It was a successful beginning to the 102nd season of Arkansas Tech University football on Thursday night.
The Wonder Boys posted their first shutout since 2002 and rolled to a 46-0 Great American Conference victory over Southern Nazarene University at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field in Russellville.
Arkansas Tech led 37-0 at the intermission, and while the outcome of the game was never in doubt in the second half, the Wonder Boys’ defense had to make one late stand to preserve the shutout.
Greg Abrams intercepted a Southern Nazarene pass at the Arkansas Tech 5-yard line with 2:22 remaining to seal the Wonder Boys’ first shutout since a 25-0 win over the University of West Alabama on Nov. 2, 2002.
Braden Stringer started the scoring with a 3-yard touchdown run at the 11:36 mark of the first quarter.
For a second consecutive year, Southern Nazarene fumbled on its first offensive play from scrimmage to gift Arkansas Tech with points.
In 2015, a Crimson Storm fumble was recovered by Nick Akins for what became known as the “10 men on the field touchdown” in memory of Zemaric Holt. On Thursday night, a similar fumble rolled through the back of the end zone for a safety. The Wonder Boys led 9-0 less than four minutes into the game.
Touchdown runs by Kristian Thompson, Bryan Allen and Jandt Weary along with a 31-yard touchdown pass from Ty Reasnor to Jabyes Cross staked Arkansas Tech to its 37-0 halftime edge.
Eric Perez made a 35-yard field goal and Cross delivered a 31-yard touchdown pass to Michael Fine to account for all of the second-half scoring.
Reasnor completed 22-of-26 passes for 231 yards in his Wonder Boys’ debut. Allen rushed 17 times for 76 yards. Fine caught seven passes for 99 yards, while Cross made six receptions for 67 yards. Bruce Livingston led the Tech defense with nine tackles.
Noah Wells made a game-high 14 tackles for Southern Nazarene.
The Wonder Boys finished with 491 yards of total offense and 28 first downs, compared to 163 total yards and seven first downs for the Crimson Storm.
Arkansas Tech will play its first road game of 2016 on Saturday, Sept. 10, when it visits Oklahoma Baptist University for a noon kickoff in GAC action at Shawnee, Okla. Radio station KCJC 102.3 FM and www.arkansastechsports.com will have live coverage.
