SHAWNEE, Okla. - Junior quarterback OB Jones scored a trio of rushing touchdowns, was an efficient 17-of-19 passing for 247 yards and a touchdown and Southern Arkansas took care of business against Oklahoma Baptist on Bison Hill as the Week 9 Great American Conference matchup went the way of the Muleriders in a 52-20 decision on Saturday in Shawnee. 
 
Jones accounted for 259 of the Muleriders' 551 yards of total offense as he again used a near perfect marriage of an accurate left arm and timely scrambling ability to send Southern Arkansas to its fourth win of the season following its second 50+ point outburst this fall. 
 
It was a windy, dreary day but the elements were not an issue for the Muleriders. Southern Arkansas tossed for 246 yards as just two of the team's 20 attempts fell incomplete. Jones completed passes of 38 and 19 yards into the wind on SAU's second drive of the game. Kadyn Roach hauled in the first pass and D'evin McDonald was on the receiving end of the near 20 yard grab. Those two completions led to a 20-yard field goal by Austin Wilkerson to put SAU on the board in the first quarter. The make tied the game at 3 after the Mulerider defense forced a FGA from an OBU drive start on the SAU20. The Bison were held to just a yard on three plays in the gifted red zone opportunity. 
 
The Bison responded following Wilkerson's make and moved the football down inside the SAU15, but was again forced to settle for a field goal as the Mulerider defense again bowed up by forcing a special teams play from the Tigers. 
 
Southern Arkansas held Oklahoma Baptist under 100 yards rushing in the first half and under 125 for the game. OBU's all-purpose standout Keilahn Harris caught ten passes, five in each half, for 76 yards and score, which came late with the game out of hand. Harris was defended extremely well by the Mulerider secondary which included the blanketing efforts of Melvin Smith Jr. who had four pass breakups on the afternoon. 
 
The Muleriders limited the Bison passing attack to 198 yards on 26-of-49 passing which included the late, short touchdown to Harris and two interceptions. Giovanni Zaso snagged an INT after a tremendous pass rush forced a frantic throw from OBU's Seth Streeter and Prince Udenze secured an INT after Jeremiah Postell laid a heavy hit on an intended receiver to pop the football loose and into the arms of Udenze. 
 
Zazo's pick set up a quick scoring drive for the Muleriders that used three rushes from Jariq Scales and a 22-yard touchdown pass from Judd Barton to D'evin McDonald who's late season production continued as he made an impressive grab in the back middle of the endzone to make it 17-6 Muleriders with just over 7:30 to play in the first half. 
 
Udenze's interception came on the Bison's second drive of the second half and Udenze returned the batted pass by Postell 16 yards to the OKB26. Jones then hit Dekendrick Bender for eight yards and capped the quick scoring drive with an 18-yard scamper up the middle for his second trip to paydirt and a 31-6 lead. 
 
Jonathan Lewis accumulated 91 all-purpose yards. He caught a six yard touchdown pass from Jones which put SAU up 25 midway through the fourth quarter. Three and a half minutes later, Lewis took off for a 59-yard touchdown run which highlighted his five rushes for 74 yards. 
 
Following the Bison's fourth quarter score to Harris, Lewis returned an onside kick 11 yards to set up the final scoring drive for the Muleriders in the win. At the 2:23 mark, Barton crossed the goal line on a 20-yard carry to cap scoring and a five-touchdown day for SAU on the ground. 
 
The Muleriders were a combined 8-for-17 on third and fourth down conversions, including a 3-for-4 result on fourth down. SAU scored all six times it entered the red one with the last five trips ending in six. 
 
The offense's nice day overall saw its 80 total plays average 6.9 yards and it controlled the football for nearly 11 minutes longer than the host. After holding the Bison out of the end zone and forcing consecutive FG attempts, The Mulerider defense forced three punts, picked off two passes and turned Oklahoma Baptist over on downs before the Bison scored its first touchdown with 3:46 to play in the third quarter. 
 
Gavin Roe led with six tackles and eight other Muleriders were in on at least three tackles. Elvin Calhoun and JD Abrams (sack) each recorded a tackle for loss with half of Calhoun's counting as a sack. 
 
McDonald led a receiving squad that saw 11 players catch a pass. McDonald hauled in three for 51 yards and the score. Roach recorded two catches for 46 yards and Scales added two receptions for 31 yards. Scales also led the rushing attack with 83 yards on 18 carries. Scales eclipsed 100 all-purpose yards for the sixth time this fall. Lewis followed and Blake May averaged six yards a carry on 11 attempts. 
 
SAU returns home for the final time in 2022. The Muleriders host Southern Nazarene in Week 10. It will be Senior Day on Saturday, November 5. Kickoff from Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field is set for 2 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com.