Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
TODAY’S GREAT AMERICAN CONFERENCE GAMES
OUACHITA BAPTIST AT HENDERSON STATE
WHEN 1 p.m.
WHERE Carpenter-Haygood Stadium, Arkadelphia
RADIO Henderson State Sports Network: 100.9-FM KDEL and 1240-AM KVRC in Arkadelphia, 99.7-FM KWPS in Hot Springs, 106.9-FM KYXK in Gurdon, 104.1-FM KZYP/1310-AM in Malvern, 99.3-FM KAFN/690-AM in Benton; Ouachita Football Network: 101.1-FM, KDXE in Little Rock (flagship), KUOAAM, 1290 and KUOA-FM, 97.7 in Siloam Springs, KCXY-FM, 95.3, Camden, KZNG-FM, 105.5 and KZNG-AM, 1340, Hot Springs, KNAS-FM, 105.5, Nashville, KQOR-FM, 105.3, Mena; 99.1-FM KVMZ in Magnolia
INTERNET obutigers.com, hsusports. com
RECORDS Ouachita Baptist (10-0, 10-0 GAC); Henderson State (5-5, 5-5)
COACHES Todd Knight (110-94 at OBU in 20th season, 138-126-2 in 26th season overall; Scott Maxfield (99-53 in 14th season at Henderson State, 128-65 in 17th season overall) SERIES Henderson State leads 43-42-6
LAST MEETING Ouachita won 49-42 at Cliff Harris Stadium in Arkadelphia
COMMENTS Henderson State’s Scott Maxfield is under no illusion that beating Ouachita Baptist in the 92nd Battle of the Ravine will come easily, if at all, for the Reddies. “We’ll have to play flawless,” Maxfield said. “We can’t turn it over.” … OBU doesn’t make many mistakes, turning the ball over six times in 10 games. No team in NCAA Division II has turned it over fewer times. Even OBU’s passing attack, an apparent weakness — 114.8 yards per game — is not really a weakness. Redshirt freshman quarterback Brayden Brazeal (80-126 passing, 988, 5 TDs) is averaging 8 completions per game, but he is completing more than 63 percent of his attempts and has rushed for 411 yards and 5 touchdowns. “He probably throws it better than people think,” Maxfield said. … The Tigers have intercepted 17 passes (No. 3 in Division II), thrown 1 interception (No. 2), are No. 2 in net punting (39.9 ypp), allowed the third-fewest tackles for loss (3.4 pg), rank No. 9 in rushing offense (278.2 ypg), No. 3 in pass efficiency defense and No. 4 in turnover margin (+1.60 per game). The Tigers have allowed nine touchdowns. OBU Coach Todd Knight said, “We can give up all the field goals you want. Don’t give up touchdowns.” Knight, however, knows the Reddies will come out blazing. “Those guys over there, you can never count them out.” … Knight is 9-8 against the Reddies in his 20 seasons at OBU — the teams didn’t play in 2004 and 2005 because of Gulf South Conference scheduling — and is 5-7 in 12 meetings with Maxfield. Knight, who won his 100th game a year ago against the Reddies, ended Henderson State’s streak of 8 consecutive victories in his first season in 1999. … Maxfield, who has been stuck on 99 victories since Henderson State beat Southeastern Oklahoma State three weeks ago, said winning is important beyond any milestone he can reach. “We’ve been lucky to have a great run,” Maxfield said, “and we have to get back to starting another great run.”
ARKANSAS TECH AT HARDING
WHEN 2 p.m.
