Week 8 Game Notes
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — With four weeks to go in the regular season, much is still left to be decided in the Great American Conference standings, and the Arkansas Tech football team gets its chance to stay right in the conversation for a postseason bid with a home contest against Southeastern Oklahoma.
The Wonder Boys (5-2, 5-2 GAC) are part of a four-way tie for second place in the conference, and will host the Savage Storm (3-4, 3-4 GAC) at 2 p.m. Saturday at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field looking to stay in the mix as the other four top-five teams all play each other.
"This weekend's a big weekend, no question about it," coach Raymond Monica said. "Harding and East Central are playing, and you've got Henderson State and Southern Arkansas playing. There's a lot of football left to be played over the last four weeks of the season."
Tech welcomes SOSU to Russellville, where the Wonder Boys hold a 6-1-1 lead in the all-time series. They've won three of the four in the GAC era, grabbing three straight wins before falling on the road last season.
The Wonder Boys continue to showcase one of the toughest defenses in the nation, allowing just 15.4 points and 303.7 yards per game, numbers that are 12th and 21st across all of Division II, respectively. The unit is in the top three in the GAC in rushing defense, passing defense, passing efficiency defense, and leads the league in first downs allowed and third-down conversion percentage.
Senior Logan Genz is ninth in the conference, averaging 8.1 tackles per game, and registered at least nine stops for the fourth game in a row last week against East Central. Freshman Cua' Rose and sophomore Alonzo Joyner each average 6.1 stops, with Rose tallying 11 last week to go with a sack and two pass breakups. Rose is fourth in the league with 10 passes defended and second with four interceptions on the year. Junior Nick Akins averages 5.9 tackles and has totaled 6.0 tackles for loss.
While not the most potent offense in the conference, Southeastern controls the ball with a balanced attack. The Storm hold onto the ball for over 33 minutes per game, have the second-best third-down conversion percentage and rack up the second-most first downs in the GAC, scoring 31.6 points per game. SOSU has put up 40 points four times this season, including scoring 60 in a three-point, quadruple-overtime loss to Harding last week.
The SOSU offense runs through quarterback Ryan Polite, who is 15th in the nation, averaging 299.6 yards through the air per game. Adding 20 rushing yards puts him at 320.4 yards of total offense, which is second in the GAC and 16th in Division II. He has a pair of dangerous receiving targets in Franky Okafor, who has 46 catches for 612 yards, and Kaymon Farmer, who adds 43 catches and 377 yards, while the pair combine to haul in 12 of Polite's 13 passing touchdowns.
"Southeastern's offense is doing a great job," Monica said. "They're doing a great job throwing the football and mixing it up. The quarterback has done an outstanding job to this point in the season. He's made a lot of good decisions, and I've been very impressed with him."
On the other side of the ball, the Tech offense continues to put up points and yards, putting 33.7 points and 444.7 yards in the book each week. Freshman Bryan Allen is second in the GAC, averaging 101.4 rushing yards per game to pace the Wonder Boy unit that runs for 272.3, which is second in the conference and 11th in the country. Sophomore Brayden Stringer adds 64.9 yards on the ground, while senior quarterback Arsenio Favor adds 50.0 yards and 12 rushing touchdowns.
Favor adds 171.6 yards through the air, with senior Jermaine Murdock pulling in 28 catches for 310 yards on the season, an average of 44.3 yards per game. Sophomore Michael Perry also has 28 grabs for 172 yards, while senior Michael Fine has 12 receptions for 163 yards.
The Storm allow just 330.3 yards per game, which is third in the GAC, including a league-best 136.6 yards against the pass. They allow 27.6 points per contest, and are ninth against the rush, giving up 193.7 yards per game. Much like their offense, the defense is good at keeping up the time of possession, allowing the second-fewest first downs and the second-best third-down conversion numbers.
Kevin Jones averages 6.9 tackles per game, while Nicholas Sierra and Trent Hannah both have posted 2.0 sacks on the season. Raheem Wilson and Jacoby Sanders each have nine passes defended, with Wilson picking off three passes, and Hannah has forced a pair of fumbles.
"Defensively, they're doing a great job as well," Monica said. "They've snapped the ball 141 more times than the defense has been on the field. They control the clock. They're keeping the ball for seven more minutes than the other team. The offense just stays on the field and the defense gets off the field.
"The thing is, we need to flip that. We need to be able to run the football and keep the ball away from them, and defensively, we need to stop them and get the ball back."
The contest will be broadcast live on 102.9 FM (KCJC) in Russellville, with live video, audio and statistics available at www.arkansastechsports.com.
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