October 31st, 2024 11:00am
It’s week nine in the Great American Conference and can we PLEASE get some colder weather around here? The 80s into late October are not enjoyable in the slightest. It’s also not enjoyable to think we’re in the final few weeks of the regular season already, but time does fly when you’re having fun.
Let’s take a look at the players of the week in the conference from week eight.
Offensive Player of the Week- Andrew Edwards, QB, Henderson State, Jr.,Bentonville, Arkansas
Edwards completed 26-of-33 passes for 232 yards and four touchdowns as the Reddies defeated Arkansas-Monticello, 42-7. He added a season-high 79 rushing yards. He has thrown at least four touchdown passes in three of his last four games and he has not thrown an interception in his last 121 attempts.
Defensive Player of the Week- Clark Griffin, LB, Harding, Sr., Mountain Brook, Alabama
In the Bisons’ 49-17 home victory against No. 22/25 Southern Arkansas, Griffin amassed 14 tackles for the second-straight game, equalling his career high. He added a season-high 2.0 tackles-for-loss in addition to his first full sack of the season as the Bisons won their fifth straight against the Muleriders.
Special Teams Player of the Week- Brandon Perez, K, East Central, So., Crandall, Texas
Perez repeated as the league’s Special Teams Player of the Week after he drilled the game-winning 54-yard field goal in waning seconds of the Tigers’ 31-30 road contest against Southern Nazarene. Perez improved to 19-for-19 on his kicks season - 14-for-14 on extra points and 5-for-5 on field goals. East Central completed a 16-point second-half comeback.
Game of the Week- No. 7 Harding (7-1) vs. Southeastern OSU (5-3)- Thursday, Oct. 31
The Bisons looked back to normal against Southern Arkansas last week, but now have to turn around face another blue and gold squad on a short week. The Savage Storm have been great on defense all season and have won five of six coming into this one. SEOSU is third in scoring defense, rushing defense and yards per carry allowed, along with fourth in total defense this season. And they’ve already played the other three of the top four teams in the conference, so those numbers are inflated by inferior opposition. Slowing down the Bisons is a very tough task, but the Savage Storm have the personnel to at least make life difficult for the Harding offense. Harding rushed for 340 against a really good Southern Arkansas defense last week, so “slowing down” is a relative term. We’ll see how this shakes out.
The other side is going to be a bit more difficult for the Savage Storm. Whether it’s Cergio Perez or Luke Hohenberger at quarterback, it will be their first time going up against the fierce Harding defense. Southeastern is fourth is just about every offensive category this year, but even with the setback against Ouachita, the Bisons are allowing six points per game and 162 yards per game. Generating enough offense to take advantage of any defensive success for Southeastern will be quite difficult. Harding has incredibly allowed over two hundred yards just a single time: last week against Southern Arkansas, when they gave up 417. I’d expect the Bisons to be able to clamp down on the Savage Storm offense pretty effectively.
Southeastern will be a pesky opponent on Thursday night, but I’d bet on the Bisons suffocating the Savage Storm eventually.
Harding 38, Southeastern OSU 7
Southern Nazarene (0-8) at No. 5 Ouachita Baptist (8-0)- Thursday, Oct. 31
The Crimson Storm came oh-so-close to picking up their first win of the year last week, but had their hearts ripped out instead. They’ll have to rebound quickly on the mental side of things as they head to Arkadelphia. On paper, this looks like a tall task for SNU. The Crimson Storm have never beaten the Tigers, and have been shut out the last two trips to Arkadelphia. The Tigers might have reason to take this one lightly, but a No. 1 seed in Super Region Three is on the line, so I highly doubt Ouachita will let its guard down. The Tigers made every yard a struggle against Harding, so I’d expect the defense to limit SNU’s ability on the ground significantly.
On the other side, we’ll see who starts at quarterback for the Tigers. Freshman Nate Tenbarge started at Arkansas Tech last week. SNU defensively has had bright moments, and is seventh in yards per carry allowed, but has been pretty porous in pass defense. I’d expect Connor Flannigan and Carter McElhaney to be able to find some space in the middle of the SNU zone coverages.
No Halloween scares for the Tigers in this one.
