GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 5-3 (5-3 GAC)	SOUTHERN NAZARENE CRIMSON STORM 1-7 (1-7 GAC)
Saturday, November 1 | 2 p.m. Simmons Bank Field at Thone Stadium | Russellville, Ark. LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LISTEN LIVE | ATU NOTES (PDF)

KICKING OFF
Fresh off a pivotal win at home against Henderson State last week, the Arkansas Tech football team remains at home this week and will take on Southern Nazarene. The win against Henderson was the fifth of the season for Tech and puts them on the cusp of attaining a winning record on the gridiron for the first time since 2017.
 
THE SERIES      
This will be the 12th meeting all-time between Arkansas Tech and Southern Nazarene in a series that began in 2013 when SNU joined the Great American Conference. Overall, Tech holds a 9-2 advantage. The Wonder Boys started off winning the first six games in the series before the Crimson Storm won their first game of the series in 2019. In games played in Russellville, the Wonder Boys lead the series 4-1.
 

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TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
LAST GAME
The Wonder Boys are coming off a rain-soaked 17-6 win at home against Henderson State this past Saturday. With steady rain throughout the game, Henderson State's prolific passing attack was minimized. Tech was able to take advantage of that and scored a pair of second-half touchdowns to come-from-behind and secure the win. It was the first win for Tech against Henderson State since 2017.
 
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Through eight games, the Wonder Boys are averaging 23.4 points per game and 317.0 yards of total offense. Their ppg average ranks eighth in the GAC, while their total offense is 10th. Through the air, Tech is averaging 166.0 yards per game to rank seventh in the GAC. On the ground, the Wonder Boys are rushing for 151.0 yards per game to rank seventh.
 
Jack Dawson, Carter Hensley and Dominic Feliciano have all taken snaps at QB for the Wonder Boys. When available, Dawson has been the starter and primary signal-caller. He is 68-for-129 with 963 yards and 11 touchdowns but missed the SAU game with an injury. Hensley has got the start in place of Dawson each of the last two games. He is now 26-for-52 for 365 yards with two touchdowns and an interception. Feliciano has primarily run the ball when in at QB and has carried it 27 times and has four touchdowns.
 
On the ground, the Wonder Boys have had 15 different ball carriers. Freshman Bryson Roland currently leads the team in yards with 596. He has four of the team's 10 rushing touchdowns. Quarterbacks Dawson and Feliciano account for the remaining six rushing scores for Tech with Feliciano having four and Dawson, two.
 
In terms of receiving, Tech has had 15 players with at least one reception. Jared Long leads the team in receptions so far with 17 and is the leader in receiving yards with 301. Long also has the most touchdown receptions with four. Austin Marshall and Cam McFarlin are next on the team with two, while JD DeCausmaker, Carldell Sirmons, Tracy Daniels, Gavin Waits and Bryson Roland all have one receiving touchdown.
 
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively the Wonder Boys are allowing 396.8 yards of total offense per game and 19.9 points against per game. Their total defense ranks eighth in the GAC, while their scoring defense is fourth.
 
Individually, the Wonder Boys have 18 players with double-digit tackles and five with at least 30 stops. Linebacker Sam Jackson leads the team in overall tackles with 55.0. Israel Whitmore leads the team in tackles for loss at 7.0 and is tied with Vershaud Richardson in sacks with 2.5.
 
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 23-of-23 in PATs and 4-of-6 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 35 punts and is averaging 38.5 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 10 kickoff returns and is averaging 25.2 yards per return while Daniels has had six and is averaging 16.2 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 Crimson Storm' 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 Crimson Storm go unbeaten in the regular season.
 

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KNOW YO FOE
LAST GAME     
Southern Nazarene is coming off a 33-22 loss at home against Northwestern Oklahoma this past Saturday. The Crimson Storm would score the first touchdown of the game and held a 14-7 lead early in the second quarter, but Northwestern Oklahoma would go on to score 23 unanswered points over the next two quarters to give them a lead they would not relinquish.
 
THE COACH     
The Crimson Storm are coached by Dustin Hada, who is in his sixth year as the head coach at SNU after taking over as head coach in 2020. Despite being in his sixth year, Hada and his Crimson Storm are only in their fifth season of action on the field as the 2020 season was not played due to COVID-19. Hada is no stranger to SNU, however, spending the previous four seasons as SNU's Offensive Coordinator and Offensive Line coach. His record at SNU is 16-40.
 
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE          
Offensively, the Crimson Storm have the 12th-ranked scoring offense in the GAC at 14.1 ppg and the 12th-ranked total offense with an average of 236.0 ypg. Through the air, the Crimson Storm are averaging 96.5 ypg to rank 11th in the GAC. On the ground, SNU is averaging 139.5 ypg to rank eighth in the GAC.
 
The leading rusher thus far is Kaden Barron with 590 yards gained on 81 carries with two touchdowns. Quarterback Byson Evans has the most carries with 121, but has 207 net yards. He is leading the team in rushing scores with three.
 
At quarterback, Southern Nazarene's starter has been Bryson Evans. He is 52-for-145 with 769 yards and four touchdowns. He also has 11 interceptions. Backup QB Kaden Manuel has appeared in seven games but has only attempted two passes. He has run the ball 29 times of 85 yards and two scores.
 
Southern Nazarene has four receivers up over 100 yards on the season and are led by Donald May with 235 yards on 15 receptions. Four different receivers have accounted for the four passing touchdowns.
 
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE          
Defensively, the Crimson Storm rank 10th in scoring defense at 28.6 ppg. Their total defense ranks ninth in the GAC allowing 411.3 ypg of total offense by their opponents. Through the air, Southern Nazarene ranks eighth in the GAC at 185.5 average ypg allowed. On the ground, the Crimson Storm allow an average of 225.8 ypg and rank 10th in the GAC.
 
Individually, Southern Nazarene has had 17 players record double-digit tackles and three with at least 50 stops. They are led Carter Brock with 73.0. A total of 19 players have accounted for at least 0.5 tackles for lost yardage with Jake Wright leading the team at 6.5. Carter leads the team in sacks with 3.0.
 
The Crimson Storm' defense has forced nine turnovers through eight games with four of the takeaways being interceptions and five being fumble recoveries. Four different Crimson Storm are tied for the team-lead in interceptions with one while Carter leads in fumble recoveries with two.