Muleriders aim to continue winning
MAGNOLIA, Ark.—The Southern Arkansas football team will be looking to build off of their first win of the season as the Muleriders convincingly beat reigning Great American Conference Champion, Harding, 35-24 last week.
The win came on SAU's home-opener of the 2017 season, and thanks to it also being Family Day on campus, an over-flow crowd of 6,735 were in attendance to see it. This week, the Muleriders (1-1, 1-1 GAC) will remain at home and play their second-consecutive game at Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field.
That will be an advantage for the Muleriders as they have made their home venue one of the most difficult places to play for opponents. Heading into the season, SAU was 19-3 at home since the start of the 2012 season and with their win against Harding, that mark has improved to 20-3.
SAU's opponent will be Southwestern Oklahoma and the Bulldogs (1-1, 1-1 GAC) will be looking to bounce back from a loss their last time out as they dropped their home-opener to Ouachita, 38-10. The Bulldogs are coached by Dan Cocannouer, who is into his ninth season with SWOSU.
In his eight previous years, Cocannouer has amassed a 34-53 overall record. Last year, Cocannouer's Bulldogs went 5-6 and finished seventh in the GAC. The year prior, however, Cocannouer had his best season on the sidelines for SWOSU as he led the Bulldogs to an 8-4 record and an appearance in the 2015 Live United Bowl in Texarkana.
SEOSU at OBU
ARKADELPHIA, Ark.— After defeating Southwestern Oklahoma State on the road last week, the Ouachita Tigers' football team will come back to Cliff Harris Stadium at 6 p.m. today to face the Southeastern Oklahoma State Savage Storm.
Both teams head into this game undefeated—the Tigers have defeated both Southwestern and Northwestern Oklahoma State, while the Storm has defeated Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist.
Ouachita expects to ride a wave of momentum into Saturday's game after a big win last weekend. The Tigers defeated SWOSU by a score of 38-10 and scored all five of their touchdowns on the ground. The Tigers only led 10-7 at halftime, but outscored their opponents 28-3 in the second half to produce a lopsided final score. Wide receiver Drew Harris led the Tigers in scoring with three touchdowns. Ouachita's defense did a stellar job against SWOSU in holding the Bulldogs to 10 points.
Southeastern, on the other hand, is coming off of a close victory over Oklahoma Baptist. It took a late rushing touchdown from Kenneth Burks to secure a 21-17 victory for the Storm. A hard-fought victory for Southeastern should provide them with adequate momentum for this game.
The Storm will have to focus their momentum on stopping the Tigers' stellar rushing attack. The team has rushed for 487 yards this season with an average of 5.9 yards-per-carry. Quarterback Austin Warford and running back Shun'cee Thomas lead the team with over 150 rushing yards a piece, while expected starting running back Kris Oliver played a limited role last week as he returns from an injury he sustained in week one.
The Tigers' defense has been led by middle linebacker Elijah Jones so far this season. Jones has produced 20 total tackles and an interception. Fellow linebackers Luke Holt and Jon Johnson help lead the line with 17 and 12 total tackles respectively.
Southeastern's style of play this season has been centered around a balanced offense and a strong defense. The Savage Storm gained over 1000 yards in their first two games, while maintaining a plus-three turnover margin. The defense has only allowed an average of 127.5 passing yards over their first two games.
NWOSU at HSU
ARKADELPHIA, Ark.— Henderson State Athletics will pay tribute to the Armed Forces as it hosts Military Appreciation Day on Saturday as the Reddies take on Northwestern Oklahoma with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium/ Ruggles Field.
All active and retired military personnel and their immediate family members will be admitted to the game free of charge with the presentation of a valid Military Identification Card. The Reddies Football coaching staff will also honor those who serve and have served our country by wearing military camouflage hats during the game.
A limited supply of these camouflage hats will be on sale for $20 at the game located at the Reddie Bookstore tent at the north end of the stadium, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Henderson ROTC program.
Northwestern Oklahoma brings to Arkadelphia another explosive offensive team that has lost its first two games by a combined total of five points. It will be the Rangers' second trip to Arkadelphia in three weeks as they lost the season opener to Ouachita Baptist 31-28 on August 30.
The Rangers have put up some solid numbers offensively averaging 428 yards and 31.5 points per contest.
Defensively the Rangers have surrendered 469 yards and 34 points per game to begin the season.
Today’s GAC Games
Oklahoma Baptist at Arkansas Tech, 6 p.m. East Central at Arkansas-Monticello Southern Nazarene at Harding, 6 p.m.