MAGNOLIA, Ark. - Week 4 of the NCAA Division II Football season is upon us and for Southern Arkansas, an in-state trip to Clark County awaits as #18 Henderson State welcomes in the Muleriders on Saturday. The fourth week of the season marks the earliest matchup between the longtime foes since the two squared off in Week 4 of the 2009 season. It is the second-straight season that SAU will play back-to-back nationally-ranked opponents. Kickoff from Carpenter-Haygood Stadium is set for 6 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.
>>> Southern Arkansas will look to do something that it has yet had to do under first year head coach
Mike McCarty: rebound from a loss. The Muleriders enter Week 4 of the season at 2-1 in GAC play and are looking to get back into the win column on Saturday evening at #18 Henderson State.
>>> The Muleriders are averaging just under 400 yards of total offense per game and are scoring over 26 points per game. Defensively, Southern Arkansas has been led by its defensive front which helps the Muleriders lead the league in sacks (4 per game) and in tackles for loss (6.7 per game).
>>> Carpenter-Haygood Stadium and Ruggles Field, the site of Saturday night's 84th meeting between the familiar foes, has not been kind to the Muleriders. SAU enters having lost its last six road games against the Reddies. The last Mulerider road win was a 31-27 decision on November 6, 2004. The lone Mulerider wins since a 2005 win in Magnolia have come in El Dorado at the Murphy USA Classic.
>>> Henderson State is unbeaten on the season and employs the league's top offense in both yards per game (539 ypg) and points per game (48 ppg), while leading the league in turnover margin (1.67) and scoring defense (12.7 ppg) and the unit's seven interceptions lead the country.
>>> Two Muleriders rank in the top ten of the league in all-purpose yards.
Jariq Scales' 116.67 yards per game ranks sixth and
Micah Small's 96.33 yards per game is currently tenth. Scales is averaging over 113 yards rushing per game which ranks fourth in the GAC and is top 20 in DII. Small is currently tied for the league lead in receiving touchdowns with sixth which ranks third nationally, while his 289 receiving yards ranks fourth in the GAC and is 26th in the Division II. His 12 points per game average ranks 11th in the country.
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Hayden Mallory ranks third in the GAC in completion percentage as his targets are hauling in over 68% of his throws. His passing efficiency of 161.2 ranks third and his eight touchdowns are the league's fourth most.
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Gavin Roe leads the team in tackles with 21,
Brock Floyd follows with 19 and eight other players have recorded at least ten stops this season.
Dawson Scott's three sacks pace the unit, while
Demoni Boyd and
Tarrion Thompson follow with 2.5 each.
>>> L'Liott Curry ranks second in the GAC in all-purpose yards per game (139.67), ranks third in the league in touchdown catches with five, and his 416 yards receiving are the second-most in Division II.
>>> Curry's quarterback Adam Morse ranks second in completion percentage at 70%, is the GAC's most efficient QB at 181.2, and his nine passing TDs are the second-most in the GAC. He also leads in yards per completion at 14.06.
>>> Jacob Greenfield's 22 stops lead the defense. Dedric O'Bryant's 17 tackles are the second-most and he paces the unit with two of the nation-leading seven interceptions.
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS BY THE NUMBERS
65 - The number of yards taken by the Mulerider defense in a dozen sacks this season. Seven different players have contributed to that total. A week after having only four opportunities to rush the passer, the Muleriders square off against an HSU offense that is averaging 31 passing attempts per game behind an offensive line that has allowed just six sacks so far this season.
8 - The number of receivers in program history that have caught at least eight touchdowns in a single season. Small currently has six scoring catches through the air which ranks third nationally. Only two players, CFL and SAU Sports Hall of Famer Nik Lewis and Chris Terry, have ever caught ten or more touchdowns in a single season. Lewis did it twice.
2 - Represents Southern Arkansas' GAC rank in turnover margin (1.0). The Muleriders have forced two interceptions and recovered three fumbles compared to only throwing two interceptions and being one of 19 teams in the country that has yet to lose a fumble this season. Linebackers
Rayvon Ingram and
Gavin Roe have accounted for the interceptions, while
David Walker,
JD Abrams, and Ty'Jai Pollard have recovered fumbles for the Mulerider defense.
MEMORABLE MOMENTS VS. HSU
>>> In the 2017 edition of the series, Southern Arkansas led by nine at 30-21 following a pick-six by Darren Crawford with 13 minutes to play. The Reddies would score the next 15 points as part of a 22-point fourth quarter to top the Muleriders in front of an ESPN3 audience.
>>> Two years prior, SAU led by five late and opted to go for it on fourth down and two from the HSU7. The Muleriders' Michael Nunnery managed just one yard and with 1:40 remaining and the Muleriders leading 28-23, Henderson State embarked on a 15-play, 94-yard drive that ended with the Reddies' Dallas Hardison diving into the left pylon with no time remaining.
>>> The 2016 meeting rests much easier in the minds of Mulerider fans. Southern Arkansas dominated from the jump in a 50-24 win over the Reddies in the Murphy USA Classic played at El Dorado's Memorial Stadium. SAU totaled 508 yards of offense and it was the fourth time since 2000 that the Muleriders reached 50 points against HSU.
