Box Score MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Southern Arkansas junior quarterback Tyler Sykora (Hot Springs Village) passed for 337 yards and four touchdowns as the Muleriders piled up 521 yards of offense in celebrating homecoming and hall of fame with a 47-14 win over Southern Nazarene (Okla.) Saturday at Wilkins Stadium.
 
SAU (6-1) scored two touchdowns in the first quarter for a 13-0 lead, with senior running back Carlos Brown (Pittsburg, Texas) rushing in from three yards out at 10:43, and junior running back Mark Johnson (Longview, Texas) finding the end zone with 44 ticks left.
 
On the first touchdown drive, Sykora connected with sophomore receiver Montel Hardman (Rayville, La.) for 87 yards on the first play for the fourth-longest passing play in school history.  Johnson's scoring run for the second touchdown gave him his 27th career rushing touchdown, tying the school record set by Torrence Jones (Cotton Valley, La.) from 2001-2004.
 
The Crimson Storm (1-7) got on the board at 13:25 in the second quarter, with Ryan Mischler blocking a punt and recovering it in the Southern Arkansas end zone for a touchdown to make it a 13-7 game.
 
Senior receiver Rafael Thomas (Lufkin, Texas) got that one back for the Muleriders with a 55-yard punt return touchdown for a 20-7 advantage at 3:19.
 
Southern Nazarene then responded with an eight-play, 75-yard drive, with Jarod Martin throwing an eight-yard touchdown pass to Dylan Terry at 1:06 for a 20-14 game that stood as the score at the half.
 
It was all SAU in the second half as they scored twice in each of the final two quarters.  Brown hauled in five and six-yard touchdown passes from Sykora in the third stanza, at 10:50 and 7:40, respectively.
 
Freshman running back Karon Dismuke (Bryant) gathered a six-yard scoring reception from Sykora at 11:47 in the fourth, and then after junior linebacker Tate Mustin (Fayetteville, Tenn.) recovered a fumble on the following kickoff, Sykora found freshman receiver Chris Terry (Lindale, Texas) for 21 yards on the first play at 11:36 to end the scoring.
 
Southern Arkansas finished with 339 yards passing and 182 on the ground, while the Mulerider defense limited the Crimson Storm to just 223 total yards, with only 25 of that by rush.
 
Sykora was 25 of 44 passing for the 337 yards and four touchdowns.  Junior receiver Jack Brown (West Mesquite, Texas) caught eight for 64 yards, while Hardman had six for 129 yards.
 
Johnson gained 92 yards on 16 rushes.
 
For Southern Nazarene, Terry was 22 of 33 passing for 198 yards, tossing one interception, with Sedrick Johnson catching 10 for 92 yards.
 
Derick Perkins led the Crimson Storm on the ground, getting only 27 yards on 13 totes.
 
Junior linebacker Alex Mills (Arlington, Texas) led the SAU defense with six tackles, while junior linebacker Mark Spaight (North Little Rock) and junior tackle Brandon Moton (Forrest City) getting five apiece.  Spaight and Moton each had two sacks, with Moton totaling three tackles for loss.  Freshman Quan Warren (Linden, Texas) picked off a Terry pass in the end zone in the third quarter and returned it 88 yards.
 
Dillon Brumbaugh led Southern Nazarene with 12 tackles.
 
Southern Arkansas will be at home again next week, hosting ranked Henderson State at 6 p.m.