SAU hangs on, jettisons OBU

ARKADELPHIA — Ouachita Baptist and Southern Arkansas entered Saturday’s game with similar concerns.

Southern Arkansas was without its top two receivers and the Great American Conference’s leading rusher, while Ouachita Baptist held its Senior Day celebration before kickoff with 5 of the 12 recognized players in street clothes instead of pads.

“We’re beat up,” Southern Arkansas Coach Bill Keopple said.

But Keopple’s Muleriders got an 80-yard touchdown catch from one of their few healthy starters, then scored

71 28 points in a / 2- minute span en route to a 44-28 victory at A.U. Williams Field to ensure their first seven-victory season in almost a decade.

The outcome handed Ouachita Baptist (6-3, 4-3) its third consecutive loss after OBU was among the NCAA Division II top 10 and atop the GAC standings three weeks ago.

Missing for OBU were quarterback Casey Cooper, who has missed all but the season’s first game, defensive tackle Sam Dunnam and linebacker Johnathan Frink.

“We’re down a bunch of folks,” Ouachita Baptist Coch Todd Knight said.

Southern Arkansas (7-2, 52) was without leading rusher Mark Johnson and leading receiver Raphael Thomas, out with knee injuries, and third-leading receiver Montel Hardman was dismissed from the team two weeks ago.

Quarterback Tyler Sykora completed 18 of 31 passes for 336 yards and 3 touchdowns while operating from what Keopple described as a pareddown playbook.

“Whenever [Thomas] went down last week, it was a little concerning,” Sykora said. “But we had some big guys step up. It’s always nerve-wracking. But it’s OK. We came together.”

One of the few experienced receivers Sykora had with him was Jack Brown, and Sykora found Brown on an inside post in the first quarter that went 80 yards to put Southern Arkansas up 7-0.

Brown finished with 5 catches for 129 yards, but each of the other three receivers to catch passes Saturday were freshmen.

Chris Terry, who had seven catches before Saturday, caught the pass that turned the game.

Ouachita Baptist led 14-10 with 40 seconds left before halftime and had the ball on its own 20. Benson Jordan kneeled on first down, but Keopple used Southern Arkansas’ first timeout. He used another timeout after Chris Rycraw gained 1 yard on second down and Jordan threw an incomplete pass to set up a punt.

Brown returned the punt 45 yards to the Ouachita Baptist 5 and on the next play Sykora threw a fade to Terry to give Southern Arkansas a 17-14 lead at halftime.

“It’s poor coaching on my part. They had all their timeouts and we didn’t realize it,” Knight said. “It shouldn’t have happened.”

After halftime, Carlos Brown, who had 156 yards rushing in place of Johnson, scored from 2 yards out to make it 24-14 then Don Unamba intercepted a Jordan pass that Jamarlin Jackson was juggling near the Ouachita Baptist sideline and raced 66 yards to make it 31-14.

Sykora passed to Terry for 63 yards after an OBU punt and Brown scored from 4 yards out, giving Southern Arkansas its fourth touchdown in 7 minutes, 23 seconds.

“They seemed to be a little lifeless at that point,” Keopple said of the start of the second half.

The surge also forced Ouahita Baptist away from its usual offensive methods.

Rycraw averaged 109 yards rushing per game before Saturday, but finished with 46 yards on 19 rushes, and had three carries in the second half.

Jordan completed 34 of 63 passes for 372 yards with 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions while trying to bring the Tigers back. And Ty Towers, who alternated at quarterback on running downs, gained 62 yards on 12 carries and scored 2 second-half touchdowns two days after his younger brother, Zack, suffered a serious head injury while playing for Star City High School.

“The plan was to try to be balanced with [Jordan and Towers],” Knight said. “Do what we do. But when we got behind we had to throw the ball a whole lot.”

Southern Arkansa s clinched its best season since 2003 and equaled the total number of victories from Keopple’s first three seasons. That the Muleriders did it with key missing parts made it even more satisfying for Keopple.

“Last year we got into some injury situations on the defensive side and there wasn’t anybody to go to,” Keopple said. “I’m out there with freshmen [Saturday] … That means you’re a lot deeper and that means you’re program is coming.” HARDING 31, SE OKLAHOMA STATE 9

DURANT, Okla. — Harding rushed for 338 yards, blocked two field goals and returned a kickoff for a touchdown to stay on track for its first NCAA Division II playoff appearance.

Keenan Kellett rushed for 67 yards and a touchdown and Ahmad Scott also had a rushing touchdown for the Bisons. Donatella Luckett also caught a 28-yard touchdown pass from Kelvin Martin and Roderick Cohn returned an onside kick 44 yards to cap the scoring for Harding.

The Bisons (8-1, 6-1 Great American Conference), who are ranked No. 16 in NCAA Division II, play Southwestern Oklahoma State next week and a victory would likely ensure their first playoff appearance.

John Gay kicked a 27-yard field goal to make it 3-0 in the first quarter, then Martin passed to Luckett to make it 10-0.

Southeastern Oklahoma State’s Chris Peoples kicked a 19-yard field goal to make it 10-3. Later, Harding’s Ty Powell blocked a 32-yard field-goal attempt and Josh Aldridge blocked another from 28 yards out. EAST CENTRAL (OKLA.) 33, ARKANSAS TECH 30

RUSSELLVILLE — Brian Gonzalez kicked a 27-yard field goal as time expired to give East Central (Okla.) a victory in Arkansas Tech’s final home game of the season at Buerkle Field.

Gonzalez’ kick came after Tech’s Tanner Marsh threw a 7-yard touchdown pass to John Simpson to tie the game at 30-30 with 56 seconds left.

East Central (5-5, 3-4 Great American Conference) then drove 69 yards in six plays. Titus Mobley ran for 18 yards, Spencer Bond passed for 20 yards to Caleb Holley and 33 yards to LaQuan Harper to get to the Arkansas Tech 13. Justin Todd then rushed for 3 yards to set up the field goal.

Mobley rushed for 233 yards on 29 carries and Bond completed 16 of 26 passes for 225 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions for the Tigers.

Ketrich Harmon rushed for 107 yards for the Wonder Boys (5-5, 3-4) and Marsh completed 19 of 32 passes for 235 yards and 2 touchdowns. SW OKLAHOMA STATE 38, ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 21

WEATHERFORD, Okla. — Southwestern Oklahoma State rushed for 389 yards and had 594 yards of offense in handing Arkansas-Monticello its ninth consecutive loss.

Aaron Wilson had 289 yards and 2 touchdowns on 30 carries for the Bulldogs (3-6, 2-5 Great American Conference), who have won two consecutive games after losing five in a row.

Wilson’s touchdowns came on runs of 25 yards, which gave the Bulldogs a 2414 lead in the third quarter, and 1 yard in the fourth quarter to make it 38-14.

Malik Matthews caught a 7-yard touchdown pass from Damon Wicker in the fourth quarter to get within 3821, but the Boll Weevils (1-9, 0-8) didn’t get the ball back until 6 seconds remained.