MAGNOLIA, Ark. – It was all Southern Arkansas from the opening kickoff as the Muleriders defeated Arkansas Tech handily behind a balanced offering that included an explosive offense and a stifling defense which led to a 38-0 Great American Conference win over the Wonder Boys on Thursday night in the season opener for both teams at Rip Powell Field inside Wilkins Stadium in Magnolia.
 
RECORDS
(RV) Southern Arkansas Muleriders (1-0, 1-0 GAC)
Arkansas Tech (0-1, 0-1 GAC)
 
HOW IT HAPPENED – First Half

• The Mulerider offense came out firing on all cylinders in the season opener following a huge defensive stop by the SAU defense on Tech's first possession of the game. ATU's Jesus Zizumbo missed short on a 48-yard attempt setting up the SAU offense with 12:09 to play in the first quarter.
• Senior quarterback Barrett Renner completed four passes on the Muleriders' six-play drive that covered 68 yards in 2:58 and topped it off with a 44-yard strike to classmate Karonce Higgins for the season's first points.
• SAU would find the end zone quickly following the offensive score as sophomore linebacker DeMarcus Pegue rumbled 27 yards for a touchdown following a deflected ball on a hit by SAU cornerback LaMontrick Turner to make it 14-0 Muleriders at the 9:01 mark of the first quarter.
• There would be no looking back for Southern Arkansas for the next three and half quarters as the Mulerider defensive effort forced two more punts and an interception to close out the first quarter. Tech's second interception of the evening found the hands of true freshman Brock Floyd who made his collegiate debut in the secondary.
• The first play of the second quarter resulted in Renner's second touchdown pass of the game as he found redshirt junior running back SirCharles Perkins in the flat for 14 yards and a 21-0 Mulerider lead.
• Southern Arkansas struck pay dirt quickly once more following an offensive score, but this time it came in a special way as redshirt-junior Jared Lancaster picked up a Tech punt at his 32 yard line, before racing 68 yards into the south end zone to put SAU up 28-0 with 12:50 to play in the first half.
• The fifth and final touchdown of the night came in impressive fashion as Renner engineered a 15-play, 80-yard drive that took just over eight minutes and resulted in the senior gunslinger hooking up with his favorite target of the night in Higgins from four yards out.
• The final points of the half and the game came at the first half horn as true freshman place kicker Austin Wilkerson nailed a 29-yarder from the right hash to set the decision at 38-0. Wilkerson finished 5-for-5 on PATs and 1-for-2 on FGA in his collegiate debut.

 
HOW IT HAPPENED – Second Half

• The action slowed in the second half as both teams combined to punt seven times, while each side missed a field goal attempt.
• The lone turnover of the second half came late in the contest as SAU junior defensive lineman Deion Cineus pawed the Muleriders' third interception of the contest to end a potential Tech scoring drive with 55 seconds to play.

 
TURNING POINT(s)

• Pegue's pick six less than six minutes into the game began to turn the momentum in favor of the Muleriders, but with Tech's chance to potentially cut into a 21-0 deficit ending in a punt, the turning point came with Lancaster's dash for six on the punt return along the home sideline which put the game out of reach.

 
OF NOTE

• The SAU Defense, under first-year coordinator Chad Adams, posted its first shutout since 2012 when that year's unit blanked East Central 19-0 in a weather-delayed affair in Ada, Oklahoma.
• Lancaster's punt return TD was the first for Southern Arkansas since DaVondrick Lison's two-yard scoop and score on a blocked punt against Harding last season. It marks the second-straight home opener that the Muleriders found the end zone via a punt return.
• Eleven different receivers caught a pass from Renner on Thursday night. Higgins finished with seven receptions for 117 yards and the aforementioned two scores. Senior wide out Kile Pletcher caught four passes for 54 yards.
• Seven different running backs carried for the Muleriders in the win. SAU was led by sophomore Lorenzo Alexander who carried seven times for 82 yards, including a long rush of 62 yards. Junior Keiandre Purifoy received a game-high 11 carries for 48 yards and Perkins added 32 yards on seven carries.
• Renner finished 26-of-36 for 304 yards and three touchdowns. He finished with his 17^th career 300-yard passing game. His three scores through the air marked the 18^th game in his career with three-plus passing strikes and currently has 98 scoring tosses in his career. Additionally, the southpaw eclipsed the 10,000-yard passing mark in his career and has now thrown for 10,209 yards as a Mulerider. He becomes just the fourth collegiate quarterback in the state of Arkansas to ever reach that passing yard plateau and is 3,469 from the Natural State's all-time mark held by Henderson State's Kevin Rodgers.
• Lison and Floyd each finished with six tackles to lead the defense, while junior Lorenzo Watkins and sophomore Kobe McDonald added five stops each.
• Senior Anthony Washington recorded SAU's lone sack of the night and was responsible for 2.5 of the Mulerider defense's 5.0 tackles for loss.
• SAU held the Wonder Boy offense to 264 total yards on 60 plays and held Tech's rushing attack to just 98 yards on 23 attempts.
• Head Coach Bill Keopple improves to 5-5 in season openers, but has led SAU to first game victories in four of the past five seasons. Under Keopple, the Muleriders have won their past seven home openers after posting a 0-3 mark in such games from 2009-2011.

 
UP NEXT
Southern Arkansas rides the momentum into next Saturday's showdown in Searcy. The Muleriders and the Bisons meet in a 6 p.m. Great American Conference tilt slated for ESPN 3. More information about the contest is available here. Harding opened the season with a decisive 41-17 victory on the road at Henderson State.