Henderson State vs. Southern Arkansas
WHEN 2 p.m.
WHERE Memorial Stadium, El Dorado RECORDS Henderson State 6-1, 6-1 Great American Conference; Southern Arkansas 5-2, 5-2
COACHES Scott Maxfield (86-41 in 12th season at Henderson State, 115-53 in 16th season overall); Bill Keopple (38-41 in eighth season at Southern Arkansas and overall)
SERIES Henderson State leads 44-33-1 RADIO KARN-AM, 920, in Little Rock; KAFN-FM, 93.7 and KAFN-AM, 690, in Benton; KWPS-FM, 99.7, in Hot Springs; KYXK-FM, 106.9, in Arakadelphia; KVMZ-FM, 99.1, in Magnolia
INTERNET hsusports.com, muleriderathletics.com
LAST MEETING Henderson State won 29-28 in 2015
LAST WEEK Henderson State beat Arkansas-Monticello, 45-17; Southern Arkansas lost to Ouachita Baptist, 40-38 (4 OT)
COMMENTS Henderson State remained at No. 15 in this week’s AFCA NCAA Division II coaches poll after last week’s victory over Arkansas-Monticello. … SAU is playing in the Boomtown Classic in El Dorado for the fourth time in the past five seasons. The Muleriders lost to Harding in 2012, lost to Henderson State in 2014 and beat Ouachita Baptist there last year. … Henderson State is second in scoring defense (18.6 points per game), while SAU is fourth (22.0). Southern Arkansas is second in yards allowed (319.1 per game), while Henderson State is fourth (335.0). … The Reddies played three quarterbacks in last week’s victory over Arkansas-Monticello. Andrew Black started and completed 6 of 12 passes for 70 yards, while Evan Lassiter completed 5 of 8 passes for 121 yards and 1 touchdown, and Blake Reeve completed 2 of 4 passes for 27 yards. … An SAU victory would put the two teams in a tie for second place.
— Troy Schulte
Arkansas Tech at SE Oklahoma State
WHEN 2 p.m. Central
WHERE Paul Laird Field, Durant, Okla. RECORDS Arkansas Tech 4-3, 4-3 Great American Conference; SE Oklahoma State 4-3, 4-3
COACHES Raymond Monica (21-20 in fourth season at Arkansas Tech, 66-54 in 10th season overall); Bo Atterberry (17-13 in third season at SE Oklahoma State, 58-41 in ninth season overall) SERIES Arkansas Tech leads 11-4-1 RADIO KCJC-FM, 102.3, in Russellville INTERNET arkansastechsports.com
LAST MEETING Arkansas Tech won 57-37 in 2015
LAST WEEK Arkansas Tech beat East Central (Okla.) 55-14; SE Oklahoma State lost to Harding 63-17
COMMENTS Arkansas Tech has won consecutive games after losing two in a row, and it’s scored 49 and 55 points in those victories. … Jabyes Cross passed for 243 yards and 3 touchdowns and ran for 2 touchdowns in last week’s victory over East Central (Okla.). Cross is 26-of-36 passing for 508 yards with 6 touchdowns and has 3 rushing touchdowns in his two starts for the Wonder Boys. He leads the GAC in passing efficiency (184.1), is 10th in total offense (149.9 yards per game) and is ninth in all-purpose yards (110.9), which counts rushing, receiving and return yardage. … Southeastern Oklahoma State has the third highest scoring offense in the GAC at 35.4 points per game. … Southeastern Oklahoma State has forced 20 turnovers this season, second in the GAC, as is their plus-11 turnover margin. … Arkansas Tech and Southeastern Oklahoma State are tied with Ouachita Baptist for fourth place in the GAC standings.
— Troy Schulte
Ouachita Baptist at Arkansas-Monticello
WHEN 3 p.m.