WHERE First Security Stadium, Searcy
RADIO Harding: 95.3-FM KVHU in Searcy; 102.3-FM KCJC, Russellville INTERNET hardingsports.com, arkansastechsports.com
RECORDS Harding (8-2, 8-2 GAC); Arkansas Tech (3-7, 3-7)
COACHES Paul Simmons (19-6 in second season at Harding and overall); Raymond Monica (34-33 in sixth seasons at Arkansas Tech, 79-67 in 12th season overall; SERIES Arkansas Tech leads 31-24 LAST MEETING Harding won 24-17 in Russellville
COMMENTS It’s possible that Harding will finish 9-2 and be left out of the 28team Division II playoff bracket, which will be announced Sunday afternoon. The Bisons, who have been in the AFCA Top 25 all season, moved up to No. 8 in the Super Region III rankings earlier this week. Harding’s 24-10 victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State, combined with Pittsburg State’s upset loss to Washburn has Coach Paul Simmons’ team in a situation similar to the one it faced last season. Harding entered the final week of the regular season with a 7-3 record and sitting at No. 8, one spot behind Arkansas Tech. It turned out to be an unofficial playin game, as Harding moved to No. 7 with its victory over the Wonder Boys and went on to win three road games before losing in the national semifinals. Harding has a better overall record this time but does not have as clear a path to the playoffs. One of the teams ranked ahead of it — Southern Arkansas (8-2), Northwest Missouri State (8-2) or Fort Hays State (8-2) would most likely need to lose to open a spot for the Bisons. … Simmons said he knows that a victory is far from guaranteed against its rival from Russellville. “It doesn’t matter what anybody else in the country does if we don’t get it done,” Simmons said. … Arkansas Tech has senior running back Bryan Allen, the GAC’s leading rusher (840 yards), who has 3,551 career rushing yards. Allen ranks No. 2 all-time at Arkansas Tech behind Larry Brown (3,606 yards) and No. 2 in the GAC behind OBU’s still active Kris Oliver (3,619 yards). … Harding sophomore Cole Chancey (734 yards, 12 TDs) leads a Bisons’ Flexbone offense that is No. 1 in Division II in rushing (347.1 ypg). … Harding’s defense is one of the best in Division II, ranking No. 4 against the rush (68.7 ypg), No. 2 in yards allowed (227.0 ypg) and No. 3 in scoring (11.4 ppg).
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS AT ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO
WHEN 3 p.m.
WHERE Willis “Convoy” Leslie Boll Weevil Stadium, Monticello
RADIO 93.7-FM KHBM (southeast Arkansas); 99.1-FM KVMZ in Magnolia INTERNET muleridersports.com, uamsports.com
RECORDS SAU (8-2, 8-2 GAC), Arkansas-Monticello (5-5, 5-5)
COACHES Hud Jackson (28-58 in eighth season at UAM) and overall; Bill Keopple (57-48 in 10th season at SAU and overall).
SERIES SAU leads 57-35-1 LAST MEETING SAU won 51-20 in Magnolia
COMMENTS SAU lost 35-10 last week to Ouachita Baptist, a game where a victory could have propelled the Muleriders to a share of the Great American Conference title. The Muleriders got stuffed on back-to-back third-and-short attempts on their first two drives, and then had drives stall at least two other times when shotgun snaps were not handled cleanly and turned into lost yardage. “You can’t make mistakes like that in a game like this,” SAU Coach Bill Keopple said. The good news for SAU is that even though it dropped out of the AFCA Top 25 for the first time since Week 2, the Muleriders remained in the top seven of the NCAA Division II Super Region III rankings. SAU’s 28-23 victory over Harding in Week 2 gives the Muleriders the head-to-head edge over the Bisons and a victory today over UAM will more than likely put SAU in the 28-team Division II playoff field. … Hud Jackson’s UAM teams have finished 5-6 three times in his first seven seasons, and the Boll Weevils can either finish 5-6 again or record their first winning season since going 7-4 under Gwaine Mathews in 2008. … Senior quarterbacks Cole Sears of UAM and Barrett Renner of SAU are two of the GAC’s top quarterbacks, and Renner’s college career will likely continue in the playoffs if SAU wins, Sears will be playing his last game. Renner (194-292 passing, 2,525 yards, 19 TDs, 8 INTs.) is second in the GAC in passing yards per game (252.5) while Sears (173-322, 2,369 yards, 15 TDs, 9 INTs) is No. 3 at 236.9 yards per game. … Both quarterbacks possess big-play threats. Renner has Karonce Higgins (61-1,008 yards, 8 TDs) and Jared Lancaster (43-471, 4 TDs); Sears has CJ Parham (451 yards, 6 TDs) and DeAndre Washington (549 yards, 6 TDs).