WEATHERFORD, Okla. – On the eve of Halloween, the Arkansas Tech football team made their final road trip of the year and are heading back to the Natural State with no tricks, just treats and a hard-fought win over Southwestern Oklahoma.
 
The Wonder Boys (3-6, 3-6 GAC) were either tied or trailed Southwestern Oklahoma for nearly the entire game until junior kicker Jesus Zizumbo drilled what turned out to be a game-winning 36-yard field goal with eight seconds left to give Tech the come-from-behind win.
 
That thrilling kick by Zizumbo was set up by consecutive scoring drives by the Wonder Boys in the fourth quarter.
 
The first of those started with 11:40 left in the fourth and with nearly the entire length of the field to traverse as the preceding SWOSU punt was downed at the Tech 3-yardline. Already a tall task given the field position, but adding to the degree of difficulty was the fact that Wonder Boys were without the services of starting quarterback Jack Lindsey as he was forced from the game due to an injury the offensive possession prior.
 
With the odds stacked, the Wonder Boys hit the ground running and called upon the tough running style of Ron Thompson. After four-straight carries, Thompson had pulled the Wonder Boys out of the shadow of their own endzone and got the ball to the Tech 37-yardline. Thompson's fifth-straight rush was stopped for no gain and set up a crucial third down.
 
Needing to extend the drive, backup QB Caleb Canady completed his first pass of the game to Drew Wade for an eight-yard gain and a first down. Canady then went on to complete his next three passes with the final one being a 21-yard touchdown strike to Mason Ross, pulling the Wonder Boys within two points of a tie score.
 
Electing to go for two and tie the game at 14-all, the Wonder Boys failed on the attempt and now the focus turned to the defense as that 97-yard drive, while beneficial with a touchdown, chewed up just over seven minutes of game clock, leaving just 4:37 to go.
 
On SWOSU's first play on their ensuing drive, the Bulldogs (0-9, 0-9 GAC) rushed for 10 yards and a first down. The Wonder Boys defense rose to the occasion from there starting with a three-yard tackle for loss by Matthew Minnix on a rush play to put SWOSU behind the chains for second down. The Wonder Boys' secondary then played solid in coverage forcing the next two pass attempts to fall incomplete and, in the process, forcing a punt by the Bulldogs.
 
What followed was perhaps a sign that things might just go the way of the Wonder Boys on the night before Halloween as a muffed catch on the punt was recovered by the Wonder Boys at their own 18-yardlne.
 
Once more it was Thompson who got the ball to start the drive and his initial carry went for 16 yards before the ball was fumbled out of bounds, keeping possession with the Wonder Boys. A pair of unproductive rush plays followed and left Tech with a 3^rd-and-14 from their own 30-yardline.
 
On that play, Canady was intercepted, but the play was negated, and the Wonder Boys gained an automatic first down on a defensive holding call. Later in the drive, the Wonder Boys were beneficiaries of another SWOSU defensive penalty, this time an offsides penalty on 4^th-and-6. That made it 4^th-and-1 and the Wonder Boys were able to pick up the first down with relative ease to extend the drive.
 
Two plays later, the biggest play of the night occurred for the Wonder Boys as Canady connected with Ross for a big 29-yard gain that brought the ball all the way down to the SWOSU 21-yardline with just 22 seconds left.
 
Following a timeout, the Wonder Boys called upon Thompson one last time to position the ball just right for a potential go-ahead field goal by Zizumbo. Thompson gained two yards on that play to set up a 36-yard try for Zizumbo.
 
With 12 seconds showing on the clock, SWOSU called a timeout in hopes of icing Zizumbo. Unfazed by the delay in action, Zizumbo stepped up and drilled the kick, giving the Wonder Boys their first lead of the game with just eight seconds now left.
 
Zizumbo then kicked the ball out of the endzone to make SWOSU have to go a majority of the field if they had any hopes of kicking a game-winner on their end.
 
With time on their side, the Wonder Boys played sound defense on the one and only play SWOSU would be able to get off before the clock read 00:00 as Christian Cole made the sure tackle in bounds to allow time to expire.
 
The Wonder Boys will now head home and prepare to close out the 2021 regular season with a pair of home games. The first of those is a 2 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, November 6 against Northwestern Oklahoma.