Arkansas-Monticello at Ouachita Baptist
WHEN 1 p.m.
WHERE Cliff Harris Stadium, Arkadelphia
RADIO KHBM-FM, 93.7, in Monticello; KHTE-FM, 96.5, in Little Rock; KHTO-FM, 96.7, in Hot Springs; KVRC-AM, 1240, in Arkadelphia; KAMD-FM, 97.1, in Camden; KNAS-FM, 105.5, in Nashville; KQOR-FM, 105.3, in Mena; KFMD-FM, 105.3, and KFMD-AM, 1340, in Springdale
INTERNET uamsports.com, obutigers.com
RECORDS UAM 1-6, 1-6 Great American Conference; OBU 4-3, 4-3
COACHES Hud Jackson (14-36 in fifth season at UAM and overall); Todd Knight (81-86 in 17th season at OBU, 109-118-2 in 23rd season overall)
SERIES OBU leads 42-32-1.
LAST MEETING OBU won 47-10 in 2014.
LAST WEEK UAM lost to Henderson State 41-3. OBU lost to Southern Arkansas 32-28.
COMMENTS OBU has won the past four games in the series, which was first contested in 1913. … UAM (403.6 yards per game) and OBU (405.9 ypg) have near-identical numbers in total offense, but the teams are near opposites on how they reach those totals. The Boll Weevils average 313.3 yards passing and 90.3 rushing yards per game, while the Tigers rush for 244.9 yards per game and pass for 161.0. … At his current average of 297 passing yards per game, senior Hunter Leppert is on pace to become the second Boll Weevils quarterback to surpass 3,000 passing yards in a season. Cory Allred did it in 2003 and 2004, including a school-record 3,606 yards in 2003. Leppert has 2,079 yards this season. … UAM senior linebacker Ofisa Kose’s 64 total tackles rank fifth in the GAC. … OBU has lost consecutive games for the first time since losing four in a row to end the 2012 season. … Despite missing most of two games, OBU freshman running back Kris Oliver is second in the conference with 647 rushing yards. His 11 rushing touchdowns rank second in the conference and 11th in Division II.
— Steve Rogers
Southern Arkansas at Henderson State
WHEN 2 p.m.
WHERE Carpenter-Haygood Stadium, Arkadelphia
RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in Little Rock; KDEL-FM, 100.9, in Arkadelphia; KAFN-FM, 100.7, and KZYP-AM, 1310, in Malvern; KEWI-AM, 690, in Benton; KVMZ-FM, 99.1, in Magnolia/ Waldo; KELD-FM, 106.5, in Hampton/El Dorado/ Camden; KZNG-AM, 1340, in Hot Springs; KENA-AM, 1450, in Mena; KPGG-FM, 103.9, in Ashdown/Texarkana; KMTB-FM, 99.5, in Murfreesboro/ Nashville
INTERNET muleriderathletics.com, hsusports.com
RECORDS SAU 5-2, 5-2 Great American Conference; HSU 6-1, 6-1
RANKINGS HSU is No. 14 in the AFCA Division II coaches poll and No. 24 in the d2football.com poll
COACHES Bill Keopple (31-37 in seventh season at SAU and overall); Scott Maxfield (75-38 in 11th season at HSU and 104-50 in 15th season overall)
SERIES HSU leads 43-33-1.
LAST MEETING HSU won 55-41 in 2014.
LAST WEEK SAU defeated Ouachita Baptist 32-28. HSU defeated Arkansas-Monticello 41-3.
