GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 4-2 (4-2 GAC)	SOUTHERN ARKANSAS MULERIDERS 5-1 (5-1 GAC)
Saturday, October 17 | 2 p.m. Memorial Stadium | El Dorado, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LISTEN LIVE | ATU NOTES (PDF) | SAU NOTES

KICKING OFF
The Arkansas Tech football team stays on the road this week but will take on (rv/25) Southern Arkansas at a neutral site as part of the annual Murphy USA Classic in El Dorado. Kick-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. from Memorial Stadium.
 
THE SERIES      
This will be the 88th meeting all-time between Arkansas Tech and Southern Arkansas in a series that dates back to 1916. Playing almost annually as conference opponents in the AIC and GSC, Tech and SAU also became charter members of the GAC in 2011. In that time span, SAU leads the series 10-3. Dating back to when both schools made the jump to NCAA DII in 1995, SAU holds a 16-11 lead.
 

---

TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
LAST GAME
The Wonder Boys are looking for a bounce back effort this weekend after a tough 37-21 loss on the road at East Central. In that game, Tech fell behind early and was not able to overcome that early deficit.
 
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Through six games, the Wonder Boys are averaging 27.2 points per game and 332.5 yards of total offense. Their ppg average ranks fourth in the GAC, while their total offense is ninth. Through the air, Tech is averaging 167.8 yards per game to rank seventh in the GAC. On the ground, the Wonder Boys are rushing for 164.7 yards per game to rank seventh.
 
Jack Dawson, Carter Hensley and Dominic Feliciano have all taken snaps at QB for the Wonder Boys, but Dawson has been the starter and primary signal-caller. He is 68-for-129 with 963 yards and 11 touchdowns. Hensley is 4-for-6 for 44 yards in limited appearances. Feliciano has primarily run the ball when in at QB and has carried it 15 times and has four touchdowns.
 
On the ground, the Wonder Boys have had nine different ball carriers. Freshman Bryson Roland currently leads the team in yards with 507. He has three of the team's nine rushing touchdowns. Quarterbacks Dawson and Feliciano account for the remaining five rushing scores for Tech with Feliciano having four and Dawson, two.
 
In terms of receiving, Tech has had 14 players with at least one reception. Jared Long leads the team in receptions so far with 15 and is the leader in receiving yards with 247. Long also has the most touchdown receptions with three. Austin Marshall is next on the team with two, while Carldell Sirmons, Tracy Daniels, Gavin Waits, Bryson Roland and Cam McFarlin all have one receiving touchdown.
 
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively the Wonder Boys are allowing 385.8 yards of total offense per game and 18.5 points against per game. Their total defense ranks ninth in the GAC, while their scoring defense is third.
 
Individually, the Wonder Boys have 16 players with double-digit tackles and three with at least 30 stops. Linebacker Sam Jackson leads the team in overall tackles with 45.0. Israel Whitmore leads the team in sacks with 2.5 and is tied with Tyriq Taiwo and Vershaud Richardson in tackles for loss at 4.5.
 
As a team, the Wonder Boys have come away with 10 takeaways with seven being interceptions and three being fumble recoveries. Julien Lopez, Diego Sanchez and Tyrique Jones are tied for the team-lead in interceptions with two each. Jones also has one of the three fumble recoveries and is joined by Israel Whitmore and Gregor Jones for the other two.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
In the kicking game, Logan Tymeson has handled all the field goal and point-after-touchdown opportunities thus far. He is 20-of-20 in PATs and 3-of-5 in field goals.
 
Technically, punting has been done by two players, but one of those has been quarterback Dawson, with five pooch punts. Regular punter Angus Greaves has had 24 punts and is averaging 38.0 yards per punt.
 
