RUSSELLVILLE -- Southwestern Oklahoma dashed the conference championship hopes of an Arkansas school for the second consecutive week.
Junior quarterback Marc Evans completed 16 of 37 passes for 276 yards and 3 touchdowns in Southwestern Oklahoma's 28-14 Great American Conference victory over Arkansas Tech before an announced crowd of 2,892 on a windy Saturday afternoon at Buerkle Field.
Coupled with Henderson State's 22-14 victory Saturday at Oklahoma Baptist, the loss ended any chance for Arkansas Tech (7-3, 7-3 GAC) to share the league title with the Reddies (9-1, 9-1) entering the final week of the regular season.
Southwestern Oklahoma (7-3, 7-3) was coming off a 21-13 victory over Harding, which essentially knocked the Bisons out of the GAC title race.
Saturday's loss also ended the Wonder Boys' NCAA Division II playoff hopes. They entered with a No. 9 Super Region 3 ranking. The top seven advance to the postseason.
"That's the whole thing," Arkansas Tech Coach Raymond Monica said. "You always had a chance. You were playing for a lot."
Despite running 103 offensive plays -- 38 more than Southwestern Oklahoma -- Arkansas Tech couldn't capitalize on advantageous field position throughout the day, particularly in the third quarter.
The Wonder Boys were within 21-14 following senior quarterback Arsenio Favor's 1-yard touchdown run with 7:45 remaining in the game.
Arkansas Tech had a chance to even the score on its next possession, but the threat ended with senior cornerback Trevon Hartfield's interception at the Bulldogs' 22 with 3:57 to play.
Southwestern Oklahoma then put away the game when Evans threw a 30-yard touchdown pass on a fourth-and-7 play to sophomore wide receiver Derrick Styles with 2:38 remaining.
Evans had thrown touchdown passes earlier of 12 yards to senior wide receiver Carlos Smith with 10:29 left in the first half and 54 yards to junior wide receiver D.J. Jones, the latter giving Southwestern Oklahoma a 21-7 lead with 2:44 remaining in the third quarter.
Hartfield's interception at the Bulldogs' 13 and return to midfield set up Southwestern Oklahoma's second touchdown, and a 14-0 lead, midway through the second quarter. A 1-yard touchdown run by Favor with 3:45 remaining in the second quarter made it 14-7 at halftime.
Arkansas Tech ran 16 offensive plays in Southwestern Oklahoma territory in the third quarter but failed to score after beginning drives at the Bulldogs' 40 and 37 and its 48 and 42.
The second drive ended with sophomore place-kicker Eric Perez missing a 32-yard field-goal attempt.
"That third quarter, we were down here all day long," Monica said, glancing at the south end zone. "But, hey, give credit to Southwestern's defense. They did a good job."
Arkansas Tech finished with a 390-319 advantage in total yardage.
Freshman tailback Bryan Allen of Forrest City ran 36 times for 132 yards. Favor completed 19 of 41 passes for 187 yards but was intercepted twice.
The Bulldogs were limited to 43 rushing yards. Sophomore tailback Karltrell Henderson ran 10 times for 28 yards and a 3-yard touchdown with 7:46 left in the first half. The touchdown, set up by Hartfield's interception and long return, came one play after Evans completed a 47-yard pass to Smith on a deep post route.
"They created two turnovers and we didn't create any," Monica said. "Turnovers were a big factor in the game, with them being plus-two."
Arkansas Tech, defending GAC champion Ouachita Baptist, Harding and Southwestern Oklahoma are part of a four-way tie for second place in the league.
NO. 9 HENDERSON ST. 22, OKLAHOMA BAPTIST 14
Henderson State clinched the Great American Conference championship with a victory over Oklahoma Baptist at Crain Family Field in Shawnee, Okla.
Henderson State (9-1, 9-1 GAC) benefited from four Oklahoma Baptist turnovers, including two interceptions that added to the Reddies’ NCAA Division II-leading 24.
Henderson quarterback Dallas Hardison finished with 183 yards passing, completing 12 of 20 passes and 2 touchdowns.
HARDING 42,
NW OKLAHOMA ST. 30
Harding (7-3, 7-3 GAC) turned a nine-point fourth-quarter deficit into a 12-point victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State (3-7, 3-7) at First Security Stadium in Searcy. Harding’s Michael Latu scored three touchdowns in the final seven minutes of the game to help give the Bisons the victory.
SE OKLAHOMA ST. 37,
ARK.-MONTICELLO 0
Arkansas-Monticello (1-9, 1-9 GAC) closed out its home season with a shutout loss at Willis Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium in Monticello. The Savage Storm (5-5, 5-5) more than tripled UAM in total offense (382-97), forced six Boll Weevils’ turnovers and more than doubled the hosts in time of possession (40:18-19:42).
OUACHITA BAPTIST 58, SOUTHERN NAZARENE 7
Kris Oliver scored four rushing touchdowns and Ouachita Baptist (7-3, 7-3 GAC) limited Southern Nazarene (0-10, 0-10) to 193 yards of offense in the rout at SNU Football Stadium in Bethany, Okla.
Oliver had 169 yards of total offense and scored on runs of 18, 2, 7 and 1 yard.
SO. ARKANSAS 35,
EAST CENT. (OKLA.) 26
Southern Arkansas (6-4, 6-4 GAC) opened a 25-9 advantage going into halftime and then held on to break a two-game losing streak and defeat East Central (Okla.) (6-4, 6-4) at Wilkins Stadium in Magnolia.
The Tigers trimmed the deficit to 32-26 on Jamal Hall’s 3-yard touchdown run midway through the fourth quarter, but SAU’s Bradford Grems kicked a 27-yard field goal with 4:07 left to put the game out of reach.
Sports on 11/08/2015