RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Freshman
Bryan Allen turned out the second-best rushing performance in Arkansas Tech history as the Wonder Boys held off No. 20 Ouachita Baptist Saturday to retain a share of the lead atop the Great American Conference standings.
Allen scampered for 279 yards on 29 carries, coming up just nine yards short of Travis Horn's program record of 288 yards. Tech (5-1, 5-1 GAC) scored 10 points in the first quarter and never led by fewer than that the rest of the way, topping the Tigers (4-2, 4-2 GAC) for the first time since 2007.
Tech scored on four of its first six drives, and allowed only three first-half points to the Tigers to take control of the game early and show they weren't going to be fazed by taking their first loss of the season last week.
"This team is always ready to play," coach
Raymond Monica said. "They're just always ready. Anytime you get knocked down, you have to come back and play again, and we got to have some fun this week watching them compete. We took away some things from last week and were able to learn from it. We had opportunities in the red zone and we took care of those today. I'm very proud of the way the guys came back and played."
The Tech defense did its part as well, cutting off the first Ouachita drive of the game with
Kristen Trammell intercepting a fourth-down pass to give the Wonder Boys the ball at their own 30. Needing to cover 70 yards, the offense did just that, getting five carries for 38 yards from Allen in his first action, including a 6-yard plunge that capped the 15-play 70-yard drive. The defense tightened up even more the rest of the opening half, with the Wonder Boys forcing three straight three-and-outs from Ouachita.
Allen picked up the pace as well on the next drive, taking the first handoff 53 yards from the Wonder Boys' own 7 and into Tiger territory. It was the first of two carries over 50 yards for the freshman on the night, and one of eight that went for at least 10 yards. A big 24-yard pickup on a lateral to
Jermaine Murdock pushed the hosts into a goal-to-go situation, and they picked up a 32-yard field goal from
Eric Perez to stretch the lead to 10.
Another three-and-out, and a 26-yard dart from Allen to start the next drive, and the Wonder Boys were right back into Ouachita territory. They would settle for a punt, but
Kevin Jones' boot was downed at the 3, turning the field position battle. Tech's next drive resulted in a 37-yard field goal from Perez with 9:43 left in the second half. A Ouachita field goal pulled them back within 10 on the next drive, but when the Wonder Boys got the ball back with under two minutes to go before the break, another jaunt by Allen — this one a 65-yarder that is the longest offensive play of the season thus far — got them thinking points.
Perez nailed his third kick of the half, this time a 41-yarder, to make it 16-3 headed into the locker rooms, which pushed the Wonder Boys mark to outscoring opponents 135-20 in the first half over the first six games. Tech also found ways to be successful no matter what the down, facing nine fourth downs in the opening 30 minutes, but punting on only two. The Wonder Boys were 4-for-4 going for the conversion, and had the three field goals.
"Our mindset was it was time to win the football game," Monica said. "We thought we could get a first down. And Perez made all three in the first half, and those were three big kicks. [Ouachita] could have closed it down on us pretty quick without those."
The third quarter started off slowly, but the Tech defense held stout, allowing just 29 yards of offense to the Tigers. Ouachita managed to turn a fumble into three more points with a 40-yard field goal, and Allen added 45 yards on the ground to his total, bringing him to 243 through three quarters.
The Tech offense wouldn't find the end zone again until later in the fourth, but the defense helped take whatever wind was left out of the Ouachita sails early in the quarter, as
Demetris Ford forced Tiger quarterback Austin Warford to scramble and rush a throw, which fell right into the arms of
Jaquirous Jackson. The junior slipped by the receiver and only potential tackler, going nine yards into the end zone for a 23-6 lead.
Ouachita gained just seven yards over its next two drives, and Tech got moving quickly on its next possession, with all five plays covering at least eight yards, including Allen's 12-yart spurt and quarterback
Arsenio Favor's 20-yard sprint up the middle that resulted in his 11th rushing touchdown of the season and a 30-6 lead. The Tigers put together their longest drive of the day on the ensuing possession, but it would be too little, too late for any comeback attempt.
A penalty-filled drive by the Wonder Boys wasn't enough to get Allen the single-game rushing record, but did more than enough to wipe the clock out, giving Tech its first win over a ranked opponent since topping No. 11 UNC-Pembroke 41-13 in the first round of the NCAA playoffs on Nov. 14, 2009.
Alonzo Joyner was all over the field, piling up 14 tackles and half a sack, while
Nick Akins recorded 10 stops, and
Logan Genz put together a third straight contest with at least nine tackles, grabbing nine and half a sack.
Jones recorded three punts, pinning each inside the 20, including dropping boots on the 3- and 1-yard lines.
Clayton Watson had five punts himself, averaging 43.4 yards and putting two more inside the 20.
The Wonder Boys are back on the road next weekend, travelling to face East Central in a 2 p.m. kickoff between two of the top squads in the GAC.
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