Ouachita Baptist 49, Southern Nazarene 13
Southern Arkansas (6-2) at Southwestern OSU (2-6)
How are the Muleriders going to respond to being on the outside looking in at the playoff picture, despite having a really good team? We’ll find out this week. The Muleriders moved the ball well against Harding last week, but just couldn’t finish drives early in the game and fell behind big in the first half. They should be able to move the ball easily against a Southwestern defense that’s fallen off over the past few weeks. And if style points matter at all, SAU should be gunning to put up some big numbers.
The Bulldogs offense had been predicated on the run game in the first half of the year, but the passing game has grown a lot these past few games. Last week, we saw Tate Robards take over for Kai Kunz after a rough start to the game for Kunz. Not sure who will be the quarterback when the Bulldogs take the field Saturday, but they’ll have to go against an SAU defense that’s racked up 20 sacks this season, good for third in the conference. The Muleriders also give up just 3.5 yards per carry, so not sure if that’s going to be the way to go, either.
This will be the first time former SAU offensive coordinator Andrew Rice faces his former team. His knowledge of the SAU scheme might be helpful, but he doesn’t have the personnel to make that knowledge bear fruit.
Southern Arkansas 45, Southwestern OSU 17
East Central (3-5) at Arkansas Tech (4-4)
Don’t look now, but the Tigers have won two games in a row and quarterback Sergio Kennedy is playing really well. Last week, he accounted for all four ECU touchdowns at Southern Nazarene, two through the air and two on the ground. He’ll face a tough task against a Wonder Boys defense that’s third in the league in total yards and third in passing yards allowed. Establishing the run will be key for the Tigers to take pressure off Kennedy and keep the Tech defense at bay.
Tech’s in a bit of a spiral offensively, having dropped their last two games. Ethan Forrester, who was brilliant against Oklahoma Baptist in the season opener before exiting with a shoulder injury, returned last week and was, fine. We’ll see if he gets the start Saturday or if Kyle Shipp goes back to Ethan Everson. Either way, early success for the Wonder Boys would be helpful to build confidence. Last week, Tech had five straight three-and-outs to open the game against Ouachita. The run game has been all over the place and is just ninth in the league at 127 yards per game. There will be opportunities to run against the Tigers, but Tech will have to take advantage of them.
East Central has certainly played a bit better the last few weeks, but I think Tech at home will be a tad too much for the Tigers to overcome. Wonder Boys snap the losing streak.
Arkansas Tech 28, East Central 20
Oklahoma Baptist (2-6) at Arkansas-Monticello (3-5)
Rough loss for the Bison last week in Alva against Northwestern OSU. Who starts at quarterback is completely up in the air. When Kenny Rosenthal went out, Camden McCrary, not Aidan Thompson came into the game for OBU. Not sure if that was an intentional choice or if Thompson was unavailable. Either way, the Bison enter week nine with much uncertainty (still) at the quarterback position. Whoever is throwing the ball can lean on Darius Melton, who went over 200 yards receiving against the Rangers. The Weevils haven’t been good on defense this year, so I’d expect OBU to at least be able to move the ball some.
Now, the question is can the Bison shut down quarterback Demilon Brown. Brown rushed for over 200 yards two weeks ago against Arkansas Tech, but was quiet last week at Henderson State. If he gets rolling, he’s so dangerous. The Bison defense has been bad all year, so from a statistical standpoint, there’s not a lot of reason to be optimistic they can get stops. Then again, UAM hasn’t been much on offense this year as well, so it’s an opportunity for one of these middling units to rise up and play well.
The Monticello trip is never a fun one, and I don’t think it’ll be fun for the Bison this week, either.
Arkansas-Monticello 27, Oklahoma Baptist 21
Henderson State (6-2) at Northwestern OSU (2-6)
Won’t spend a lot of time here. The Rangers got a nice win last week against Oklahoma Baptist, so they’re feeling pretty good going into this one. However, Henderson State is no OBU, so I’d expect those feelings to go away quite quickly. Andrew Edwards is in an absolute groove right now, approaching 2,000 yards passing with 19 passing touchdowns this year. He should have another big day against a NW defense that’s 11th in the league in pass defense. However, the Rangers do have 10 interceptions this year, so that’s something to keep an eye on. On the other side, I’d expect the Reddies to get after the Rangers defensively. Henderson hasn’t been lights out defensively this year, but have really shut down the teams who have struggled on offense this year.
Henderson State 45, Northwestern OSU 10