ALVA, Okla. – The Arkansas Tech football team turned in an overall dominant performance on Saturday evening on the road at Northwestern Oklahoma as Tech rolled to a 45-20 win over NWOSU in front of their Homecoming crowd.
Just about every major stat category was controlled by the Wonder Boys (5-5, 5-5 GAC) as they bettered the Rangers (1-9, 1-9 GAC) in First Downs (23-to-19), Rushing Offense (333-to-120), Total Offense (471-to-365) 3
rd-Down Conversions (11-of-15 – to – 6-of-11), Red Zone Scoring (6-of-6 -to-2-of-3) and Time of Possession (37:17 – 22:43).
The dominance statistically by the Wonder Boys came as the game wore on because the beginning of the contest was playing out like it might be a high-scoring shootout.
In the first quarter, both teams were scoring seemingly at-will with each finding the endzone on their two possessions in the period. The Wonder Boys were the first to strike after winning the toss and electing to receive the opening kick.
On that opening drive, the Wonder Boys would run 12 plays and capped the methodical drive on a four-yard rush by tight end/short-yardage QB
Jordan Edington. The rushing touchdown was the sixth of the year for Edington, putting him back in the team-lead.
The Rangers responded quickly on their initial possession and needed just three plays before scoring their first touchdown of the game.
Back with the ball, the Wonder Boys continued to be methodical and controlled the action en route to their second touchdown. This one, being a two-yard plunge by Devontae Dean.
NWOSU once more responded with a lightning quick score to knot the game up at 14-all.
As the game moved into the second quarter, the Wonder Boys were moving the ball with ease still and got the ball down to the NWOSU 13-yardline. Three-straight negative yardage plays from that spot, however, stalled the drive and forced the Wonder Boys to settle for a 43-yard field goal by last week's hero,
Jesus Zizumbo.
The first non-scoring stop of the game came during NWOSU's ensuing possession, but not before the Rangers had used 14 plays to get down to the Tech 17-yardline. At that spot, the Rangers faced a 4
th-and-2 and elected to go for it. The combination of
Christian Cole and
Kyle Green held the Rangers short a yard, turning the ball over on downs to Tech.
The Wonder Boys then worked their way down the field once more for a touchdown to go up by 10 points, 24-14, with just over a minute left in the first half. That scoring drive ended with a 35-yard touchdown pass from
Jack Grissom to
Mason Ross and proved to be the final points of the half as the Wonder Boys were able to keep the Rangers off the board before heading into the locker room.
Third quarter action saw the game's first takeaway as the Wonder Boys forced and recovered fumble on the very first play of NWOSU's initial drive of the period. Tech was not able to do anything with the turnover and punted for the first time in the game.
The ensuing possession was penalty-stricken for the Wonder Boys' defense as they were penalized four times for 45 yards to aid NWOSU in finding the endzone for the third time and pulling within a score of the lead. The extra-point attempt failed and Tech led 24-20.
The game settled back down for the Wonder Boys the next time they for the ball and a 17-yard QB keeper by Grissom put Tech back up by two scores, 31-20.
From that point on, it was all Tech. The defense would force and recover two fumbles and two three-and-out possessions over the remainder of the game while the offense punched in two more rushing touchdowns to bring the score to its final of 45-20.
The Wonder Boys will remain on the road next week as they close out the regular season at nationally-ranked Harding. The game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. kickoff in Searcy. At 5-5 with the win at NWOSU, the Wonder Boys will be seeking their first winning season since 2017.
