions in the second half since Carson-Newman scored on a 14-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter on their Sept. 4 game.

          Following a three-and-out by UNA’s offense, the Wonder Boys drove 72 yards in 10 plays and completed the drive with a 16-yard pass from Barthel to Stiger to pull within 24-17 with 7:01 remaining in the quarter. Stiger finished the night with a school-record 13 receptions for 121 yards and also accounted for 232 all-purpose yards as he returned four kickoffs for 89 yards and two punts to 27 yards. The 13 receptions betters the old mark of 12 set by former Wonder Boy Jackson Hawkins against UCA in 1989 and moved Stiger within three of the school’s career reception mark of 143 held by former Wonder Boy Rick Thone (1968-71).

          UNA opened the final period by scoring on an 11-yard touchdown run by Milwee on a 3-and-10 play from the Tech 11-yard line to push its lead to 31-17.

          “That was ultimately the play of the game,” the 12th-year Tech coach said. “We had a chance to stop him and sack him for a loss, but we don’t do it and he goes in and scores a touchdown.”         

Following Milwee’s run, Tech comes right back and pulls within 31-24 with 8:18 remaining in the game on a 1-yard touchdown run by Barthel. The drive featured a 26-yard pass reception from Barthel to junior receiver Frantz Simeon (Belle Glade, Fla.) and a 22-yard pass reception to senior receiver Justin Ray (Benton, Ark.).

          In addition to Stiger’s 121 yards receiving, Ray finished the night with seven catches for 110 yards. It was the first time Tech had two receivers gain 100 or more yards since the Delta State game during the 2005 season.

Barthel finished the night 34-for-50 passing for 354 yards to go along with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

         UNA increased its lead to 38-24 following Barthel’s scoring run thanks to an 18-yard touchdown reception from Milwee to Campbell. The Lions closed the game’s scoring with 1:40 remaining in the game on a 10-yard touchdown run by Mike McLendon. McClendon’s run came five plays after Barthel’s first interception of the game.

         UNA, who entered the game with the No. 1 offense (555.6 yards per game) in all of Division II football, finished the night with 504 yards of offense, including gaining 283 yards of it in the first half.

         Milwee finished the night 18-for-24 passing for 219 yards and had two touchdowns and added 50 yards rushing on eight carries, while McClendon led UNA’s ground attack with a game-high 117 yards as the Lions rushed the ball 45 times for 284 yards in the win. McClendon finished the night with 189 all-purpose yards (117 rushing and 77 kick returns) and David McCants had 122 all-purpose yards (68 rushing and 54 receiving).

         The Wonder Boys return to action next Saturday, Oct. 11, when they travel to Magnolia, Ark., to face Southern Arkansas. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. at Wilkins Stadium. SAU, who collected a 56-49 win over Tech last season in Russellville, suffered a 39-33 loss Saturday night at Harding to fall to 0-5 overall on the season and 0-3 in the GSC.

        North Alabama Box Score

-- Tech Athletics --