Wonder Boys Rally to Top Bulldogs 36-35

Wonder Boys 10-19-2019

Down by 15 points midway through the third quarter, on the road…a lot of football teams fold under those circumstances. Arkansas Tech University might have folded in that situation earlier this season.

But this is now, and the Wonder Boys are getting better.

Arkansas Tech rallied to defeat Southwestern Oklahoma State University 36-35 at Milam Stadium in Weatherford, Okla., on Saturday night.

It was the second consecutive win for the Wonder Boys (2-6), while the Bulldogs (2-6) suffered a sixth straight loss.

Early in the second half, it appeared SWOSU would snap its streak.

A pair of touchdown passes by Bulldog quarterback Tyler Marr staked Southwestern to a 35-20 lead with 7:31 left in the third quarter.

That was when the comeback began. Carter Burcham threw a 31-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Smith with 4:04 remaining in the third period and added a 10-yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter to pull Tech within 35-33.

Jesus Zizumbo’s third field goal of the night — a 23-yard kick with 7:03 to go — put the Wonder Boys in front 36-35.

ATU turned the game over to its defense, which stopped the Bulldogs on a fourth-and-2 play from the Wonder Boys’ 40-yard line with 31 seconds left to seal the victory.

Arkansas Tech grabbed an early 7-0 lead behind Caleb Batie’s 8-yard touchdown run with 11:55 to play in the opening quarter.

SWOSU responded with 21 unanswered points on a pair of D.J. Hicks touchdowns receptions and a 36-yard interception return for a touchdown by Jalen Carr. The Bulldogs led 21-7 after one quarter.

The Wonder Boys took advantage of their chance to play with a 15-to-20 mile per hour wind at their backs in the second quarter. Two field goals by Zizumbo and a 43-yard touchdown pass from Manny Harris to Devin Olloway allowed Arkansas Tech to pull within 21-20 at the intermission.

Burcham completed 13-of-25 passes for 191 yards. Arkansas Tech amassed a season-high 439 yards of total offense.

Tyrus Fort made a career-high 11 tackles for the Wonder Boys.

Arkansas Tech will host Southeastern Oklahoma State University for a 2 p.m. GAC contest at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field in Russellville on Saturday, Nov. 2.