MONTICELLO, Ark. – For the third-consecutive year, the Battle of the Timberlands trophy will reside in Magnolia as the Southern Arkansas football team definitively handled their rival Arkansas-Monticello by a score of 66-42 on Saturday evening at Cotton Boll Stadium in Monticello.
 
The lop-sided win for the Muleriders (5-5, 5-5 GAC) gives them their fifth win of the season and in doing so, ensures the Muleriders their third-straight season at .500 or better; a feat not accomplished since the end of the 2003 season.
 
On Saturday, the Muleriders knew quickly that they were in for a battle with UAM as the Boll Weevils (2-8, 2-8 GAC) came out on fire, particularly in the passing game. In the first quarter alone, the Boll Weevils would throw for 202 yards on 8-of-10 passing as they jumped out to a 13-7 lead over SAU.
 
From there, however, the Mulerider defense would start to clamp down when it needed to the most, and generated turnovers that swung the momentum heavily in favor of SAU. In fact, SAU would force UAM to turn the ball over five times after the first quarter, and the Muleriders converted those takeaways into 42 points on the other end as they out-scored UAM 59-29 over the final three quarters.
 
In the second quarter, SAU began to take control of the game as they would reach the end-zone four times to take a nine-point lead into the break, 35-26. The first of the Muleriders' four scores in that second quarter was a two-yard plunge by QB Si Blackshire that gave SAU a slim one-point lead, 14-13.
 
The Boll Weevils would answer right back following a 64-yard kickoff return that placed UAM at the SAU 24-yardline to start their next drive. On the first play of that drive, UAM's Hunter Leppert would toss a 24-yard pass to Cody Bordelon to push the Boll Weevils back on top, 19-14. On the ensuing kickoff, however, SAU would regain the lead as Zikerious Ware broke an 88-yard kickoff return to the house, making it a 21-19 lead for the Muleriders.
 
That lead change would be the final one of the game as the Muleriders scored the next two touchdowns to build a comfortable three-score lead, 35-19, with 1:18 left in the first half. A late TD score by the Boll Weevils with one second left in the first half brought UAM to within nine points, 35-26.
 
In the third quarter, SAU would increase their lead to 19 points, 45-26, as they out-scored UAM 10-0 in the quarter. The scoring for the Muleriders would come on a 32-yard field goal by Bradford Grems and a one-yard TD rush by Chris Campbell.
 
On the first drive of the fourth quarter, the Muleriders would make it 17 unanswered points since the end of the first half as Blackshire tossed his third TD of the game, this time an 11-yard connection with tight end Daven Reese.
 
Just over three minutes later, with 11:13 left in the game, Blackshire would become just the second QB in SAU history to reach the 30 passing TD mark in a season as Aaron Johnson came down with an incredible 39-yard TD catch among triple-coverage. The 30 touchdown passes for Blackshire on the season are the second-most in SAU history and are one-shy of the single-season record set by Tyler Sykora in 2012.
 
The final score of the game for SAU came with 7:17 left in the fourth quarter as, from four yards out, Campbell scored his second rushing TD. The result of the Campbell score gave SAU 66 points; marking the third time this season that the Muleriders have scored 60 or more points in a game. Additionally, that is the most games with 60 or more points in a single-season in SAU history.