KICKING OFF
The Arkansas Tech football team is back at home this week for their annual Homecoming game and will be taking on Southwestern Oklahoma. With it being homecoming, there are expected to be numerous former Wonder Boy football players in attendance as historic championship teams from 1964, 1994, 1999 and 2004 are slated to be recognized throughout the game.
TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
LAST GAME
The Wonder Boys got back in the win column their last time out as they put forth a dominant performance on the road at Northwestern Oklahoma. In that game, the Wonder Boys jumped out to a 17-0 lead after the first quarter and thanks to a solid rushing attack, were able to eventually cruise to a 44-21 win.
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Offensively after five games, the Wonder Boys are averaging 26.6 points per game and 356.4 yards of total offense. Their ppg average ranks fifth in the GAC, while their total offense also ranks fifth.
In the passing game, the Wonder Boys used a trio of quarterbacks with Ethan Forrester, Ethan Everson and Hunter Loyd making at least one start. Overall, Everson has played in all five game and has made three starts. In his time on the field, Everson has thrown for 759 yards on 56-of-99 passing with five touchdowns and two interceptions.
On the ground, the Wonder Boys have had 10 different ball carriers against this season. Luke Gall has shouldered the largest load with 57 carries and leads the team in net yards with 302 and also leads in rushing touchdowns with four. Myles West has come on as of late in the backfield and is up over 130 yards and has two touchdowns.
Jordan Edington, who handles most of the short-yardage downs, has recorded one of the other rushing touchdown.
In terms of receiving, Tech has had pass completions to 12 different targets. Caleb Tanis leads the team in receptions with 23, yards at 383 and touchdowns with two. Joyrion Chase has gone over 200 yards receiving through five games and has a touchdown. Tight End Dayton Keller is tied with Tanis for the leads in receiving touchdowns with two.
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively through five games, the Wonder Boys allow an average of 275.2 yards of total offense per game by their opponents and 26.6 points per game. The total defense ranks third in the GAC, while their scoring defense is seventh.
Individually, Tech has nine players that registered at least 15 tackles overall are led by Jyrin Steward and his 42 stops. Steward also lead the team in tackles for loss with 14.0 and has 2.0 sacks. Israel Whitmore is currently the team leader in sacks with 3.5.
In terms of takeaways, the Wonder Boys have recovered two fumbles and come away with five interceptions. Three of the picks have been hauled in by CJ Palmer while the most-recent one was a 62-yard pick-six by Diego Sanchez. The fumble recoveries have been secured by Jordan Thompson and Whitmore.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Christopher Baldazo has assumed the placekicking duties for the Wonder Boys and in five games he is 9-for-10 in field goals with a long of 47 yards against Oklahoma Baptist. He is also 8-of-10 in extra point kicks.
In the punting game, Logan Tymeson has been called upon to punt 21 times this season and is averaging 40.8 yards per punt.
In the return game, Tyrique Jones leads the team in kickoff return yards with 90 yards on three returns. His long is 40 yards. On punts, he has returned three for 22 yards with a long of 16.
COACH SHIPP
Kyle Shipp is in his sixth season as head football coach at Arkansas Tech and is in his fifth season of competition after the 2020 season was not played due to COVID-19. After a 3-8 season in his first year on the sidelines of his alma mater in 2019, Shipp would improve his team's win output each of the next two seasons with four wins in 2021 and five wins in 2022. This past season, Shipp matched that win total of five. Overall, Shipp carries an 20-29 record.
KNOW YO FOE
LAST GAME
The Southwestern Oklahoma Bulldogs come into Saturday's game at 2-3 overall and are coming off a loss in their most-recent game against No. 1-ranked Harding. In their game against the defending DII National Champions, SWOSU was extremely limited on offense as they had less than 100 yards of total offense and were forced to punt eight times. The Bulldogs were able to put together a point-scoring drive in the second quarter with a 24-yard field goal.
THE COACH
The Bulldogs are coached by Andrew Rice, who is in his first year as the head coach at Southwestern Oklahoma. Prior to taking over at SWOSU, Rice spent two seasons as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at Southern Arkansas. Rice also has spent time as an assistant at the collegiate level at Central Oklahoma and Northeastern A&M College.
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Offensively, the Bulldogs feature a spread offensive attack. Through five games this year, SWOSU has the 11th-ranked scoring offense in the GAC at 15.4 ppg and the 9th-ranked total offense with an average of 256.8 ypg. Through the air, the Bulldogs are averaging 93.0 ypg to rank 12th in the GAC. On the ground, SWOSU is averaging 163.8 ypg to rank third in the GAC.
The leading rusher thus far has been quarterback Kai Kunz with 411 yards gained. He also has seven of the team's eight rushing touchdowns.
In the passing game, the Bulldogs Kunz has played in all five games and thrown for 409 yards on 45-of-78 passing with one touchdown and two interceptions.
The Bulldogs have three receivers that have at least 80 yards receiving and are led by Jax Smith. He has 86 receiving yards on six receptions. The lone receiving touchdown this season has been hauled in by Baylor Nash.
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively, the Bulldogs base out of a multiple scheme and currently rank eighth in scoring defense, allowing 31.6 ppg. Their total defense ranks 10th in the GAC allowing 387.8 ypg of total offense by their opponents. Through the air, SWOSU ranks fourth in the GAC with 151.6 ypg. On the ground, the Bulldogs allow an average of 236.2 ypg and rank 12th in the GAC.
Individually, Southwestern Oklahoma has four players with 25 or more stops. Logan Monroe leads the team in tackles with 45. He also leads the team in tackles for loss with 5.5 and in sacks with 3.0
As a unit, the Bulldogs' defense has registered 15 takeaways with nine being interceptions and six being fumble recoveries. Desmond Green and Wyatt Rhomer have combined for seven of those interceptions while Cadynce Hall leads the team in fumble recoveries with two.
THE SERIES
This will be the 20th meeting all-time between Arkansas Tech and Southwestern Oklahoma in a series that dates back to 1968. After that initial meeting in Fort Smith, the two didn't play until 1988, and then played each other six of the next seven years. In 2011, Tech and SWOSU became charter members of the GAC. In that time span, Tech leads the series by a small margin, 7-5. Overall, Tech also holds a slight lead in the series, 11-8.
