September 12th, 2024 6:00am
Week one is in the books and we’re on to week two in the Great American Conference. All games this week involve a team who won their opener and a team who lost their opener. And once again, all games are coming at you in prime time, with a special Thursday night special in Alva as well.
Let’s first take a look at the players of the week from week one as announced by the conference office.
Offensive Player of the Week – Judd Barton, QB, Southern Arkansas, Jr., Alexandria, Louisiana
Barton completed 16-of-22 passes for 208 yards and ran for 89 yards as the Muleriders overcame a 14-point deficit for a 36-31 road win against Southeastern Oklahoma State. He threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jakarion Lockett and connected with Kadyn Roach on an 82-yard go-ahead touchdown early in the fourth quarter.
Defensive Player of the Week – Mikey Gonzalez, DE, Ouachita Baptist, Sr., Tampa, Florida
Gonzalez picked up eight tackles in the Tigers’ 42-3 home victory against Southwestern Oklahoma State. He registered 3.5 tackles-for-loss - including two sacks. He forced a fumble on a sack on the opening series of the second half. The Tiger defense registered 17 tackles for loss as they won their 17th-straight home opener.
Special Teams Player of the Week – Magnus Lepak, K, Harding, So., Tulsa, Oklahoma
Lepak made all nine of his kicks in the Bisons’ 59-0 home triumph against Southern Nazarene. In addition to eight extra points, he made a 33-yard field goal. On his 10 kickoffs, he finished with four touchbacks. The Crimson Storm gained a total of only nine return yards.
Thursday, Sept. 12
No. 17 Ouachita Baptist (1-0) at Northwestern OSU (0-1)
The Tigers had the ball for just over 20 minutes last week, but didn’t need much possession time to put a beatdown on SWOSU. We’ll see if there are more explosive plays in the books for Ouachita this week against the Rangers or if a more methodical approach is in order. The Tigers didn’t run the ball exceptionally well last week, so that’s something to keep an eye on, especially given some of the inconsistencies we saw in the run game last year from this bunch. The Rangers had a hard time containing Arkansas-Monticello last week, especially in the first half. However, the second half was a much better performance, so we’ll see if Jerry Glanville’s bunch can continue the momentum in the home opener.
Offensively, the Rangers could be in for a world of hurt. Ouachita racked up 17 tackles for loss last week while NWOSU gave up seven sacks to UAM. Needless to say, the Ouachita front is a bit scarier than the Weevils, and that says more about the Tigers than Monticello. There must be improvement up front if the Rangers are going to be able to execute at all on offense. Personally, not counting on it.
If you’ve never been to a game in Alva, I’d encourage you to go check it out sometime, if only to experience the tailgating scene on the hill behind one end zone there. Really unique setup that I’m sure will be packed out for the home opener. And that’s where I anticipate the highlights for NWOSU to cease on Thursday night.
Ouachita Baptist 49, Northwestern OSU 3
Saturday, Sept. 14
Game of the Week: Southeastern OSU (0-1) at No. 19 Henderson State (1-0)
Our game of the week this week takes us to Arkadelphia, where Henderson State takes on perhaps the most surprising team from week one, Southeastern OSU. The Savage Storm, behind quarterback Luke Hohenberger, raced out to a 24-14 lead at halftime against Southern Arkansas last week. Unfortunately, the Savage Storm couldn’t hang on, due in part to Hohenberger exiting the game with an injury. He’s a gametime decision for Saturday against the Reddies, so a lot of how this game goes could hang on his availability. The Reddies defense made life miserable for East Central first-year starter Sergio Kennedy last week and they’ll have to qualms about trying to do that to Hohenberger or Cergio Perez for Southeastern. Another tall order for the young Savage Storm quarterbacks.
The Reddies were efficient and well-balanced on offense against East Central last week, although quarterback Andrew Edwards was a bit off of his usual accurate self. The Southeastern defense did a good job holding the Mulerider offense down for a half, but eventually, the size and strength of SAU wore the Savage Storm down. More of the same is coming for the Reddies, as Henderson State rushed for 272 yards and over six yards per carry last week in Ada. SEOSU racked up just five negative plays against SAU last week with no sacks, so that number will need to improve if the Savage Storm hope to hold the Reddies down.
Lots of uncertainty here for SEOSU, but the second half performance last week doesn’t bode well. I like the Reddies at home.
Henderson State 37, Southeastern OSU 21
Arkansas-Monticello (1-0) at Southwestern OSU (0-1)
The Weevils got of to a great start in 2024, smothering Northwestern OSU with a terrific defensive performance while Demilon Brown made a great return off back-to-back season-ending injuries. UAM had a lot of transfers come into the program this year and for at least one week, the personnel changes paid off. We’ll see how things go, but this week, the defense could have an opportunity to duplicate its impressive performance against the Rangers when they travel to Weatherford. The Bulldogs held the ball nearly 40 minutes against Ouachita Baptist last week, but didn’t really move the ball all that much. We’ll see how the SWOSU offense grows under dual threat quarterback Kai Kunz, who rushed for nearly 100 yards against the Tigers.
