Defenses see double along line
The Pledger and Goosenberry twins don’t play on the same offensive line, and that’s a good thing for defensive units in the Great American Conference.
But the Pledgers and Goosenberrys will be on the same field Saturday night when Ouachita Baptist University, ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Division II coaches poll, plays No. 19 Harding University in a pivotal GAC game at First Security Field in Searcy. It’s not just a novelty. The Pledgers — Heath (6-1, 300 pounds) and Keith (6-1, 270) — man the offensive guard positions for Harding, the top-ranked rushing offense in Division II (336.8 yards per game).
The Goosenberrys — Justin (6-4, 250) and Corey (6-3, 240) — are entrenched at tackle for an offense that ranks second in the GAC and 10th in Division II in rushing (285.5 ypg).
Both Justin and Corey were first-team all-GAC players last season.
“They are a critical part of our offense,” Ouachita Baptist Coach Todd Knight said of Justin and Corey, juniors from Episcopal Collegiate in Little Rock. “They practice hard and have fun playing the game.”
The Pledgers, who played at Cabot, have yet to draw conference honors, but they are good enough to be starting their 16th consecutive game together Saturday. Keith will be making his 35th consecutive start.
“Our twins are really good,” Harding Coach Paul Simmons said, “and their twins are really good.”
Simmons said the twins
story line was “interesting” and Knight called it “unique” in a game matching two of the GAC’s top three teams.
“That’s four really good players,” Knight said. “I know that.”
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Justin Goosenberry said he didn’t feel as though he played one of his better games last Saturday when Ouachita Baptist defeated Arkansas Tech 24-7 at Cliff Harris Stadium in Arkadelphia.
But that didn’t stop OBU running back Kris Oliver from riding the 6-4, 250-pound right tackle into the end zone for the game’s first touchdown on a 1-yard leap onto Goosenberry’s back.
“He’s pretty tall,” Oliver said. “I knew if I could get over him, I’d make it to the end zone.”
Goosenberry said he told Oliver and the Tigers’ other running backs to follow him and Corey, his twin brother.
“Go between me and Corey,” Justin Goosenberry said. “There’s going to be a hole there.”
Flag football
If the fans at Cliff Harris Stadium got tired of seeing plays called back in the first quarter of last Saturday’s Arkansas TechOuachita Baptist game, just imagine how it felt to play in a quarter slowed by 10 infractions for 105 yards, including 6 penalties for 81 yards against OBU.
“That was the longest first quarter ever,” running back Kris Oliver said.
Arkansas Tech Coach Raymond Monica said the penalties — which included an offensive face mask against Oliver that negated a 17-yard run and two chop-block infractions — were OK with him.
“They needed to be called,” Monica said. “If you are holding, it needs to be called.”
Things settled down a bit in the final three quarters, and the teams combined for 17 penalties for 170 yards, including 9-109 by OBU.
All good pub
OK, so Mike Tirico, NBC’s studio host for Sunday Night Football, didn’t quite pronounce the school name correctly.
Tirico said “Ouachitats” instead of “Ouachita” when introducing video of last Saturday’s 100yard interception return by Keandre Evans during halftime of the Baltimore-Pittsburgh NFL game.
Sen. John Boozman, R-Ark., took time out of his schedule to tweet about it Monday, with a goodnatured poke at Tirico: “Psst @miketirico: it’s ‘Wash-i-tah.’ ”
Didn’t matter to Ouachita Baptist Coach Todd Knight.
“How could that be bad?” asked Knight. “I don’t know how else you’re going to get that kind of national exposure.”
Evans, from Junction City, also gained regional exposure as the GAC Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in the 24-7 victory over Arkansas Tech.
Muleriders hold on
Southern Arkansas University (5-0 GAC) moved up to No. 17 in the Division II coaches poll after winning a 5545 shootout on the road against Oklahoma Baptist.
SAU came into last Saturday’s game ranked 11th nationally in scoring defense (12.3 points per game), 28th in total defense (287.0 ypg) and 29th in passing yards per game (156).
But all those numbers took a hit as Oklahoma Baptist quarterback Preston Haire completed 39 of 60 passes for 476 yards and 5 touchdowns.
“They exposed us,” SAU Coach Bill Keopple said of the Muleriders defense. “We couldn’t get to their quarterback.”
Keopple added: “We needed to get humbled a bit.”
SAU’s offense, which was spotty in a 27-14 victory over Northwest Oklahoma State the previous week, totaled 611 yards, including 387 passing yards and 3 touchdown passes from senior quarterback Barrett Renner and two 100yard rushers — Lorenzo Alexander and SirAnthony Perkins.
“We got our offense’s attention,” Keopple said.
Renner (11,360 career passing yards, 108 touchdowns) is chasing Henderson State’s Kevin Rodgers (13,678 yards, 124 TDs) for the all-time record for passing yards and touchdowns by an Arkansas collegiate quarterback and the all-time GAC record.