Box Score MONTICELLO, Ark.  – Junior running back Mark Johnson (Longview, Texas) rushed for 203 yards and two touchdowns and junior quarterback Tyler Sykora (Hot Springs Village) passed for 354 yards and another pair of scores as Southern Arkansas piled up 587 yards of offense in knocking off Arkansas-Monticello 30-14 in the inaugural "Battle of the Timberlands" Saturday at Willis Convoy Cotton Boll Stadium.
 
The Muleriders remain perfect on the season at 4-0 and 3-0 in Great American Conference play, while the Boll Weevils fall to 1-4 and 0-3.  SAU's 4-0 start is the best in 22 years, since the 1990 team won its first six games, and the four wins are the most in a season since the 2005 squad went 6-5.
 
Southern Arkansas rallied from behind for the third consecutive week to pull out the win, overcoming a second quarter 14-7 deficit.  They trailed 14-10 at the half, outscoring the Boll Weevils 20-0 in the second frame.
 
UAM totaled 252 yards of offense in the first half, but the Mulerider defense limited them to just 106 yards in the second.
 
SAU took a 7-0 first quarter lead at 7:18 on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Sykora to junior tight end Brooks White (Van Buren), with sophomore Jacob Carpenter (Winona, Miss.) hitting the PAT.
 
Arkansas-Monticello evened it at 13:18 in the second quarter on a four-yard touchdown run from quarterback Damon Wicker and the point-after from Reagan Wise, and grabbed its 14-7 lead at 7:47 on a 59-yard pass from Wicker to Blake Prince.
 
Southern Arkansas trimmed it to the 14-10 halftime game with two ticks left on a 23-yard field goal from Carpenter.
 
It was all Muleriders in the second half, with Sykora finding White again for a touchdown, this time from 14 yards, at 13:17 in the third.
 
Johnson took over in the fourth quarter, finishing the scoring on a four-yard scoring scamper at 6:18, with Carpenter's PAT missing, and a six-yard touchdown with 3:58 left in the game.
 
Johnson's performance was the third 200-plus yard rushing effort of his career, following 216 yards against the Boll Weevils last year, which is fourth-best all-time at SAU, and gaining 231 at Harding in his freshman season of 2008, second all-time to D.D. Holyfield's (Hope) 235 against Arkansas Tech in 2005.
 
Sykora continued his assault on the Southern Arkansas record books, with his first touchdown pass to White giving him the career mark of 36 in that category, and the second one giving him 37 all-time to move past Ted Williams' (Pineland, Texas) 35 achieved from 2000-03.
 
Carpenter's field goal at the end of the second quarter was set up by Sykora's six-yard pass completion to sophomore receiver Montel Hardman (Rayville, La.), which gave Sykora the career record for passing yards.  He now has 4,055 yards in his three seasons, surpassing Williams' 3,884.
 
Sykora finished 19 of 34 passing for the 354 yards, with Hardman catching seven for 150 yards, and senior receiver Rafael Thomas (Lufkin, Texas) snaring four for 99 yards.
 
Johnson got his 203 yards rushing on 29 carries for a 7.0 yard average per tote.
 
Wicker was 22 of 48 in throwing for 358 yards, with Malik Matthews catching seven passes for 112 yards, and Prince getting five receptions for 100 yards.
 
Wicker also led UAM on the ground with 94 yards on 22 carries.
 
Junior linebacker Mark Spaight (North Little Rock) led the Muleriders defensively for the fourth consecutive game, sharing game-high honors with eight tackles, six solo, including one for a five-yard loss.  Junior linebacker Tate Mustin (Fayetteville, Tenn.) and senior defensive tackle Austin Luke (Willis, Texas) had five stops apiece, with Luke getting two for 10 yards in loss, including a nine-yard sack, and adding a pass breakup and quarterback hurry.
 
Dustin Presley had eight tackles for Arkansas-Monticello.
 
SAU now prepares for a showdown with also unbeaten Harding (4-0, 2-0 GAC) in the fourth annual Boomtown Classic next Saturday at 1:30 p.m. at Memorial Stadium in El Dorado.  The Bisons defeated East Central (Okla.) 31-14 in a GAC match-up Saturday in Searcy.