It will be a match-up of two of the top rushing offenses in the Great American Conference when Arkansas Tech University visits Southeastern Oklahoma State University in Durant, Okla., on Saturday, Oct. 22.
Kickoff at Paul Laird Field is scheduled for 2 p.m. Radio station KCJC 102.3 FM and www.arkansastechsports.com will have play-by-play coverage.
Arkansas Tech (4-3) has won its last two games by a combined margin of 73 points. The Wonder Boys defeated Ouachita Baptist University 49-17 on Oct. 8 and East Central University 55-14 last Saturday. The win over ECU included a season-high 613 yards of total offense, the sixth-highest single-game output in Arkansas Tech history.
At 220.9 rushing yards per game, the Wonder Boys are one of four teams in the GAC averaging more than 200 yards per contest on the ground this season.
“Anytime you have two really good games like we did back-to-back, you have to have a lot of confidence,” said Arkansas Tech head coach Raymond Monica. “Hopefully we can carry that with us to Southeastern, because they have a very good football team.”
Southeastern Oklahoma State (4-3) ranks third in the GAC in rushing offense (232.9 yards per game). The Savage Storm features the talents of senior running backs Devlon Wortham (115.9 rushing yards per game) and Ronnie Green (104.4 yards per game), two of the top four individual rushers in the GAC.
“Both of them are tremendous running backs,” said Monica. “Both of them bring something a little different. I think their quarterback (CB Cantwell) makes it go getting the ball out as quickly as he does in the short passing game, and then they’ll try to stretch the field. You’re talking about an offense that is averaging more than 35 points and 439 yards per game, so we’ve got our work cut out for us on the defensive side.”
The Wonder Boys are 4-1 against Southeastern Oklahoma State during the GAC era, but all four of those victories came at home. Tech dropped a 22-5 decision to the Savage Storm on Nov. 8, 2014, in their only previous meeting in Durant since the conference began competition in 2011.
Overall, the home team has won the last six meetings between Arkansas Tech and Southeastern Oklahoma State. The last time one side boarded the bus with a road victory over the other was Sept. 11, 1993, when SOSU earned a 15-13 triumph in Russellville. The Wonder Boys’ most recent win in Durant was a 14-10 victory on Sept. 5, 1992.
