RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Grad placekicker Austin Wilkerson became the program's all-time leading scorer with his seventh extra point of the afternoon, redshirt sophomore Jariq Scales became just the 11th Mulerider to record 2,000 career rushing yards and Southern Arkansas rushed past Arkansas Tech and several patches of unruly weather to top the Wonder Boys 49-33 in the 85th meeting between the two programs on Saturday from Thone Stadium at Beurkle Field.
 
Due to the inability to observe a safe window of opportunity to finish the game, the Great American Conference affair was called with 6:16 remaining in the fourth quarter and the Muleriders leading by 16.
 
Following an unsportsmanlike penalty by Tech on the final timed play of the third quarter, an untimed down was awarded just seconds before the first lightning strike was issued at 4:29 local time.
 
Two hours and seven minutes later, play resumed with the teams managing to get eight minutes and 44 seconds of fourth quarter action in the books before the second lightning strike at 6:55 led to what would become the final outcome.
 
Wilkerson's seventh and final extra point of the afternoon placed him atop the program's career scoring list with 267 total points surpassing former placekicker Brad Grems' record of 266 set from 2014 through 2017. Scales' 28-yard run during SAU's first drive of the game pushed him over the 2K rushing mark and his 152 yards on the ground place him 49 yards back of entering the career top 10.
 
Southern Arkansas' first drive of the afternoon set the stage for what was to come from the Mulerider offense as the 90-yard jaunt over 15 plays included eight rushes for 73 yards with six of those attempts coming from Scales and totaling 62 yards. The last of the redshirt sophomore's carries hit paydirt from three yards out on a plunge up the gut to cap off the 4:38 drive and put SAU out front early at 7-0 following the first of five Wilkerson extra points in the first half.
 
The Mulerider defense forced a turnover on the Wonder Boys' first drive as a rush on a 1^st and 10 rush by ATU's Deon Simmons was punched out by SAU senior JD Abrams and recovered by redshirt sophomore Gavin Roe at the Mulerider 43.
 
Three and a half minutes later, Southern Arkansas struck again as seven of the nine plays on its 57-yard scoring drive occurred on the ground and ended with redshirt sophomore Kadyn Roach's one-yard carry to give the Muleriders a two-touchdown advantage. Roach carried three times for 21 yards and junior OB Jones produced runs of 12 and seven yards to set up SAU's second score of the afternoon.
 
Tech answered back with a touchdown pass in the final two minutes of the first quarter and added a Jesus Zizumbo field goal less than 90 seconds into the second quarter of action to pull within 14-10 of the Southern Arkansas lead. With Tech driving down seven, Southern Arkansas bowed up defensively forcing the FGA after the Wonder Boys' drive began at the SAU11 following a blocked punt after a three-and-out by the Muleriders.
 
Southern Arkansas answered the ten-straight by the Wonder Boys with 21 unanswered to close out the first half of play with a 35-10 lead at the intermission. Following the make from Zizumbo, the Muleriders orchestrated a 12-play drive that included a pair of fourth-down conversions with Judd Barton keeping for two yards on 4^th and 1 from the SAU34 and a 26-yard completion from redshirt sophomore punter Andrew Schreiner to redshirt junior long snapper and wide receiver Kamden Perry on a perfectively executed fake punt on 4^th and 10 from the SAU47. The drive covered 75 yards and was topped off with Scales hunting the front east corner of the south endzone and slipping inside the pylon on an 18-yard rush to put the Muleriders up 21-10 at the 9:42 mark of the second quarter.
 
The Muleriders only needed the final minute of play prior to the break to add to its lead as the offense scored twice in the final 54 seconds of the first half. A three-yard rush by sophomore Blake May finished off SAU's second 90-yard drive of the afternoon, while Jones, who posted an efficient 74% completion rate, connected on a strike to sophomore Matthew Whitten with just nine seconds to play in the half to get the Muleriders to the 35-point mark following Wilkerson's fifth PAT.
 
Highlighting the drive that ended with May's scoring rush, the Muleriders received a pair of impressive grabs from freshman D'evin McDonald. His first was a 20-yard catch as he was falling down, but McDonald showcased strong hands to haul in the toss before falling out of bounds and the ball hitting the turf. His second resulted in 29 yards from Jones and saw the former sky along the left side to haul in a pass over a defender to put SAU at the ATU3.
 
The final scoring drive of the half was set up on an interception by redshirt freshman Zay Woods on the second play of ATU's ensuing drive, while the last play of the third quarter, which was the first play following the 125-plus minute delay was intercepted by redshirt junior Del Kristoffer Wade at the SAU30.
 
A little more than midway through the third quarter, Jones scampered 65 yards for a touchdown to push the SAU lead back to 25 at 42-17 after the Wonder Boys cashed in on its opening drive post intermission. Tech responded to pull back to within two possessions at 42-25 after a successful two-point try following a scoring drive that ended with just under four minutes to play in the third quarter.
 
A failed onside kick set SAU up at its own 46 and it needed just three plays to answer. Scales weighed in again as his third rushing touchdown of the afternoon came from four yards out and followed runs of 13 and 37 yards as all 54 yards of the scoring march belonged to the Osceola native.
 
Tech scored once in the quick-paced fourth quarter before the second and final delay to draw within 16 of the SAU lead.
 
The Muleriders totaled 580 yards of total offense at 7.5 yards per play. SAU was 9-of-15 on third down conversions, moved the chains on both fourth down tries and scored all six times it entered the redzone. Southern Arkansas tallied 335 yards on the ground on 44 carries with six touchdowns and added another 245 through the air on 23-of-33 passing and a score. SAU totaled 28 first downs.
 
The scoring output is the highest for SAU since putting 62 on the board in the season opener as are the total yards, rushing yards and first downs.
 
Scales finished with three touchdowns as part of a 152-yard afternoon on 20 carries. He added a catch for two yards as part of an offense that completed passes to nine different players. Perry hauled in five passes for 80 yards, while McDonald, Whitten, sophomore Seth Johnson and junior Dekendrick Bender all added three catches. McDonald's nice breakout ended with 69 yards.
 
Jones completed 20-of-27 passes for 208 yards and the touchdown to Whitten and also carried ten times for 110 yards and a score.
 
Redshirt junior Saul Williams recorded six tackles including one tackle for loss to pace the defensive effort. Wade and sophomore Melvin Smith Jr. added five each. Branch and Abrams both forced a fumble with Roe recovering one.
 
The Muleriders prepare for its biggest matchup of the season as Southern Arkansas meets No. 5 Ouachita next Saturday in El Dorado for the Murphy USA Classic. Kickoff from Memorial Stadium is set for 2 p.m. Ticket information will be available early next week and live coverage links will be active at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.