Week 6 Football Notes

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — After ratcheting up the defensive pressure in an 18-13 win over the Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils last week, the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys football team hits the road in search of their second consecutive win, and first road win of the season as they square off against the Muleriders of Southern Arkansas on Saturday.

Arkansas Tech (3-2, 3-1 Great American Conference) picked up a 14-13 win over the Muleriders (2-3, 2-3) last season in Russellville. However, this year's Muleriders team brings a different look to the field.

With the graduation of Tyler Sykora, who passed for 2,641 yards and 27 touchdowns last season, coach Bill Keopple's Muleriders have turned the reins over to Si Blackshire.

Blackshire has added another dimension to the Muleriders' attack, and is threatening to break the two-year stranglehold that Henderson State signal-caller Kevin Rodgers has had on the league's total offense rankings. Blackshire currently leads the GAC in total offense with 1,561 yards, averaging 312.2 yards per game. He averages 42.6 yards per game on the ground, but leads the Muleriders in rushing touchdowns.

"It comes down to what they do on offense," said Wonder Boys head coach Raymond Monica. "It's a big difference from last year. Their quarterback last year was more of a pocket guy, and he'd spread the ball around. He did a great job and he was a great player. This gives you a little more of a problem with his ability to run."

The change in defensive preparation from last year's Muleriders to this year's will mirror the differences in preparation from last week's opponent to this week's. It is a change that can be difficult, according to the second-year Wonder Boys head coach.

"When you go from a drop-back passer to a more dual-threat quarterback," said Monica, "it can create a lot of problems."

Indeed, the Muleriders' offense has created sizeable problems for opposing defenses, averaging nearly 34 points per game, and twice topping the 40-point mark, including a 62-point explosion two weeks ago against Northwestern Oklahoma. The team has boasted the league's third-most potent offense at 491.6 yards per game, trailing only Henderson State and Harding.

The matchup will pit the third-ranked offense in the GAC against the third-ranked defense in the GAC, as the Wonder Boys trail only Harding (193.2 yards allowed per game) and Henderson State (286.4 yards allowed) in the league's total defense.

It is that defense that has seen the Wonder Boys post some numbers that are turning heads nationally.

The Wonder Boys have had one of the stingiest red-zone defenses in the country, allowing points on 61.9 percent of opponent possessions. That percentage is the best red-zone defensive number in the Great American Conference, and ranks 22^nd nationally.

Tech has held opponents to a quarterback efficiency of 90.89, ranking 14^th nationally. And the Wonder Boys rank second nationally in team tackles for loss (11.0) and turnovers gained (16).

The defensive performance trend is one that the Wonder Boys will need to continue this Saturday as they prepare for a team that has shown the tendency to put points on the board, but has also shown the tendency to turn over the football at times, as the Muleriders have thrown seven interceptions and lost eight fumbles.

Kickoff from Wilkins Stadium in Magnolia is set for 6 p.m., with the game carried live on 100.9-FM (KWKK) in Russellville.