MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Battle of the Timberlands Trophy will remain in Magnolia for at least one more year as the Southern Arkansas football team defeated rival Arkansas-Monticello by a score of 49-29 on Saturday afternoon at Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field.
 
In the win, three single-season passing records were overtaken by SAU quarterback Barrett Renner as the redshirt freshman established new records for Passing Touchdowns (33), Pass Completions (252) and Pass Attempts (405). Renner also secured another single-season record for Pass Completion Percentage (62.6) while also extending his previously-set record of Total Offense as he finished the year with 3,713 yards. All five of Renner's single-season records set this year were previously held by Tyler Sykora (2009-2013).
 
In the game, UAM got on the scoreboard first as the Boll Weevils (1-10, 1-10 GAC) established the passing game on their first drive, capping it with a 19-yard TD pass from Hunter Leppert to Jalen Tolliver. On that drive, which encompassed 89 yards on six plays, all but one play was a pass and all but one yard was gained through the air.
 
The Muleriders, who finished the regular season 7-4, would respond on their first drive of the game, however, as Renner engineered a five-play, 57-yard drive which was capped by a 23-yard TD pass to Tanner Hudson, evening the score at seven-all and setting the tone for what turned out to be an offensive shootout.
 
By the end of the first half of play, both the Muleriders and Boll Weevils were over 300 total yards of offense with UAM taking a statistical lead in that category by racking up 395 yards of total offense with 360 of the yards coming through the air. The Muleriders, who totaled 304 yards of total offense in the first half, went about their business in a more balanced way as they had 175 rushing yards and 129 passing yards.
 
Despite the lofty offensive numbers for both teams, the score was knotted at 14-all at the break.
 
Coming out of the break, the Muleriders kept their offense rolling while also grabbing control of the game as they scored touchdowns on each of their first two possessions of the second half to take a 14-point lead, 28-14. The first of those scores was a passing TD from Renner to Tevin McDonald and the second score was the second rushing TD of the game for Michael Nunnery. Nunnery would go on to enjoy a career game as he totaled 151 yards on 19 carries with his two TDs.
 
With just over a 1:50 left in the third quarter, the Muleriders extended their lead out to 21 points as Jonathan Weisheit returned a punt 46 yards for a touchdown, putting SAU up 35-14.
 
UAM would respond on their ensuing possession, but a 30-yard TD pass from Renner to Weisheit pushed the Mulerider lead back to 21-points, 42-21. That TD pass also gave Renner the single-season record at SAU for passing TDs as it was his 32nd of the season.
 
Renner would add one more to that total on his very next pass attempt as he connected with McDonald from 29-yards out to give SAU a commanding 49-21 lead. UAM would push across one final touchdown and followed it with a two-point conversion at the end of the game to bring the game to its final of 49-29.