First win gives Tech added lift

Arkansas Tech Coach Kyle Shipp is nowhere near being satisfied — not even a tiny bit — but there has been an extra bounce in his step this week.

Same for his Wonder Boys players and coaches.

“Definitely feels better than the last couple weeks,” Shipp said. “You see a lot more smiles on kids’ faces. It’s been a good atmosphere.”

Winning a game will do that to a program that had gone winless for eight consecutive, one week short of a calendar year.

That includes an 0-6 start to this season, Shipp’s first year as a head coach.

That made Saturday’s 2114 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State a welcome change for all involved.

“It doesn’t fix everything,” Shipp said, “but it fixes a lot. Everybody’s not as moody, including me.”

Shipp, 35, inherited a difficult situation when he took over the Arkansas Tech program in March after less than two months on the job as the Wonder Boys offensive coordinator.

He was hired by thencoach Bo Atterberry, who took over for Raymond Monica in December after Monica was fired after going 34-34 in six seasons in Russellville.

But Atterberry, who came to Arkansas Tech after being head coach at Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant, resigned and Shipp was elevated to head coach by former Athletic Director Steve Mullins.

Shipp, a former Wonder Boys player and assistant, joined Atterberry’s staff after five seasons as quarterbacks coach for the University of Arkansas-Monticello.

He did his best to keep the program together, went out and sought transfers from every corner of the college football world, and worked to keep the players Arkansas Tech already had enthused. Then, the season started and reality hit.

Arkansas Tech lost the opener at UAM 26-23 in overtime, and the Wonder Boys, though competitive at times, faltered late in games and the downward spiral reached its low point in a 4124 loss at Southern Nazarene in Week 6.

The victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State was huge, Shipp said, from the standpoint that the Wonder Boys saw positive results if they all stayed together.

“We finally didn’t implode,” said Shipp, who received calls and text messages from fellow coaches, including Todd Knight of Ouachita Baptist and Hud Jackson, Shipp’s boss at UAM.

But one victory is just that, and this week’s trip to Weatherford, Okla., is a chance for the Wonder Boys to not only win another game, but to build momentum as the season winds down.

“We need to win this game,” he said, “and even after this game, if we can figure out a way to win 4 in a row, and maybe play with Harding.”

Arkansas Tech did suffer one setback last week when quarterback Mason Cunningham, a transfer from Liberty University who had started three consecutive games, went down with a broken tibia and will have to undergo surgery.

Sophomore Carter Burcham and senior Manny Harris will split

time at quarterback for the remainder of the season — Cunningham is expected to be back in the spring — and the biggest thing for the Wonder Boys is to do what they did last week — not turn the ball over and create turnovers.

“We’re finally coming together as a team, starting to understand how to practice,” Shipp said. “The biggest thing is staying away from making stupid mistakes.”