COMMENTS HSU has won the past eight games in the series and SAU has not defeated the Reddies at Arkadelphia since 2004. … A victory today would moved the Muleriders into a tie for first place in the GAC standings. … SAU freshman quarterback Barrett Renner was named the GAC offensive player of the week after he completed 23 of 27 passes for 383 yards and 5 touchdowns against Ouachita Baptist. Renner is averaging 308.4 passing yards per game, which ranks second in the GAC. He leads the conference with an average of 353 yards of total offense per game. … SAU freshman Karone Higgins ranks second in Division II in yards per reception (23.7). … The Muleriders lead the conference in total offense (501.6 yards per game), first downs (176), third-down conversions (51.8 percent) and quarterback sacks (17). … HSU leads the GAC in scoring defense (13.6 points per game), while SAU is second in the conference in scoring offense (37.9 ppg). … HSU junior running back Jaquan Cole leads the conference in rushing, averaging 115.7 yards per game. … With three last week against UAM, the Reddies have had 16 interceptions in the past five games. Their 18 picks for the season lead all of Division II and are tied with Division III Thomas More (Ky.) for the most in all divisions of the NCAA. … HSU has clinched its sixth consecutive winning season. The only time the Reddies have accomplished the feat was in 1972-1978.
— Steve Rogers
East Central (Okla.) at Harding
WHEN 2 p.m.
WHERE First Security Stadium, Searcy
RADIO KVHU-FM, 95.3, in Searcy
INTERNET hardingsports.com
RECORDS Harding 5-2, 5-2 Great American Conference. ECU 5-2. 5-2
COACHES Ronnie Huckeba (54-37 in ninth season at Harding and overall); Tim McCarty (44-48 in ninth season and 67-76 in 12th season overall)
SERIES Harding leads 10-3.
LAST MEETING Harding won 41-14 in 2014.
LAST WEEK Harding defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State 63-60 in 4 OTs; ECU defeated Arkansas Tech 20-19.
COMMENTS The Bisons have defeated the Tigers three consecutive times and are a perfect 7-0 over ECU in Searcy. … Harding junior quarterback Park Parish has 15 rushing touchdowns on the season, the most by any quarterback in NCAA Division II. The Clinton native has at least one rushing touchdown in all seven games and is two behind Alan Dixon’s school record set in 1972. … The Bisons rushed for 528 yards in last week’s four-overtime victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State in Durant, Okla. It was the second-highest single-game total in program history. They tied a school record with nine rushing touchdowns in the game. … Harding and ECU are two of the the top three scoring teams in the GAC. The Bisons lead at 40.o points per game, while the Tigers check in third at 37.4. … Harding averages the fewest penalty yards per game in the GAC (60.86), while ECU averages the most (106.43). … The Bisons lead the conference in rushing offense at 372.3 yards per game. The Tigers lead in passing offense at 319.6 yards per game.
— Frankie Frisco
Southeastern Oklahoma State at Arkansas Tech
WHEN 2 p.m.
WHERE Thone Stadium, Russellville
RADIO KCJC-FM, 102.3, in Russellville
INTERNET arkansastechsports.com
RECORDS Arkansas Tech 5-2, 5-2 Great American Conference. SE Okla. State 3-4, 3-4
COACHES Raymond Monica (13-16 in third season at Tech, 58-50 in ninth season overall); Bo Atterberry (10-9 in second season at SE Okla. State, 51-37 in eighth season overall)
SERIES Tech leads 11-4-1.
LAST MEETING SE Okla. State won 22-5 in 2014.
LAST WEEK SE Okla. State lost to Harding 63-60 in 4 OTs; Arkansas Tech lost to East Central (Okla.) 20-19.
COMMENTS Tech won the first seven games of the series and three of the last four before losing last year in Durant, Okla. … The Savage Storm rallied from two 21-point deficits and tied last week’s game with Harding with 12 seconds to play in regulation before falling to the Bisons in four overtimes. SE Okla. State senior quarterback Ryan Polite was 37 of 66 for 398 yards and 5 touchdowns in the game. … The Wonder Boys are allowing 15.4 points per game which ranks 12th in NCAA Division II. They are also giving up 303.7 yards per game which ranks 21st nationally. Tech’s defense is in the top three in the GAC in rushing defense and passing defense and leads the conference in first downs allowed and third-down conversion percentage. … Polite is second in the GAC in total offense with 320.4 yards a game. … Tech freshman running back Bryan Allen is second in the conference in rushing (101.4) behind Henderson State’s Jaquan Cole (115.7). … Tech sophomore Eric Perez is tied for the conference lead among all kickers, averaging 8.0 points a game behind 26 of 30 extra points and 10 of 13 field goals.
— Frankie Frisco