WHERE Cotton Boll Stadium, Monticello RECORDS Ouachita Baptist 4-3, 4-3 Great American Conference; Arkansas-Monticello 2-5, 2-5
COACHES Todd Knight (89-90 in 18th season at Ouachita Baptist, 116-122-2 in 24th season overall); Hud Jackson (16-45 in sixth season at Arkansas-Monticello and overall)
SERIES Ouachita Baptist leads 42-32-1 RADIO KHTE-FM, 96.5, in Little Rock; KYRC-FM, 93.5, in Hot Springs; KUOAAM, 1290, in Siloam Springs; KUOA-FM, 97.7, in Fayetteville; KAMD-FM, 97.1, in Camden; KNAS-FM, 105.5, in Nashville; KQOR-FM, 105.3, in Mena; KVHU-FM, 95.3, in Searcy; KHBM-FM, 93.7, in Monticello
INTERNET obutigers.com, uamsports.com
LAST MEETING Ouachita Baptist won 20-17
LAST WEEK Ouachita Baptist beat Southern Arkansas, 40-37 (4 OT), Arkansas-Monticello lost to Henderson State, 45-17
COMMENTS Ouachita Baptist is coming off a 40-37 victory over Southern Arkansas in four overtimes, which snapped a string of consecutive losses. … The Tigers played for the second week in a row without starting quarterback Austin Warford, who has a foot injury. Lucas Reed earned his first victory as a starter, completing 12 of 24 passes for 146 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception. … Kris Oliver had 143 yards rushing, and he is now third in the GAC at 108.7 rushing yards per game. … The Boll Weevils have lost consecutive road games and are playing at home for the first time since an Oct. 1 victory over Oklahoma Baptist. … UAM has lost 17 consecutive games to in-state Division II teams, dating back to a victory over Arkansas Tech in 2013.
NCAA DIVISION II
GAC STANDINGS
CONF. ALL
Harding...............................8-0 8-0 Henderson State ................6-1 6-1 Southern Arkansas ............5-2 5-2 Arkansas Tech ....................4-3 4-3 Ouachita Baptist .................4-3 4-3 SE Oklahoma State ............4-3 4-3 SW Oklahoma State ...........4-4 4-4 NW Oklahoma State...........3-4 3-4 Arkansas-Monticello ..........2-5 2-5 Oklahoma Baptist ...............2-6 2-6 Southern Nazarene ............1-6 1-6 East Central (Okla.) ............1-7 1-7
THURSDAY’S GAMES
Harding 35, East Central (Okla.) 7
SW Oklahoma State 37, Okla. Baptist 35
TODAY’S GAMES
All times Central
Henderson State at So. Arkansas, 2 p.m. Arkansas Tech at SE Okla. St., 2 p.m. Ouachita Bapt. at Ark.-Monticello, 3 p.m. So. Nazarene at NW Okla. State, 4 p.m.
NCAA DIVISION III
Hendrix
vs. Chicago
WHEN 1 p.m.
WHERE Young-Wise Stadium, Conway RECORDS Hendrix 5-1, 3-1 Southern Athletic Association; Chicago 3-3, 3-2 COACHES Buck Buchanan (22-15 in fourth season at Hendrix and overall); Chris Wilkerson (23-12 in fourth season at Chicago and overall)
SERIES Hendrix leads 1-0
RADIO None
INTERNET hendrixwarriors.com
LAST MEETING Hendrix won 27-21 in 2015
LAST WEEK Hendrix lost to Berry 24-14; Chicago beat Rhodes College 33-26
COMMENTS Hendrix was held to 60 yards rushing in suffering its first loss of the season last week at Berry, well below its league-leading average of 197.7 yards per game. … It was Hendrix’ first regular-season loss since Oct. 17, 2015, snapping a string of nine consecutive victories. … The 14 points Hendrix scored last week were its lowest since a 35-9 loss to Sewanee on Nov. 16, 2013. The Warriors are second in the SAA in scoring at 40.3 points per game. … Chicago is fifth in scoring at 28.5 points per game. … Chicago’s Chandler Carroll leads the SAA in rushing at 109.7 yards per game.
NAIA
Lyon
vs. Arizona Christian
WHEN 6 p.m.
WHERE Pioneer Stadium, Batesville
RECORDS Lyon 3-4, 2-1 Central States Football League; Arizona Christian 4-2, 3-0 COACHES Kyle Phelps (3-4 in 1st season at Lyon and overall); Jeff Bowen (4-2 in 1st season at Arizona Christian and overall) SERIES Arizona Christian leads 1-0
RADIO KZLE-FM, 93.1, in Batesville
INTERNET lyonscots.com
LAST MEETING Arizona Christian won 70-18 in 2015
LAST WEEK Lyon was off; Arizona Christian beat Texas College 57-7
COMMENTS Lyon has won three of its past four games, including two in a row, and is in third place in the Central States Football League. … Arizona Christian is in sole possession of first place in the league standings and is 9-0 against conference teams since joining last season. … Michael Bowles, Dwane Robinson, Joe Mahe and Jason Biddy are all averaging 4.9 yards per rush or better for Lyon. … The Scots are third in the NAIA in rushing yards per game at 289.6. Arizona Christian is holding teams to 113.0 yards rushing per game, 11st best in the NAIA. … A victory would give Lyon its first three-game winning streak.