RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — Arsenio Favor rushed for four touchdowns as the Arkansas Tech football team racked up 508 yards of offense to top Southern Arkansas 44-21 Saturday night at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field.

The Wonder Boys (4-0, 4-0 Great American Conference) built a 24-0 lead over the first 27 minutes, and didn't look back, moving to 4-0 for the first time since 2005 with the win over the Muleriders (2-2, 2-2 GAC).

Brayden Stringer carried the ball 16 times for 115 yards, and Favor, in addition to becoming the first Tech player to run for four touchdowns in a game since Justin Ray in 2007, completed 17-of-23 passes for 224 yards and another score. Cua' Rose posted 13 tackles, including nine solo to go with a tackle for loss and two big interceptions. Logan Genz tallied 15 tackles to lead the team with nine coming as solo stops.

After going three-and-out on their first drive of the game, the Wonder Boys got the ball rolling with a 35-yard scamper from Stringer, putting the team in the red zone. Favor nearly scored on a keeper the next play, and followed by faking the run and finding a wide-open Chris Eastburn in the end zone to open the scoring at 7-0 just 5:04 into the game.

The Muleriders drove when they got the ball back, making it to the Tech 15-yard line before Rose grabbed his first interception off of SAU quarterback Barrett Renner, who entered the game having thrown only one pick all season. The Wonder Boys couldn't get much going with the free possession, but did flip the field position. The Muleriders put together a 10 play drive that stalled at midfield. 

Tech answered with the first of three straight scoring drives, going 79 yards on 10 plays with Favor breaking off a 19-yard run early and capping the drive off with a 17-yard burst into the end zone to make it 14-0 with 9:45 left in the first half. The defense forced three straight incompletions — two of which were assisted by Genz pressuring the quarterback — to get the ball back to the offense, who covered 45 yards before coming up short at the SAU 13 and settling for the 30-yard field goal from Eric Perez to make it 17-0.

SAU went backwards on their next drive, going three-and-out for a second-straight time with the Muleriders losing 16 yards on the drive. The Wonder Boys ended up getting fantastic field position on the insuing punt, starting the drive from the SAU 39. Favor completed passes of 22 yards to Stringer and 16 yards to Michael Fine put the ball on the 3 before Favor closed out the drive with another touchdown plunge to push the lead to 24-0 with 2:12 to go before half.

The guests managed to find the end zone on their last drive before the break and first one after to pull within 10 points, but they would not get any closer. A 53-yard catch-and-run by Henry Wesley — who now has two catches, each for 53 yards, this season — on the first play after the ensuing kickoff set the Wonder Boys up with a Favor 18-yard dash for his third score of the day to make it 31-14. SAU once again pulled the lead to 10 points on the next possession. When SAU got the ball back after a stalled ATU possession, Aa bad snap on a punt by the Muleriders gave Tech good field position again, this time at the SAU 33. JaMarcus Walker finished off a four-play drive with a 6-yard plunge, making it 37-21 on the final play of the third quarter.

With the Muleriders still within two scores, the Tech defense buckled down, forcing two straight three-and-outs that surrounded a 12-play, 71-yard drive that ended with Favor's fourth-running touchdown of the day. Favor's one-yard plunge gave Tech a commanding 44-21 advantage with 8:41 on the clock, putting the game out of reach for the Muleriders.

The defense managed a season-high 7.0 tackles for loss, and intercepted two passes for the third time in four games this season. The offense kept its streak of running for at least 200 yards going, rushing 55 times for 284 yards against the Muleriders, their best clip since rushing for 469 yards against Southern Nazarene in the season opener.

Tech is back on the road next Saturday, heading south to Arkadelphia, Arkansas for a 2 p.m. kickoff against Henderson State.