MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas defense forced East Central to turn the ball over six times on Saturday afternoon at Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field. Two of those turnovers, a 20-yard fumble return by Malik Preston in the first quarter and a 50-yard interception return by Elgin Moore in the fourth quarter went back to the house for defensive touchdowns for SAU as they went on to beat visiting ECU by a score of 35-26.
 
With the win, the Muleriders improve to 6-4 on the year and assure themselves a winning percentage of .500 or better for the fourth-straight year. Meanwhile, the Tigers fall to 6-4 on the year.
 
In the game, the Tigers' QB Rocky Moore threw for 396 yards on 24-of-54 passing, making it the first time this season that SAU has allowed a team to throw for over 300 yards; but the Muleriders did pick-off Moore three times, the most in game for the Muleriders this season.
 
Two of those interceptions fell into the hands of Elgin Moore with the final of his INTs essentially sealing the game for the Muleriders as he went 50-yards on a pick-six with exactly 9 minutes remaining on the clock in the fourth quarter.
 
Prior to E. Moore's INT touchdown, the Tigers trailed the Muleriders by only six points, 25-19, as they had forced the momentum of the game well in their favor by turning the Muleriders' offense away on seven-straight possessions after SAU grabbed a commanding 25-7 second quarter lead when Barrett Renner hooked up with Karonce Higgins from 61-yards out.
 
Of those seven-straight stops by the Tigers, the Muleriders saw their drives end on a punt three times, on an interception twice, once on a fumble and once on a safety.
 
Following E. Moore's interception, ECU wasted little time in bringing the game back to within six points as R. Moore hooked up with David Moore twice for a total of 50 yards as the Tigers quickly moved the ball down the to the SAU 3-yardline. The Tigers scored on the next play as Jamal Hall forced his way in, making it a 32-26 game.
 
On the ensuing drive, the Muleriders looked to eat up as much clock as possible and they turned to Renner to do much of the heavy-lifting as designed QB runs were the feature call of the drive. After a would-be 17-yard rushing touchdown by Jonathan Weisheit was called back on an illegal block, the Muleriders would have to settle for a 27-yard field goal attempt to push their advantage to two scores.
 
After a pair of misses on extra-point opportunities, sophomore kicker Bradford Grems put the ball through the uprights as the Muleriders claimed a nine-point lead, 35-26, with exactly 4:00 left in the game.
 
On ECU's ensuing possession, the Tigers put the game in the hands of their QB R. Moore as the drive saw nothing but pass plays. After starting the drive on their own 21-yardline, R. Moore brought the Tigers down to the SAU 26-yardline where it was 1^st-and-10 following a 13-yard pass to former Mulerider Nate Pickett. A pair of incomplete passes followed to make it 3^rd-and-10 when SAU's Jaquel Owens powered through the large ECU offensive line and sacked R. Moore for an eight-yard loss, bringing the ball back to the SAU 34-yardline and setting up a 4^th-and-18.
 
On the next play, with the game on the line for the Tigers, R. Moore found Pickett once more across the field and after breaking a tackle, Pickett had nothing but endzone in front of him, but as he went to extend his arms for the goal line, SAU's Chris Wilson came in from behind and forced a fumble, sending the ball out of the back of the endzone for a Mulerider touchback.
 
Gaining possession once more from their 20-yardline with 1:30 left in the game, the Muleriders handed the ball off to Michael Nunnery to seal the win as he picked up a pair of first downs to end the game.
 
Statistically, the Muleriders would gain 470 yards of total offense with 341 of those coming through the air and the remaining 129 being gained on the ground. Renner would throw for over 300 yards for the sixth time this season and he also tossed a trio of passing TDs.
 
Renner's top target was Tevin McDonald as he hauled in a season-high seven catches, but Higgins gained the most receiving yards with 114 on five grabs with one TD.
 
The leading rusher for the Muleriders was William McKnight as he gained 82 yards on 11 carries, highlighted by a 55-yard scamper.
 
Defensively, the Muleriders limited the Tigers to just 26 net rushing yards. The leading tackler was Q'niko Thomas with eight tackles, followed by Malik Preston with seven.
 
The Muleriders will now turn their attention towards their regular season finale next Saturday as they will host rival Arkansas-Monticello in the Fourth-Annual Battle of the Timberlands Game. SAU is currently 3-0 in the BoT Trophy series. Kick-off is scheduled for 2 p.m. at Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field.