SAU downs Henderson, sets up OBU showdown

EL DORADO — Southern Arkansas University Coach Bill Keopple didn’t channel his inner Nick Saban after the Muleriders defeated old rival Henderson State 34-14 on Saturday at Memorial Stadium in front of 4,719 fans.

Keopple didn’t want to dwell on some negative aspects that occurred in the second half of Saturday’s Murphy USA Classic after the Muleriders rolled to a 34-0 halftime lead.

“I’m pleased with the whole thing,” Keopple said after the Muleriders beat the Reddies for the second time in three seasons. “Anybody not pleased with a 34-14 victory over their arch-rival … something’s wrong with you.”

Keopple will take the victory, sloppy second half and all, as the Muleriders (8-1, No. 6 in Region III) head into next Saturday’s Great American Conference showdown with 9-0 Ouachita Baptist back on track after losing 21-0 at Southeastern Oklahoma State two weeks ago.

“There’s a different mindset when you’re up 34 to nothing,” Keopple said. “We were just trying to run the clock down. We were just trying to not beat ourselves, even though we did a little bit.”

All Keopple had to do was look at the final statistics to shrug off a second half when senior quarterback Barrett Renner threw 2 interceptions — one of which was returned for a 100-yard touchdown by Henderson’s Malik Brown; the zero points the Muleriders scored in the final 30 minutes; or the 85 penalty yards endured after a flag-free first half.

SAU outgained Henderson State (5-4) 492-163, including 196-59 on the ground and 296104 in the air.

The Muleriders ran more plays (77-44), dominated time of possession (42:39-17:21) and picked up more first downs (28-10).

Renner (21-31 passing, 296 yards, 1 TD) was sharp in the first half, completing 16 of 22 passes for 238 yards, including a 38-yard score to Karonce Higgins that gave the Muleriders a 34-0 lead with 43 seconds to play in the second quarter.

SAU took advantage of two Reddies turnovers — Lorenzo Watkins’ first-quarter interception of a Richard Stammetti pass that ended Henderson State’s first drive into Muleriders’ territory and Brock Floyd’s recovery of Querale Hall’s fumble on the Reddies’ third possession.

The Muleriders led 6-0 after Austin Wilkerson kicked field goals of 36 and 21 yards on their first two drives, then scored touchdowns after the back-to-back turnovers to take a 20-0 lead with 11:33 to play in the first half.

SAU added another touchdown, a 1-yard run by Lorenzo Alexander (23-89 rushing) after a 12-play, 88-yard drive with 2:29 to play in the half.

The Muleriders forced a punt and had enough time to go 61 yards in 3 plays, the last 38 coming on the pass from Renner to Higgins (6-123 receiving).

“I think the offense is coming around,” Renner said. “We need to do this every week.”

SAU outgained Henderson State 317-80 in a first half dominated as much by the Muleriders’ defense as it was by the offense.

“The first half was just magical,” linebacker Malik Preston said.

The second half, while not as clean, was fine with Keopple.

“You’re not going to keep wheeling and dealing and run it up on a team like that,” Keopple said. “That’s still a good football team. It just wasn’t their day.”

Ouachita Baptist (9-0, 9-0 GAC) was never threatened in its victory over Arkansas-Monticello (4-5, 4-5) at Willis “Convoy” Leslie Cotton Bowl Stadium.

The Tigers led 28-0 at halftime on the strength of three rushing touchdowns from three different players, and a 20yard scoring pass from Brayden Brazeal to Allie Freeman.

After the Boll Weevils trimmed the deficit to 28-10 midway through the fourth quarter, Brazeal set the final margin with a 15-yard touchdown run with 3:20 left.

Drew Harris’ 6-yard touchdown run opened the scoring in the first quarter. That was followed by a 64-yard jaunt by Shun’cee Thomas that gave the Tigers a 14-0 lead.

Brazeal’s scoring strike to Freeman made it 21-0 with 8:30 left in the second quarter before Brockton Brown went over from the 2 with 56 seconds left before intermission.

The Boll Weevils’ fourth-quarter scores came on Josh Marini’s 27-yard field goal and Cole Sears’ 70-yard touchdown pass to C.J. Parham with 7:55 remaining.

A 12-yard touchdown pass from Manny Harris to Tremel Glasper in the first quarter was the game’s only touchdown as Arkansas Tech (3-6, 3-6 GAC) defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State (5-4, 5-4) at Paul Laird Field in Durant, Okla.

The Savage Storm stopped the Wonder Boys on fourth down at the Southeastern Oklahoma 1 on Arkansas Tech’s first drive, a 10-play, 80-yard series.

The Wonder Boys got the ball back at the Southeastern Oklahoma 36 after holding the Savage Storm to no yards on their ensuing possession and forcing a punt. Arkansas Tech had a 3-yard Harris touchdown run called back because of a holding penalty, but the junior quarterback found Glasper two plays later to give the Wonder Boys a 7-0 lead after Tyler Dunlop’s extra point.

Southeastern Oklahoma’s Joel Carlos kicked a 43-yard field goal in the third quarter and a 33-yarder in the fourth for the Savage Storm’s only points as the Arkansas Tech defense limited its host to 277 total yards and forced 8 punts.

Dunlop’s 21-yard field goal came with 9:25 left in the fourth quarter and capped an 11-play, 54-yard drive to give the Wonder Boys a 10-3 lead before Carlos’ final field goal.

Harding (7-2, 7-2 GAC) ran for 564 yards and 35 first downs in its blowout victory over East Central (2-7, 2-7) at Koi Ishto Stadium in Ada, Okla.

The Bisons had five players with at least 65 yards on the ground, led by Tristan Tucker’s 108 yards on 7 carries (15.4 ypc). Malik Mathews had 100 yards on 7 attempts (14.3 ypc) and 1 touchdown. Cole Chancey added 95 yards and 3 short scores on 18 attempts for the Bisons, who also got 71 yards on the ground by Taylor Bissell and 65 from Jesse Honnas.

Harding quarterback Preston Paden rushed for 47 yards and 1 touchdown, and completed 1 of 2 passes for 33 yards.

The Bisons opened a 21-0 halftime lead on a pair of touchdown runs by Chancey and another by Paden.

Chancey opened the third quarter with a 1-yard score, followed by a 23-yard touchdown run by Mathews that made it 35-0.

After East Central scored on a 16-yard touchdown pass to begin the fourth quarter, the Bisons got a short touchdown by Romar Reades before Honnas went 38 yards for the final score.