Tigers host Muleriders for senior day, showcase

ARKADELPHIA — Ouachita Baptist will host Southern Arkansas today at Cliff Harris Stadium in a matchup between the top two teams in the Great American Conference.

Ouachita (9-0) is ranked No. 4 in NCAA Division II by both the American Football Coaches Association and D2Football.com. The Muleriders (8-1) are ranked No. 20 in both polls.

Kickoff is set for 1:05 p.m. The ticket office will be open at 10:30 a.m.

The game will be featured as one of the NCAA Division II Showcase Games of the Week. Coverage can be found on the GAC YouTube channel, as well as the Facebook pages for Division II, GAC and Ouachita, the Division II Twitter account and the Division II Periscope channel.

A win for Ouachita would give the Tigers their third consecutive victory over the Muleriders and a second straight GAC title. A win for Southern Arkansas would give the Muleriders their first GAC title.

Ouachita escaped El Dorado with a comeback victory over Southern Arkansas a year ago in the Murphy USA Classic. The Tigers used 21 points in the fourth quarter to overcome the late deficit.

Today’s game will be the 72nd meeting between the two schools with Ouachita holding a 36-34-1 lead in the series. The Tigers are 22-5 at home since Cliff Harris Stadium was renamed in 2014 to honor the former Ouachita defensive back. They have outscored their opponents, 148-15, in Arkadelphia this season.

Ouachita is coming off of a 35-10 road victory at Arkansas-Monticello (4-5). The Tigers scored 28 points in the first half.

The trio of running backs Kris Oli-

ver, Shun’cee Thomas and Brockton Brown have combined for

1,816 rushing yards and 23 touchdowns this year. The rushing attack currently averages 282 yards per game, ranking eighth in the country. The offense has had at least one back run for 140 or more yards in each of the past three games.

Redshirt freshman quarterback Brayden Brazeal has completed 62 percent of his passes and averages 98 yards per game. He has thrown four touchdown passes and run for an additional four scores. Allie Freeman has been Brazeal’s top receiver with

37 catches for 384 yards.

Ouachita is ranked No. 1 in the country in scoring defense after limiting opponents to just 9.6 points per game. The unit has recorded 47 tackles for a loss and 15 sacks while batting away 41 passes in the secondary.

Defensive back Keandre Evans and Airric Parker have emerged as leaders in the secondary. The defense has made 16 interceptions through the first nine games.

Parker leads the team in total tackles with 40.5. Evans has four interceptions and 11 pass breakups.

Cole Antley has connected on 10 of his 11 field goal attempts with a long of 45 yards. Jake Ford leads the nation in net punting average at 40.8 yards per kick. For has had three kicks go at least

50 yards and 19 punts have been downed inside the 20-yard line. Southern Arkansas defeated Henderson State (5-4), 34-14, a week ago at this year’s Murphy USA Classic. Senior quarterback Barrett Renner threw for 296 yards. Sophomore Lorenzo Alexander rushed for 83 yards and a pair of touchdowns.