Defensively, SWOSU gave up a lot of big plays against Ouachita, so they’ll have to do a better job limiting those against the Weevils, who boast a handful of explosive athletes. UAM moved the ball well against Northwestern in the first half, but the production tapered off significantly in the second half. Certainly something to watch as they go on the road for the first time this year. SWOSU gave up just 128 yards on the ground against Ouachita last week while the Weevils didn’t exactly put up massive numbers themselves (165 yards, 4.3 yards per carry). This could be an opportunity for the Bulldogs to make the Weevils one-dimensional and keep things tight.
Starting fast has been the theme for Arkansas-Monticello the past two seasons. That will continue to a third year as the Weevils pick up the road win.
Arkansas- Monticello 27, Southwestern OSU 13
Arkansas Tech (1-0) at Southern Nazarene (0-1)
The Wonder Boys looked excellent last week against Oklahoma Baptist, but turnovers and special teams gaffes prevented a more comfortable win. The big question in this one is who starts at quarterback for Tech. Ethan Forrester was terrific through three and a half quarters against the Bison before exiting with a right shoulder injury. His availability is in doubt, which means NWOSU transfer Ethan Everson would be the next man up. Regardless, the Wonder Boys might have themselves a nice running back combo with Deuce Wise and Luke Gall, who combined for 190 yards and two scores last week. Southern Nazarene will have to be much better than they were against Harding (to say the least) if they want to contain this newly energized Tech offense. I’m sure the Crimson Storm just flushed the Harding film and are moving on, glad to have that one out of the way.
SNU’s offense is another question entirely. The Crimson Storm managed just 49 yards against Harding and is working to establish a new quarterback. SNU played both Bryson Evans and Rasheed Noel against the Bisons, so I’d expect we will see both against Tech as well. It will be interesting to see how much of SNU’s struggles last week were self-inflicted and how much was just how good Harding is. Tech held Oklahoma Baptist to just 299 total yards and 81 on the ground. A great sign for Tech as they go up against a rushing offense that gashed them for 349 rushing yards and 524 total yards a year ago.
Really not sure where to go with this one. SNU is probably not as bad as they looked against Harding but there’s no reason to think Tech is going to regress from last week. Whoever lines up at quarterback for Tech will play a massive factor in this one. For now, we go with what the tape has told us.
Arkansas Tech 31, Southern Nazarene 28
East Central (0-1) at Southern Arkansas (1-0)
The Tigers had a rough showing against Henderson State last week on both sides of the ball, and going on the road to take on the Muleriders isn’t going to make things any easier. New quarterback Sergio Kennedy is going to learn a lot here in the early season, but hopefully he’ll be able to settle down and perform a bit better than he did against the Reddies. As a whole, the ECU offense needs to pick it up if they hope to have a chance against Southern Arkansas. For perspective, the Muleriders had more rushing yards (252) than the Tigers had total yards (230) last week.
On the other side, the Tigers’ defense was gashed to the tune of 496 yards and 7.8 yards per play last week. Southern Arkansas took some time to get rolling against Southeastern in week one, but still managed 460 yards on nearly seven yards per play. The Muleriders are going to want to run the ball first and foremost, so the Tigers will have to shore up their run fits after giving up 272 yards to Henderson State.
The Muleriders and Reddies are very similar teams and unfortunately for East Central, the result is going to be about the same as well.
Southern Arkansas 45, East Central 20
No. 1 Harding (1-0) at Oklahoma Baptist (0-1)
Man, did the Bisons look good last week. Any thoughts to a drop off due to the lost pieces from last year’s title team were completely wiped away by the time the first quarter clock expired. The numbers may not be as gaudy this week as they were last week against Southern Nazarene, but I’d still expect the Bisons machine to continue to roll. Oklahoma Baptist gave up 245 rushing yards to Arkansas Tech in last week’s loss, so I would anticipate Harding to be successful on the ground like normal, especially with OBU still breaking in a lot of new pieces along the defensive line.
It was a surprise to see Kenny Rosenthal get the start at quarterback for the Bison in Russellville, but according to sources, it was a job he just won from incumbent starter Aidan Thompson. We’ll see what Rosenthal is able to do against the ferocious Harding defense. Not a great sign that the Bison couldn’t eclipse the 300-yard mark on offense against Arkansas Tech, though. The Bison did come up with a lot of big plays on special teams and with turnovers, which made the game as wild and competitive as it was. They’ll need those again if they want to spring the upset on the No. 1 team in the nation.
Incorrect grammar wins out again. Copy editors everywhere groan.
Harding 49, Oklahoma Baptist 10