September 16th, 2024 7:00am
We are through two weeks in the Great American Conference and so far, things are going according to plan. No upsets to speak of this week, but we did have a few closer-than-expected final scores. Let’s get into the recaps.
Ouachita Baptist 56, Northwestern OSU 2
OUA- The Tigers rolled up over 500 yards of offense on just 53 plays last Thursday in Alva. Defensively, it was even better, as Ouachita allowed the Rangers to cross midfield just once in 15 possessions. Carter McElhaney returned the second half kickoff 100 yards for a touchdown to really kick start the route. Three turnovers prevented this from being worse than it was. All in all, a successful trip to Alva. Something to watch is quarterback Eli Livingston, who threw for 171 yards and three scores, but was 9-of-17 with an interception. Efficiency could be better going forward.
NWOSU- 15 possessions, 14 punts and one interception. Not good at all. So far, nothing looks improved for the Rangers in 2024. 10 of those possessions were three-and-out or less. Overall, the Rangers had the ball for almost 35 minutes in the game and managed just two yards per play. A fluky safety on an interception return is the only thing that prevented the Rangers from being shut out. We’re only two games into the season, so we’re not going to close the book just yet, but things are not looking up at the moment.
Henderson State 34, Southeastern OSU 17
HSU- A deceptive final score, as three second half turnovers, including a fumble at the Southeaster one-yard line prevented this from being a much wider margin. The Reddies also missed a field goal in the first half. However, Andrew Edwards threw for a career-high 443 yards and three touchdowns to push HSU to 2-0. The Reddies rolled up 571 total yards and averaged 7.3 yards per play, controlling possession for over 37 minutes. The turnovers and nine penalties for 100 yards kept this from a blowout.
SEOSU- The Savage Storm were without Luke Hohenberger on Saturday, and backup Cergio Perez went just 9-of-27 for 145 yards. The Savage Storm managed just 209 yards of offense and had eight three-and-outs. Kaleb Whitely opened the game by returning the kickoff 94 yards for a touchdown. The first three possessions for Southeastern totaled 132 yards on 21 plays, but only produced a field goal. Things were all south after that, as the Reddies’ defense stymied the offensive attack for the rest of the game.
Arkansas-Monticello 39, Southwestern OSU 28
UAM- Things looked bleak for the Weevils, trailing SWOSU 28-10 late in the third quarter. Quarterback Demilon Brown had struggled, throwing three first half interceptions. But then the senior put on his Superman cape and led his team to victory, scoring three straight rushing touchdowns, including a 71-yard burst to put the Weevils on top. For the game, Brown finished with 205 yards passing and a touchdown and 128 yards rushing with three scores. Together, the Weevils rushed for 294 yards, averaging six yards per carry. Again, Brown did throw three interceptions and was sacked four times, but it was good to see him back to his playmaking self after back-to-back season-ending injuries.
SWOSU- The Bulldogs were impressive through 41 minutes of the game, but just collapsed down the stretch. After going up 28-10 with 4:31 to play in the third quarter, the Bulldogs had the ball four more times. The results were not pretty: 12 plays, -6 yards, four punts. Ballgame. It’s going to take some time for the Bulldogs to learn how to win and close games. Saturday’s loss made it 18 losses in 19 games for the program dating back to Oct. 1, 2022. But the Bulldogs definitely seem to have something in quarterback Kai Kunz and the defense hasn’t lost everything from a year ago. So we’ll see how the season shakes out, but there are definitely some positives in Weatherford so far.
Arkansas Tech 26, Southern Nazarene 6
Tech- The Wonder Boys are 2-0 as they look for their first winning season since 2017. Quarterback Ethan Everson threw for 344 yards and three scores with no turnovers, offsetting a completely ineffective running game. The Tech defense showed off some impressive sideline-to-sideline speed, constantly running down SNU outside run plays for losses. There’s a lot to like about the start for Arkansas Tech, but there’s still a lot of improvements to be made. The rushing offense produced just 14 yards on 29 attempts, a number which includes sacks, bad snaps, etc. However, the Wonder Boys rushed for 245 last week against Oklahoma Baptist, so not sure which performance is the true one. Either way, it’s a nice start to the year for the Wonder Boys.
SNU- First the positives. SNU moved the ball alright overall, but were behind the chains a bit too much because of the speed of the Tech defense on the outside. The run defense was absolutely outstanding. Inside, outside, didn’t matter. SNU stuffed Tech at every opportunity. Now the bad. Pass defense wasn’t good and SNU wasn’t able to generate a lot of pressure on Everson, particularly in the second half. Also, replacing the production of Gage Porter is significantly easier than replacing the mental experience he possessed. Both Rasheed Noel and Bryson Evans had good moments, but also had moments that came about only because of inexperience. Plenty of season left for SNU to grow, but not finding the end zone in two games isn’t an ideal start.
Harding 59, Oklahoma Baptist 7
HU- Two games in, the Bisons are averaging 59 points per game. Harding “only” rushed for 427 yards against OBU and held the ball for over 42 minutes in the contest. One blemish on the stat sheet was the five fumbles for Harding, although the Bisons lost just one of them. However, that’s eight fumbles in two games for an extremely experienced backfield. Fumbles are something that come with the territory for the flexbone offense, but four per game is not a trend that can continue if the Bisons want to hoist another trophy.
OBU- Not much to say here. Harding week never really gives a clear picture of a team’s capabilities. OBU actually put up points on Harding, so that’s always a positive thing. Kenny Rosenthal threw two interceptions before Aidan Thompson took over for the final portion of the game. The run defense hasn’t been great for the Bison through two games, so that’s something that is going to be a focus going forward if they want to climb out of this 0-2 hole to start the year.
Southern Arkansas 28, East Central 20
SAU- When Melvin Smith returned an interception 29 yards for a touchdown with 10 minutes to go before halftime, he put the Muleriders up, 28-2. It appeared a blowout was at hand. However, SAU didn’t score again and had to hold on against a strong ECU rally. Quarterback Judd Barton was just 6-of-19 for 56 yards and an interception. SAU had the ball for just 21:32 of the game and went 3-of-14 on third down. Not a great night for the offense, which did rush for 207 yards and 5.6 yards per carry. Nine penalties for 80 yards didn’t help the cause either. Defensively, the Muleriders made things difficult on the Tigers, holding them to just 3.4 yards per play. They just couldn’t get off the field, allowing ECU to convert 9-of-21 on third downs.
ECU- A really strange, but encouraging performance for the Tigers. Sergio Kennedy was just 17-of-36 with three interceptions. The Tigers also ran for just 2.8 yards per carry on 48 carries. But they didn’t quit after facing a 28-2 deficit and held down the potent Mulerider offense. There are definitely many positives to take away from this performance, the biggest of which is the fight the team showed. You can work with that a lot more than you can with talent that won’t work hard. Plenty still needs to be corrected if the Tigers are going to rebound from the 0-2 start, but this was a game that was not as much of an L as it appeared.
Record this week: 6-0
Overall this season: 11-1