GAME INFORMATION
ARKANSAS TECH WONDER BOYS 7-4 (7-4 GAC)		(rv) WEST TEXAS A&M BUFFALOES 7-4 (7-2 LSC)
Saturday, December 6 | Noon Community Bank & Trust Stadium at Tiger Field | Corsicana, Texas LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO | LISTEN LIVE | ATU NOTES (PDF) | WT NOTES (PDF)

KICKING OFF
The revitalized season for the Arkansas Tech football team is set to continue into postseason play as the Wonder Boys will take on West Texas A&M in the 2025 Heritage Bowl Powered by Riot. Finishing the regular season 7-4 for their first winning season since 2017, the Wonder Boys received the invitation for the Heritage Bowl, giving them their first postseason action that 2017 season.
 
THE SERIES      
This will be the first-ever meeting between Arkansas Tech and West Texas A&M in football.
 

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TECH(NICALLY) SPEAKING
LAST GAME
The Wonder Boys ended their regular season at home against No. 2-ranked and unbeaten Harding. While ultimately falling to the Buffaloes 47-13, the Wonder Boys were able to hang with Harding for the first half of action, tying the game in the second quarter before going to halftime trailing by a touchdown, 17-7.
 
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE
Through 11 games, the Wonder Boys are averaging 25.5 points per game and 340.4 yards of total offense. Their ppg average ranks seventh in the GAC, while their total offense is ninth. Through the air, Tech is averaging 176.0 yards per game to rank seventh in the GAC. On the ground, the Wonder Boys are rushing for 164.4 yards per game to rank eighth.
 
Jack Dawson, Carter Hensley and Dominic Feliciano have all taken snaps at QB for the Wonder Boys. At the beginning of the year, Dawson was the starter and primary signal-caller. He missed the SAU and Henderson State games with an injury but returned in limited action over the final three weeks of the season. He is 75-for-139 with 1,050 yards and 12 touchdowns. Hensley has got the start in place of Dawson each of the last five games and is the projected starter for the bowl game. He is now 68-for-123 for 886 yards with six touchdowns and three interceptions. Feliciano has primarily run the ball when in at QB and has carried it 30 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 1,054, making him the first 1,000-yard back for Tech since 2015.
 
Roland also has nine of the team's 16 rushing touchdowns. Quarterbacks Dawson and Feliciano account for six rushing scores for Tech with Feliciano having four and Dawson, two and running back Tracy Daniels and wide receiver Carldell Sirmons have the remaining rushing touchdowns with one apiece.
 
In terms of receiving, Tech has had 15 players with at least one reception. Jared Long leads the team in receptions so far with 29 and is the leader in receiving yards with 477. Long also has the most touchdown receptions with five. Austin Marshall, JD DeCausmaker, Carldell Sirmons and Cam McFarlin are next on the team with two, while Tracy Daniels, Gavin Waits, Scout Brazeal, Myles West and Bryson Roland all have one receiving touchdown.
 
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE
Defensively the Wonder Boys are allowing 399.7 yards of total offense per game and 22.5 points against per game. Their total defense ranks eighth in the GAC, while their scoring defense is seventh. Through the air, Tech is allowing an average of 192.7 yards per game to rank 11th in the GAC. On the ground, the Wonder Boys are rushing for 207.0 yards per game to rank ninth.
 
Individually, the Wonder Boys have 23 players with double-digit tackles and 10 with at least 30 stops. Linebacker Jyrin Steward leads the team in overall tackles with 73.0. Israel Whitmore leads the team in tackles for loss at 8.0 and is tied with Vershaud Richardson in sacks with 3.5.
 
As a team, the Wonder Boys have come away with 17 takeaways with 11 being interceptions and six being fumble recoveries. Tyrique Jones has the team-lead in interceptions with three. Whitmore leads the team in fumble recoveries with two. Gregor Jones, Tyrique Jones, Jordan Scott and Caleb Arnold account for the remaining three.
 
SPECIAL TEAMS
In the kicking game, Logan Tymeson has handled all the field goal and point-after-touchdown opportunities thus far. He is 35-of-36 in PATs and 5-of-9 in field goals.
 
Technically, punting has been done by four players, but two of those has been quarterbacks on pooch punts. Dawson has five pooch punts while Hensley has one. Regular punter Angus Greaves has had 46 punts and is averaging 39.5 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 13 kickoff returns and is averaging 25.4 yards per return while Daniels has had seven and is averaging 17.0 yards per return. Crooms has had four kickoff returns and is averaging 23.0 yards per return. Sirmons has had seven punt returns and is averaging 11.4 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 Tigers' 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 Bison go unbeaten in the regular season.
 

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KNOW YO FOE
LAST GAME     
West Texas A&M is coming off a thrilling 45-44 win at home in their regular season finale against (rv) Angelo State. The win was the third-straight for the Buffaloes and saw them score a pair of touchdowns over the final five minutes of the game. The last of the two was a virtual walk-off score as it came with just six seconds left on the clock.
 
THE COACH     
The Buffaloes are coached by Josh Lynn, who is in his third year as the head coach at West Texas A&M and his 14th year overall. At West Texas, Lynn is 15-17 and overall has an 89-71 record. Lynn's previous stops saw him be the head coach at Eastern New Mexico (2012-16) and Nebraska Kearney (2017-22).
 
SCOUTING THE OFFENSE          
Offensively, the Buffaloes have the second-ranked scoring offense in the Lone Star Conference (LSC) at 37.9 ppg and the top-ranked total offense with an average of 482.5 ypg. Through the air, the Buffaloes are averaging 352.9 ypg to rank first in the LSC. On the ground, West Texas A&M is averaging 129.6 ypg to rank seventh in the LSC.
 
The leading rusher thus far is Jayden Hibbler with 490 yards gained on 81 carries. Hibbler also has five touchdowns on the ground to tie for second. The second-leading rusher in terms of yards is quarterback RJ Martinez. Martinez has 281 yards on a team-high 90 carries and leads the team in rushing scores with seven.
 
As the starting quarterback, Martinez is 283-for-431 for 3,715 yards and 33 touchdowns with seven interceptions. He is currently the DII leader in passing yards, passing yards per game and total offense.
 
West Texas A&M has had seven receivers with at least 200 yards receiving are led by Trevin Edwards with 652 yards on a team-high 55 catches. Edwards is also tied for the second-most receiving TDs on the team with six. Zach Phipps is the team-leader in that category with nine.
 
SCOUTING THE DEFENSE          
Defensively, the Buffaloes rank sixth in scoring defense at 31.0 ppg. Their total defense also ranks sixth in the LSC allowing 398.3 ypg of total offense by their opponents. Through the air, West Texas A&M ranks sixth in the LSC at 228.7 average ypg allowed. On the ground, the Buffaloes allow an average of 169.5 ypg and rank sixth in the LSC.
 
Individually, West Texas A&M has had 21 players record double-digit tackles and six with at least 50 stops. They are led Miles Hill with 93.0. A total of 25 players have accounted for at least 0.5 tackles for lost yardage with Ashton Reynolds leading the team at 10.0. Reynolds also leads the team in sacks with 8.5.
 
The Buffaloes' defense has forced nine turnovers through 11 games with six of the takeaways being interceptions and three being fumble recoveries. Cam Manahan and Jamel Acosta-Lewis are tied for the team-lead in interceptions with two while three players account for the fumble recoveries.