In the return game, the Wonder Boys have had a rotation of Carldell Sirmons, De'Rion Crooms and Tracy Daniels handle most of the opportunities on kickoffs and punts. Sirmons has had eight kickoff returns and is averaging 21.5 yards per return while Daniels has had five and is averaging 18.2 yards per return. Crooms has had four kickoff returns and is averaging 23.0 yards per return. Sirmons has had five punt returns and is averaging 13.6 yards per return.
 
COACH THOMPSON
Roy Thompson enters his first season as head football coach at Arkansas Tech after spending the previous nine at GAC-rival Ouachita Baptist as the Muleriders' defensive coordinator. On the coaching staff a total of 12 years at Ouachita, Thompson spent the 2016 and 2017 seasons as the co-Defensive Coordinator before taking over the reins fully starting with the 2018 season. 
 
Over that seven-year stretch (2020 was not played due to COVID-19), Ouachita has had three seasons in which its points allowed per game were under 20.0, ranking it in the top-10 nationally in DII. The other three seasons, the highest points allowed in a season was 20.7 points per game. Over that same stretch, Thompson's defensive unit allowed under 320.0 yards per game four times, ranking in the top-35 nationally.
 
Thompson's time at Ouachita also yielded a ton of championship hardware as well as NCAA postseason experience. Out of the eight seasons played with Thompson on staff, Ouachita won the GAC championship five times and reached the NCAA playoffs each of those seasons as well, with the most recent being in 2024. Of those five conference titles, three saw the Muleriders go unbeaten in the regular season.
 

---

KNOW YO FOE
LAST GAME     
Southern Arkansas picked up a hard-fought 14-12 win at home last week against an upstart Southwestern Oklahoma team. SAU scored first early in the game but only led 7-3 at halftime. After SWOSU kicked a second field goal to get within a point, SAU returned the ensuing kickoff 93 yards for a touchdown. That proved to be the difference in the game as SWOSU scored in the final seconds but failed on their two-point try that would have tie the game.
 
THE COACH     
The Muleriders are coached by Brad Smiley, who is in his fourth year overall as the head coach. In his time at SAU, Smiley is 29-11.
           
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE          
Offensively, the Muleriders have the third-ranked scoring offense in the GAC at 27.8 ppg and the fourth-ranked total offense with an average of 393.3 ypg. Through the air, the Muleriders are averaging 182.2 ypg to rank sixth in the GAC. On the ground, SAU is averaging 211.2 ypg to rank second in the GAC.
 
The leading rusher thus far is Arkez Gomez with 364 yards gained on 59 carries with three touchdowns. Just behind Gomez is quarterback Hezekiah Harris. Harris has 315 yards on 62 carries and has four touchdowns.
 
At quarterback, SAU has split time between Harris and Adam Parker. Both have attempted at least 70 passes. Harris is 56-for-79 with 753 yards and seven touchdowns. He also has one interception. Parker is 43-for-74 for 341 yards and two touchdowns. He also has a pair of interceptions.
 
SAU has five receivers up over 100 yards on the season and are led by Kendall Williams with 171 yards on 22 receptions. Cooper Sanders leads the team in TD receptions with two. Seven other Muleriders have one each to account for the remaining TD receptions.
 
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE          
Defensively, the Muleriders rank fourth in scoring defense at 18.7 ppg. Their total defense ranks fifth in the GAC allowing 332.8 ypg of total offense by their opponents. Through the air, SAU ranks seventh in the GAC at 178.7 average ypg allowed. On the ground, the Muleriders allow an average of 154.2 ypg and rank fourth in the GAC.
 
Individually, SAU has had 15 players record double-digit tackles and nine with at least 20 stops. They are led Kendrick Juniel with 47.0. A total of 22 players have accounted for at least 0.5 tackles for lost yardage with Hunter Hewitt leading the team at 9.0. Casey Cobb leads the team in sacks with 3.5.
 
The Muleriders' defense has forced seven turnovers through six games with six of the takeaways being interceptions and one being a fumble recovery. Six different Muleriders have an interception while Juniel accounts for the team's fumble recovery.