September 14th, 2025 10:00am
Time certainly does fly by when you’re having fun and now that the Great American Conference 2025 season is in full swing, things are already starting to get interesting and it’s only mid-September. There were no major, earth-shattering upsets to report this week and on the surface, all favored teams seemed to come out victorious in the end. Week Two is now in the books and if you rest on this week’s laurels, you’re not preparing for the next game. In football, there’s no rest for the weary and you either revel in a win or wallow in a loss for just a few minutes then it’s back to work for next week. Here is the recap for week two...
Arkansas Tech 44
Northwestern Oklahoma State 0
First-year head coach Roy Thompson got to enjoy his second straight victory and his first shutout win on Thursday night with a sound 44-0 victory over NWOSU. With RB Bryson Roland rushing for a 63-yard TD run on the first play from scrimmage, the tone for this game was set early. Arkansas Tech punctuated their solid win over the Rangers with two pick-six interception TD’s in the fourth quarter as the Wonderboys won their first home shutout game since 2016.
Arkansas Tech will face their first major challenge of the season when they hit the road and head to Arkadelphia to face the rebounding Ouachita Baptist Tigers who are coming off a solid 41-21 win as well. The winner of this upcoming game may find themselves in the driver’s seat for the second spot in the GAC for the rest of the season.
Harding 55
Southwestern Oklahoma State 0
What can be said about this game that hasn’t already been written about the juggernaut known as the Harding Bisons? There were few surprises in this game with Harding ratcheting up 436 rushing yards with 9.3 yards per carry and six rushing TD’s in this game. SWOSU was held to just 103 yards on the ground and 112 passing yards - all for zero points on the scoreboard. Harding RB Braden Jay is building up his Harlon Hill resume with 91 yards on just three carries with an additional 72 yard run on a kickoff return. Fellow RB Andrew Miller had an additional 85 yards on the ground with a TD and Cole Keylon actually threw the football two times for 40 yards. The Harding Bisons will face their first solid GAC challenge this coming week when they visit the surging Southern Arkansas Muleriders on Saturday.
Ouachita Baptist 41
Southeastern Oklahoma State 21
How do you bounce back from a heartbreaking season opener loss? If you’re the Ouachita Baptist Tigers, simply go out and put together a solid win. The Tigers did exactly that as head coach Todd Knight earned the honors as the all-time wins leader in the state of Arkansas, surpassing the record set by the late Buddy Benson (and Knight’s old coach.) Knight now holds a 163-104 overall win record in his 26th season as a head coach. The Tigers pulled off this victory with a bit of flair with two 60+ yard receptions and two INT’s on the defensive side of the ball. QB Nate TenBarge had a solid night as well with 13 completions for 248 yards in the air and four TD passes; TenBarge put a punctuation mark on the game with a three-yard TD run in the fourth quarter as well. Senior DB Braylon Johnson led the defense with ten tackles as the Tigers converted 20 points from turnovers. Kicker Dax Jaggers was perfect for Ouachita Baptist as well while putting two FG’s through the uprights and converting five extra points.
SOSU was led by redshirt Freshman QB Levay Duncan on his first career start and he did connect on 12 of 25 passes with two TD’s but was hampered by two INT’s as well. It will be interesting to see how this young QB develops this season for the Savage Storm. Southeastern OK State will face an in-state rivalry with the Southwestern OK State Bulldogs coming into Durant this coming Saturday. The Savage Storm can get their season back on track and the Bulldogs will be looking for a desperately-needed first win this season in the GAC.
Southern Arkansas 26
Southern Nazarene 18
The Southern Arkansas Muleriders faced their first road test early in the 2025 season and survived a bit of a reality check courtesy of the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm. The Muleriders again went to a QB tandem of Adam Parker and Hezekiah Harris with Harris getting the nod on the bulk of the play calling. Harris completed 12 passes for 157 yards and two passing TD’s but also tossed one INT while Parker was perfunctory in this game with just four completions for 21 yards. This game could be called a “slow burner” in some instances because the Crimson Storm held on to this game and wouldn’t quit at home. The Muleriders pulled out the “W” from Bethany, OK but face an enormous challenge this coming Saturday with a matchup against the Ouachita Baptist Tigers. It’s way too early in the season to be determining the final GAC standings and postseason berths but a win for the Muleriders may put them in the passenger’s seat at least in the conference; a win for Ouachita Baptist means that the Tigers are back on the prowl in the GAC and looking to play football in December.
East Central 38
Arkansas Monticello 13
The East Central Tigers, for all intents and purposes, look to be the “real deal” at this early stage of the season with an impressive win over the Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils. For the Weevils, their motto of “eat ‘em up” was used against them with a ruthless level of efficiency. It should be noted that this game actually was close until the fourth quarter kicked off with the score of 17-13 in favor of East Central. The fourth quarter saw the Weevils taken down by the football gremlins or bad luck or whatever you want to call it but giving up three unanswered TD’s including one with ten seconds left in the game. RB sophomore Cade Searcy had a 56-yard TD run and 101 yards total on the ground with Quincy Thompson and JaQuarion Turner had additional TD runs that sealed the deal for the Tigers. Arkansas-Monticello will face Henderson State at home next week and needs to turn their season around. Weevils’ QB Tavion Faulk had a respectable 16/29 game with 203 yards and a TD pass but also threw two INT’s; if the Weevils can play against Henderson State next week the way they played East Central for three quarters on Saturday, they could potentially pull out their first season win. However, if they play like they did against East Central in the fourth quarter of yesterday’s game, they will have a long evening against the Reddies.
Henderson State 28
Oklahoma Baptist 14
Yes, you’re reading that box score correctly. The Oklahoma Baptist Bison came out to play at home in Shawnee on Saturday and made the Henderson State Reddies earn this “W.” QB Andrew Edwards was 21/37 for 375 passing yards and two TD’s but also threw an equal amount of INT’s as well which could be an issue down the road this season. WR Maddox Davis hauled in eight catches for 200 yards and TE Cayden Davis had another solid game offensively with five additional catches for 94 yards while the Henderson State RB committee worked collectively to garner 163 yards on the ground
Henderson State faces Arkansas-Monticello next week and a win for the Reddies could mean that they’re ready to challenge for the top-tier in the GAC. For the Oklahoma Baptist Bison, there is a solid chance for pulling out their first victory of the season with fellow winless Northwestern OK State coming to Bethany and somebody in that game will emerge with a “W” and a renewed sense of pride heading down the road this season.