ALVA, Okla.-After consecutive winning weeks at the friendly confines of Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field, the Southern Arkansas football team will take to the road this week as they embark on their longest road trip of the regular season by traveling to Alva, Okla. to take on Northwestern Oklahoma State. It will be SAU's second road game of the year with their first trip outside of Magnolia ending in a disappointing 28-21 loss at Arkansas Tech to begin the year.
Providing the next road test for the Muleriders are the Rangers of Northwestern Oklahoma State. Tonight's game figures to be a good one with a ton of energy and excitement as the Rangers are coming off of a thrilling road victory over Henderson State. In the fourth quarter alone, the lead changed hands four time and NWOSU scored the decisive touchdown with 1:32 left in the game.
The Rangers are coached by Matt Walter, who is the midst of his third year as the head coach at Northwestern Oklahoma. A NWOSU graduate and All-America football player, Walter helped the Rangers to a NAIA National Championship in 1999. In his first two seasons as head coach, Walter is 7-15 and has the Rangers off to a 1-2 start to the 2017 season. Prior to his appointment at Northwestern, Walter served the previous six years as the strength and conditioning coach as well as offensive coordinator at Emporia State in the MIAA.
This will be just the eighth meeting all-time between SAU and NWOSU and will be the fifth-straight season in which the two will face off as members of the GAC. Prior to being GAC foes, SAU and NWOSU played in 1977 and 1978 as well as in 1997.
Henderson State at SWOSU
WEATHERFORD, Okla.-Henderson State will embark on its first venture to the Sooner State in 2017 as the Reddies travel to Weatherford, Okla. to face Southwestern Oklahoma today with kickoff set for 6 p.m. Both teams have
lost their last two games with the Bulldogs losing to Southern Arkansas 38-14 last week, while the Reddies have lost back-to-back home
games.
Henderson State is making its first of three trips this year to Oklahoma this weekend. The Reddies have won 13 straight against Oklahoma opponents in games played in the Sooner State. The last loss came in Durant, Okla. on Aug. 26, 2009 when Southeastern Oklahoma beat the Reddies 54-38. Henderson is 13-1 in games played in Oklahoma since becoming a NCAA Division II member in 1993. Southwestern Oklahoma, 1-2 on the season, ranks last in the GAC in scoring averaging just 14.7 points per game and are 11th in total offense averaging 352.3 yards per contest.
Casey Freeman handles the signal calling duties, having completed 46-of-84 passes for 474 yards. The sophomore from Newcastle, Okla. had a big day against Ouachita Baptist in week two throwing for 291 yards while completing 24-of-40 passes.
The Reddies will also have to keep an eye on Dillon Bauer and Dylan Power. Bauer played two seasons at McNeese State before transferring to SWOSU. The junior from Willis, Texas has 8 receptions for 93 yards including a 6-catch, 85-yard performance against OBU.Power is a 6-5 tight end who has accumulated 70 yards on 8 catches. The senior from North Las Vegas sat out last year for medical reasons. Two years ago Power played in all 12 games and had 12 catches for
76 yards.
OBU at East Central
ADA, Okla.-The Ouachita Tigers' football team (2-1) will travel to Ada, Okla., today to face the East Central Tigers (1-2) in Great American Conference action.Ouachita heads into the game after a tough loss to Southeastern Oklahoma, while East Central has lost its last two games to Southern Nazarene and Arkansas-Monticello.Ouachita will look to bounce back this week after it was hindered by a slow start against Southeastern last week. The Tigers were down 31-14 at halftime, but gave a strong second-half performance to only lose 41-35.
Austin Warford showed off his skills at quarterback last week. Warford passed for 215 yards and ran for 101. He has nearly 800 total yards and four touchdowns over the first three games this season.
After conceding 31 points in the first half last week, the Ouachita defense came together in the second half to hold Southeastern' s offense to three second-half points. The defense will look to carry that momentum from the second half last week into this week's game. They were led Friday night by senior linebacker Elijah Jones, who had 11 tackles and a pass breakup. Jones leads the defense this season with 31 total tackles and an interception.
East Central also tasted defeat last week, but it was not in a close game. The Tigers lost to Arkansas-Monticello by a score of 49-7. Their offense was led by junior quarterback Rayjohn Austin-Ramsey, who threw for 202 yards and a touchdown. Austin-Ramsey has 354 passing yards and two touchdowns in two games of action this season.
Today's GAC Games
Oklahoma Baptist at Harding, Noon
Southern Nazarene at Arkansas Tech, 1 p.m.
Southeastern Oklahoma State at Arkansas-Monticello, 2 p.m.