Hopes for a 2017 Great American Conference football championship remain very much alive at Arkansas Tech University.
The Wonder Boys (8-2 overall, 8-2 GAC) dispatched Southeastern Oklahoma State University 48-10 at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field in Russellville on Saturday afternoon to keep pace with Ouachita Baptist University (8-2, 8-2) atop the GAC standings with one week remaining in the regular season.
ATU running back Braden Stringer carried 16 times for 230 yards and four rushing touchdowns. It was the sixth-highest single game rushing total by a Wonder Boy all-time.
Bryan Allen added 15 carries for 106 yards and a touchdown. He moved into sixth place on the career rushing list at Arkansas Tech with 2,495 yards.
Ty Reasnor threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Chris Eastburn and Eric Perez made a season-long 45-yard field goal to help the Wonder Boys build their big early lead, but it was a pair of long touchdown runs by Stringer that sent a jolt through the crowd.
Stringer went untouched from 44 yards out at the 7:04 mark of the first quarter, and he did it again for a career-long run of 82 yards with 13:21 remaining in the second quarter to give Tech a 24-0 edge.
Allen added a 10-yard run with 5:45 to go until halftime to increase the Wonder Boys’ advantage to 31-0.
Southeastern Oklahoma State (6-4, 6-4) got on the board with a 9-yard Austin Skinner touchdown pass to Skye Lowe with 11.5 seconds left in the second quarter, pulling the Savage Storm within 31-7 at the intermission.
SOSU’s Joel Carlos notched a 30-yard field goal at the 12:39 mark of the third quarter to make it 31-10, but that was the Savage Storm’s final stand. Two more touchdown runs by Stringer — one of two yards and another of three yards — along with a 36-yard Perez field goal allowed the Wonder Boys to win going away.
Perez became the all-time leading career scorer among Arkansas Tech place kickers on Saturday, surpassing the previous record of 239 career points established by Paul Peletz from 1997-2000. Perez now has 249 career points.
The Wonder Boys will close out their 2017 football regular season by hosting Harding University for a 2 p.m. GAC contest at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field on Saturday, Nov. 11. If Tech wins, it will be assured of no worse than a share of the GAC championship.
Party at the Plaza, the pre-game tailgating celebration outside the stadium on Centennial Plaza, will begin at noon.
