November 7th, 2024 7:00am
Just two weeks remain in the regular season in the Great American Conference. The top four teams in the league have predictably separated themselves from the rest of the pack, but much is still up in the air in regards to conference titles and playoff berths.
Chaos has reigned in Super Region Three the past few weeks, so it’s anyone’s guess as to who the seven teams will be on Nov. 17. That’s a good thing for both Henderson State and Southern Arkansas, who still have an outside shot if things continue to be chaotic.
Let’s take a look at the players of the week from week nine in the league.
Offensive Player of the Week- Judd Barton, QB, Southern Arkansas , Jr., Alexandria, Louisiana
Barton accounted for 397 yards and four touchdowns as the Muleriders recorded a 48-14 victory at Southwestern Oklahoma State. He completed 26-of-44 passes for a season-high 374 yards and three scores. He added 23 yards rushing and a rushing touchdown. He leads the conference in total offense and ranks second in points responsible for.
Defensive Player of the Week- Carter Brock, LB, Southern Nazarene, Jr., Lewisville, Texas
Brock registered a team-leading 12 tackles in the Crimson Storm’s 18-17 win at No. 3/5 Ouachita Baptist - the program’s first in 11 all-time meetings against the Tigers. He added 1.5 tackles-for-loss - including an eight-yard sack. He has recorded five double-digit tackle games this season. His 85 tackles rank second in the conference.
Special Teams Player of the Week- Kameron Van Prooyen, K, Southern Nazarene, So., San Antonio, Texas
Kameron Van Prooyen matched the school and conference record for made field goals in a single game after he went 4-for-4 in the Crimson Storm’s upset of Ouachita Baptist. He made a 30-yard try in the first quarter, a 40-yard attempt late in the second quarter, a 41-yard attempt in the third quarter and a 43-yard effort early in the fourth quarter.
Southwestern OSU (2-7) at Henderson State (7-2)
The Bulldogs are reeling after some feel good early in the season. Rome wasn’t built in a day, or even a year, so coach Andrew Rice has plenty of work still ahead of him. Right now, the question is who is his quarterback. Kai Kunz was producing well and then fell off, leaving the door open for Tate Robards to take over. Results haven’t changed, unfortunately, and I wouldn’t expect them to on Saturday against a Henderson State team that suddenly has a glimmer of postseason hope thanks to Ouachita’s loss last week. The Reddies defense has taken care of business against the lower two-thirds of the league, and I’d expect things to be very difficult for SWOSU.
Offensively, Andrew Edwards has been really good all season, and his production is impressive because of his constant turnover at receiver. He’s had a different go-to guy each of his three years at Henderson, and each year, he continues to produce in big ways. SWOSU has given up a lot of yards through the air, but also have intercepted 12 passes, good for second in the league. It’s been boom or bust in the secondary this year, so we’ll see which one turns up on Saturday.
Hope’s a great motivator and the Reddies have it. Henderson State cruises.
Henderson State 41, Southwestern OSU 13
Arkansas Tech (4-5) at Southeastern OSU (5-4)
I didn’t dub any of this week’s slate as the game of the week because frankly, there aren’t any worthy of that title. Which of course means we’ll have upsets galore. But if I had picked one, it’d probably be this one. Both teams are coming in off a loss, but the Wonder Boys have lost three straight. Last year, Tech started 0-4 before finishing 5-2. This year, the opposite is happening. A 4-2 start set Tech up for their first winning season since 2017. But the offense hasn’t been very good of late, particularly the run game, which has been inconsistent all year. The Wonder Boys have rushed for 200+ yards three times, all wins. Their next-closest total is 116 yards. Not good. The Savage Storm defense has been really good this year, last week’s game against Harding notwithstanding. Tech is going to have to find something on the ground if they’re gonna win this one.
Southeastern’s offense has been solid this year, but nothing special. Much like Tech, there’s been inconsistency at quarterback, which has prevented any real rhythm from being generated. I’m intrigued to see how this matchup plays out because as inconsistent as the Tech offense has been, the Tech defense has been pretty good all year. They’re third in total defense and third in passing defense. Southeastern has been able to establish the run a lot more in the past few weeks, so this one could come down to whichever team can run the ball more effectively.
I’d expect the defenses to show out in this one. Neither team averages over 25 points per game on offense, so I think it’ll be a low-scoring affair.
