WONDER BOYS FALL AT HOME IN A SHOOTOUT ON SENIOR DAY
TO SOUTHERN ARKANSAS

        RUSSELLVILLE, Arkansas – Arkansas Tech Football closed out the home portion of its 2007 schedule here Saturday on Senior Day by dropping an offensive shootout 56-49 to Southern Arkansas in Gulf South Conference action at Thone Stadium in Buerkle Field.

Prior to kickoff of Saturday’s game, the Wonder Boys honored its 17-member senior class in pregame festivities. This year’s seniors are linebacker Arthur Douglas (Shreveport, La.), defensive end Clayton Elliott (Dickinson, Texas), running back Marcus Godfrey (Junction City, Ark.), receiver Herb Grigsby (Mayflower, Ark.), receiver Chris Gunter (Beebe, Ark.), linebacker Zach Hall (Irving, Texas), defensive tackle Hollis Hoskins (Batesville, Ark.), right guard Chad Langdon (Louise, Miss.), right guard Shane McCaa (Waynesboro, Miss.), receiver Justin McCutcheon (Harrison, Ark.), defensive tackle Milan McDaniel (Morrilton, Ark.), defensive end Andrew Murphy (Booneville, Miss.), linebacker Zach Noel (Paragould, Ark.), defensive tackle Travion Scott (Crossett, Ark.), center B.J. Tilley (Lucedale, Miss.), running back R.J. Vanhook (Prescott, Ark.) and defensive back Jonathan Webster (Batesville, Ark.).

Tech, who fell to 5-4 overall and 3-4 in the GSC with the loss, fell just three yards short of sending the game into overtime as junior quarterback Justin Ray (Benton, Ark.) was called out of bounds at the 3-yard line as he was falling towards the end zone for the game-tying touchdown as time expired.

“I thought Justin Ray played an outstanding game today,” Tech Head Coach Steve Mullins said. “The offensive line and tailbacks did a good job at providing protection and at times when he had to scramble, he had a lot of yards.”

Ray finished the game with 479 yards of total offense, including being 22-for-48 passing for 320 yards and three touchdowns and rushing the ball 14 times for a 159 yards. Those totals came one week after he gained 306 yards of total offense and threw five touchdown passes in Tech’s 38-28 win over Ouachita Baptist.

“Our offensive coaching staff had a good game plan today and we executed well,” Mullins said.

Ray’s performance helped Tech’s offense gain a season-high 559 yards of offense on 80 plays. The 559 yards of offense was the most gained by the Wonder Boys since gaining 581 yards against Ouachita Baptist last season.

In fact, for the game, both teams combined to gain 1,114 yards and score 105 points. The 105 combined points are the most in a Tech game since defeating Southern Arkansas, 118-0, in 1922.

“I am proud of the way our offense played today, but we have got to figure out a way to stop the triple option before we face SAU again,” the 11th-year Tech coach said. “They were just able to outscore us.”

Tech opened the game’s scoring on a 6-yard pass from Ray to junior receiver Tracey Stiger (Russellville, Ark.) with 7:06 remaining in the first quarter. Following Stiger’s score, SAU drove 60 yards in nine plays and tied the game up on a 10-yard pass from Josh SanFilippo to Steven Ashley. The Wonder Boys closed out the first quarter by driving 62 yards in three plays and retook the lead, 14-7, on a 26-yard pass from Ray to Grigsby. The drive was highlighted by a 38-yard pass from Ray to sophomore receiver Rolaundo Wright (Sulphur Springs, Texas).

In the second quarter, SAU’s Ryan Sworn added a 20-yard touchdown run with 5:17 remaining in the first half to force a tie at 14. Following Sworn’s scoring run, Tech retook the lead just 53 seconds later as Stiger caught a 45-yard pass from Ray to push in front 21-14. Stiger finished the game with eight receptions for 138 yards. It was the second consecutive game that Stiger gained 100 yards receiving as he caught eight passes for 132 yards in last week’s win over OBU.

          The Muleriders (3-6 overall, 2-5 GSC) retied the game on a 26-yard run by Sworn with 1:24 remaining in the half on its next possession. Tech, though, responded and answered SAU’s score as they drove 39 yards in 55 seconds and pushed in front 28-21 on a 2-yard run by Ray. Following Ray’s touchdown run, SAU came right back and marched down the field and retied the game on a 1-yard run by Keundric Loucious as the first-half horn sounded. The drive was aided by a 15-yard personal foul penalty by the Wonder Boys.

          In the third quarter, SAU retook the lead at 35-28 as Ashley scored on a 3-yard run. Four plays later, Tech retied the game at 35 on a 2-yard run by redshirt sophomore running back Tim Childress (Batesville, Ark.). The drive was aided a 41-yard reception by Stiger and a 25-yard pass reception to junior receiver Landon Turner (Destrehan, La.).

          The Wonder Boys pushed its lead to 42-35 in the opening 67 seconds of the fourth quarter as Ray scored on a 7-yard run, which came two plays after redshirt freshman defensive back Joe Bryant (Stuttgart, Ark.) picked off a Josh SanFilippo pass. Following Ray’s touchdown run, SAU drove 52 yards in 11 plays and retied the game at 42 on a 5-yard run by Chris Metcalf. Bryant’s interception was his third in the last two games as he picked off OBU quarterback Lance Parker twice in last week’s game.

          SAU would retake the lead about three minutes later as SanFilippo hit Mario Coleman for a 21-yard pass. The touchdown came two plays after sophomore free safety Tario Dansby (Ashdown, Ark.) fumbled the ball on his interception return of a SanFilippo pass.

For the game, the Muleriders finished the game with just two interceptions, while Tech’s offense had two interceptions and two fumbles in the loss.

“We knew going in to the game, that we had to win the turnover battle,” Mullins added. “Today, SAU won the turnover battle.”

          Following SAU’s score, Tech once again drove the ball downfield in less than a minute and retied the game at 49 on a 38-yard run by Vanhook with 4:41 left in the contest. Vanhook finished the game with 77 rushing yards on seven carries and with those 77 yards, Vanhook moved into fifth-place on the school’s career rushing chart, passing both Bill Curtis (1959-62) and Robert Marley (1963-66) respectively. In his four year Tech career, Vanhook has now gained 2,450 yards.

          The Muleriders, though, responded following Vanhook’s run and drove 70 yards in eight plays and scored on an 8-yard run by Tony McDonald with 1:14 left in the game to push in front, 56-49. McDonald’s run proved to be the game winner for the Muleriders.

          While Tech’s offense gained 559 total yards, SAU’s offense amassed 555 yards and was paced by SanFilippo, who was 15-for-33 passing for 219 yards and two scores and he also gained 81 yards rushing on 20 carries. In addition to SanFilippo, Ashley gained 80 yards rushing and caught six passes for 84 yards, while Sworn had 78 yards rushing on 10 carries in the win.

          With the loss, Tech snaps its six-game winning streak against Arkansas’ GSC schools dating to last season when it went 4-0 against in-state foes. The Wonder Boys will look to begin a new winning streak next Saturday, Nov. 3, when they close out the 2007 season at Harding. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at First Security Stadium in Searcy, Ark.

         Southern Arkansas Box Score

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