SAU ‘D’ all about 1 at a time

Southern Arkansas University linebacker Malik Preston placed his index finger in front of his chest late Saturday night after a 27-14 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State.

SAU, ranked No. 19 in the NCAA Division II coaches poll, improved to 4-0 with the victory in Magnolia to remain tied with Ouachita Baptist University atop the Great American Conference standings.

Preston’s gesture had nothing to do with the Muleriders being No. 1 in anything.

He was simply answering a reporter’s question about how the Muleriders would continue navigating through four more weeks of playing only GAC foes from Oklahoma, until finishing the season with longtime Arkansas rivals Henderson State, OBU and ArkansasMonticello.

“One,” Preston said, drawing laughter from teammate and fellow linebacker Demarcus Pegue. “One game at a time.”

“That’s our motto,” said Pegue, a redshirt sophomore from Texarkana.

The next four weeks figure to be as much a mental grind as a physical one for the Muleriders, with two more trips to Oklahoma — vs. Oklahoma Baptist (2-2) and Southeastern Oklahoma State (2-2) — and home games against Southern Nazarene (1-3) and East Central (1-3).

Preston, a redshirt junior from Shreveport, continued holding his index finger in place.

“Never focus on anything other than the week in front of you,” he said.

SAU’s defense did that against the Rangers, forcing 4 turnovers, recording 5 sacks and limiting NWOSU to 254 offensive yards, with 166 of those yards coming on 3 plays.

It was a game that might have turned into a rout had SAU’s offense been clicking, but four times the Muleriders failed to score a point with possession inside the Rangers’ 20.

The defense didn’t mind. “In a sense,” Preston said, “I feel like it drives the defense more if the offense doesn’t produce. It means we have to, and it give us an extra boost of energy.”

Pegue, who shares time with Preston, added: “And once we get that extra boost of energy, it transfers to the offense and gets them going.”

Preston and Pegue don’t get top billing on SAU’s defense, which is allowing 12.2 points and 287 yards

per game.

The Muleriders’ headliner is defensive end DaVondrick Lison, a Division II All-American who was named Great American Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his efforts last Saturday — 8 tackles, 5 unassisted, 2.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss.

Preston and Pegue combined for 4 tackles for loss, including Preston’s trifecta of sacking NWOSU quarterback Isaiah Weed, forcing him to fumble and then recovering the loose ball at the Rangers’ 2.