Southeastern OSU 24, Arkansas Tech 20
Arkansas-Monticello (4-5) at Southern Nazarene (1-8)
The Weevils have held off the seemingly annual nose dive and have righted the ship the past few weeks. The Crimson Storm might be the most dangerous 1-8 team in the nation. Regardless, both teams come into this one feeling pretty good about themselves. Who plays quarterback for the Weevils will be interesting, as it was Buddy Taylor, not Demilon Brown, on the field for UAM’s final drive against Oklahoma Baptist last week. The Weevils will always have good athletes, so the SNU defense will have to be locked in like they were a week ago against Ouachita to keep the Weevils from hitting big plays in the run and pass game. But you have to like the Crimson Storm’s capability to shut down the UAM run game, which hasn’t been great this year.
Offensively, SNU has steadily improved this year and the Weevils come into this one last in the league in rushing defense. That bodes well for the Crimson Storm, who piled up almost 300 yards on the ground against East Central two weeks ago before doing what they needed to do to get the upset over Ouachita. The final drive against the Tigers was Bryson Evans at his very best. If that version of Evans is there on Saturday, the Crimson Storm have a great shot in this one. However, the Weevils have generated 15 sacks this year, so SNU will have to protect well in this one.
Momentum is strong for both these teams, but it’s hard not to be enamored with what the Crimson Storm did last week in Arkadelphia. Crimson Storm win on Senior Day.
Southern Nazarene 31, Arkansas-Monticello 21
No. 5 Harding (8-1) at East Central (4-5)
East Central has been playing really well of late, especially young quarterback Sergio Kennedy. And as he’s played better, the ECU offense has been better. Pretty simple stuff. What’s not simple is going up against the Harding defense. Now, the Bisons haven’t looked as impenetrable as they looked before the loss at Ouachita, but they’re still really stinking good and will make life very difficult for the Tigers. Establishing the run will be key, but the Bisons have also picked off a GAC-high 13 passes this year. So even if the Tigers can run, Kennedy has to take care of the ball.
The problem is always can the opponent stop the flexbone. And I don’t see how the Tigers do that. Their run defense has been up and down this year, so I don’t see a track record of success to lean on here. I’d imagine the Bisons will be able to have their way on the ground all afternoon.
Harding gets the road win.
Harding 52, East Central 14
No. 12 Ouachita Baptist (8-1) at Oklahoma Baptist (2-7)
Both of these OBUs are coming off really tough losses, so the desire to right the ship will be strong with both. However, the Tigers understand they have to play really well these next two weeks to solidify a playoff spot, so the motivation is a bit higher than for the Bison. Oklahoma Baptist is on their third quarterback of the season in Camden McCrary, who played well against Arkansas-Monticello. The Bison also took advantage of the Weevils’ porous run defense and had their best performance on the ground in years. Can they do it again against the Tigers? We’ll see. You know the Tigers will be out to make a statement on defense after allowing SNU to march down the field in the final minutes last week for the upset.
Offensively, who knows who is the quarterback for Ouachita this week. I’d imagine it’ll be Riley Harms, who is ramping back up from last year’s knee injury, but it could also be freshman Nate Tenbarge. Or maybe Eli Livingston is healthy enough to go. I don’t know. The fact a conference title and playoff contender is dealing with this in the 10th week of the season is quite worrisome. I don’t think it’ll matter a whole lot besides the margin in this one, but still, it’s a big concern. I’d expect the Tigers to ride Kendal Givens significantly in this one against one of the worst run defenses in the conference.
Tigers bounce back, but maybe not super impressively.
Ouachita Baptist 34, Oklahoma Baptist 10
Northwestern OSU (2-7) at Southern Arkansas (7-2)
Don’t think we’ll spend much time here. The Muleriders need to win and win impressively to keep their very slim playoff hopes alive. They’ll get that opportunity against the Rangers, who have made a few small steps forward this year, but still have a long way to go. Quarterback Judd Barton has been awesome for the Muleriders of late, taking care of the ball and making great decisions.
The Mulerider defense should be able to smother the NWOSU offense pretty effectively. The Muleriders lead the league with 25 sacks, while the Rangers are dead last with 25 sacks allowed. You can probably see where this one is going…
Muleriders. Big.
Southern Arkansas 56, Northwestern OSU 17