By: Jacob Pumphrey
Editor's Note: In honor of the 20th Anniversary of the 1997 Mulerider Football Team capturing the Gulf South Conference Championship, the Southern Arkansas Sports Information Department will, on a weekly basis, recreate the 1997 season through brief game recaps and box scores.
TAHLEQUAH, Okla. (Nov. 8, 1997) – On Saturday afternoon at Gable Field in northeastern Oklahoma, nationally-ranked No. 14 Southern Arkansas survived an upset-minded Northeastern State squad as the Muleriders scored ten third-quarter points, while holding the Riverhawks under 120 total yards of offense to improve to 8-1 on the season with one regular season contest remaining.
SAU (8-1, 5-1 GSC) was shutout in the first half of play and trailed 7-0 heading into the intermission. Beginning the second half with the football, the Mulerider offense found a rhythm as its lone touchdown drive of the afternoon took almost seven minutes off of the third quarter clock and covered 61 yards in 14 plays with freshman quarterback Jamie Yates (Van Buren, Ark.) tying the contest at seven with a two-yard keeper at the 8:04 mark of the third quarter.
The difference in the contest came less than five minutes later as sophomore kicker Garron Spickard (Bauxite, Ark.) converted a 34-yard field goal with 3:06 to play in the third quarter that eventually stood as the game-winner; his second such kick in as many weeks.
Yates produced a career afternoon on the ground finishing with 121 yards on 35 carries and the aforementioned touchdown. Senior halfback Kendrick Law (Shreveport, La.) and redshirt freshman halfback Kevin Little (Shreveport, La.) combined for 95 yards on 21 carries as the Muleriders tallied 247 total rushing yards on 64 attempts. SAU lost three fumbles in the win.
The lone Riverhawk score came with 4:33 to play in the first quarter as NSU broke the scoring stalemate courtesy of a 27-yard touchdown pass that capped a seven play, 52-yard drive that took three minutes off of the clock. That drive accumulated 44% of Northeastern State's total offense on Saturday and ultimately served as the only blemish for a Mulerider defense which logged arguably its best showing of the season.
Southern Arkansas allowed just 118 yards of total offense to the Riverhawks including 31 yards on the ground in 32 attempts, while surrendering just 87 yards through the air on seven completions in 22 passes. SAU allowed just seven first downs and held the Lone Star Conference's top team in the North Division to a 4-of-16 conversion rate on third downs and just 2.2 yards per play offensively. The Muleriders forced ten NSU punts and a pair of turnover on downs.
Leading the charge for the Muleriders defensively were senior linebacker Fred Perry (Fort Smith, Ark.) and sophomore linebacker Josh Rankin (Mauriceville, Texas) as each player collected eight tackles. SAU recorded nine tackles for loss with senior defensive lineman Toby Blanchard (New Iberia, La.), sophomore defensive end Kendall Hill (Nacogdoches, Texas) and junior defensive back Adrian Tamplin (Henderson, Texas) recording two TFL apiece with Tamplin's pair counting as sacks. That trio along with junior defensive back Lucas Melott (Irving, Texas) added five stops each.
Perry tallied 61 punt return yards and Tamplin added 18 yards on a pair of kickoff returns as Southern Arkansas recorded at least 75 non-offensive yards for the eighth-consecutive week.
Southern Arkansas closes out the regular season at home with a Family Day showdown with Henderson State on Saturday, November 15. The Muleriders will look for their ninth win of the season with the last nine-win campaign produced in 1971. Kickoff from Wilkins Stadium is set for 2 p.m.
