Great American Conference report

— Winning necessary for Tigers

Todd Knight and David Sharp both addressed the likelihood of Ouachita Baptist being included in the NCAA Division II playoffs as expected of a couple of football coaches immersed in the grind of the season.

“We’ve got a lot of hard work ahead of us,” said Sharp, OBU’s athletic director and a former assistant coach at the school.

“The regional rankings came out this week?” said Knight, OBU’s coach, his level of sarcasm unclear over the phone.

Yes, Coach, they did.

The Tigers (5-2, 4-0 Great American Conference) are closer now to a berth in the Division II playoffs than they’ve been since they moved up from NAIA in 1995.

OBU came in at No. 8 in Super Region 4 when the first set of regional rankings, which help set the 24-team playoff field, were released Tuesday, the only GAC school to be included in the 10-team rankings.

Six teams from each region make the playoff field, and those six have to be in the top eight of the rankings.

Conference champions don’t earn automatic berths to the football playoffs, but “earned access,” as the Division II football manual calls it, provides a playoff spot for a school from a conference that is not represented in the top six of the rankings to be selected if it is ranked seventh or eighth.

But the GAC, which is in its first year of operation, is still in a probationary period, so its schools aren’t yet eligible for earned access.

Meaning, OBU needs to move up two spots over the next three weeks to assure itself of any games beyond its Nov. 12 season-finale against Henderson State.

“We’ve got to be [sixth] to get a spot. It’s that simple,” said Sharp, who in 2002-2006 served on the Division II football committee and currently sits on the Division II championship committee.

To get there, Sharp said, the Tigers need to keep winning.

OBU plays at Harding (3-5, 2-1) on Saturday and at Southeastern Oklahoma State (2-5, 1-4) on Nov. 5 before finishing the season against Henderson State (4-3, 3-1) in a game that could decide the GAC title.

Three other two-loss teams sit directly above OBU in the rankings: No. 5 Abilene Christian (5-2), No. 6 West Texas A&M (5-2) and No.

7 Missouri Western (6-2).

West Texas A&M still has to play No. 1 Midwestern State (7-0) on Nov. 5 and Missouri Western plays No. 3 Northwest Missouri State (7-1) on the same day.

Sharp said he thinks it would be a long-shot for any three-loss team to reach the top six this year, so it would stand to reason that OBU has plenty of opportunities to move up. If the Tigers keep winning, that is.

Sharp said it’s an exciting spot to be, but his old coaching instincts won’t let him forget just how much needs to be accomplished yet, too.

“Just keeping winning,” he said. “And let the chips fall where they may.” HARDING Picky passers

A bulk of opposing team’s preparation for Harding centers around how to stop its triple-option running game.

That’s with good reason.

At more than 384 yards per game, the Bisons lead NCAA Division II in rushing and, without losing a fumble for the first time since Sept.

15, they rolled up 479 yards and scored eight rushing touchdowns in a 70-28 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State last Saturday.

“They put you in binds that nobody else can,” said Ouachita Baptist Coach Todd Knight, who plays at Harding on Saturday.

In addition to its running game, Harding has scored big plays with a couple of selectively-called passes the past two weeks.

In last week’s victory, Harding called two pass plays. One fell incomplete and the other went for a 77-yard touchdown from Chaz Rogers to Tyler O’Quin. The week before, Rogers threw just two passes, and they went for scores of 75 and 89 yards.

“When you’re a triple option offense, the defensive secondary has to be so involved in defending the run game,” Harding Coach Ronnie Huckeba said. “You watch and see if those guys are disciplined or if they start over-playing the run.”

Most all of Harding’s passes are play-action to catch defenders cheating toward the line of scrimmage, like the long pass called last week that came in the second quarter and gave Harding a 35-14 lead.

It’s an added factor that makes what is already a complex scheme even more difficult to stop.

“People ask me, ‘How fast do you have to be to play receiver in that offense?’ ” Huckeba said. “I say, ‘Fast enough to run past a guy at the line of scrimmage.

However fast that is.’

“You find that safety running toward the line of scrimmage, and you’re 15 yards in the clear.” ARKANSAS TECH Out of bodies

Football coaches don’t normally like to change base schemes - whether it’s on offense or defense - seven games into the season.

But ...

“When you run out of players, you run out of players,” Arkansas Tech Coach Steve Mullins said.

Because of injuries to several key contributors, Arkansas Tech entered last week’s game against Southeastern Oklahoma State with just six able bodied defensive backs.

That’s a problem for a team that regularly throws five defensive backs on the field on each play.

Courtney Rockwell (ankle), Myron Johnson (shoulder) and Mike Waldon(unspecified) all missed last Saturday’s game. The trio has combined for 88 tackles and without them, true freshman C.J. Cleveland, who had made just four tackles before Saturday, had seven tackles in the most playing time he’d seen all year.

Because of all the losses, Mullins said the Wonder Boys almost scraped their five-man secondary for a more traditional four-man set, but decided late to play their base defense.

He’s not sure who all he’ll have Saturday in the Wonder Boys’ home finale against East Central (Okla.) - and thus, he’s not sure what type of defense he’ll open with. But he feels a bit better playing shorthanded after one of their best defensive performance to date in a 28-16 victory

The 16 points and the 214 yards allowed were both season lows.

“You’ve got to play the hand you’re dealt,” Mullins said. “Hopefully, it’s a confidence-builder for us.” SOUTHERN ARKANSAS Hurting defense

Southern Arkansas’ Spread offense is humming about as well as any other in the Great American Conference.

The Muleriders had 480 yards in a 49-17 victory over Arkansas Tech on Oct. 15 and 559 yards in a 53-43 loss at Ouachita Baptist last week.

The defense that was hit with injuries before the year began has failed to catch up to Bill Keopple’s improved offense. That’s what has stunted any further growth for the Muleriders, who are 2-6 overall and 2-3 in the GAC after a 1-9 2010.

Keopple’s defense was expected to be a strength, with a good mix of experience and talented transfers. But junior free safety Jon Writt was lost before the season to a knee injury and strong safety Mark Spaight, a transfer from Garden City (Kan.) Community College, missed much of the early portion of the season with a broken hand.

Brandon Harris, a junior college transfer at defensive end, hasn’t played at all after a heart ailment was discovered during fall practice and Steven Sanders, a linebacker, has played in just two games because of a knee injury.

Luckily for Keopple, his injured defense will have a few more days to rest with an upcoming bye.

“It’s been musical chairs for us,” Keopple said. “I don’t know if we’ve played the same starting defensive lineup in any one game.”

Sports, Pages 23 on 10/28/2011

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