MAGNOLIA, Ark. - Bad blood abounds, no love is lost and the pleasantries exchanged on Saturday afternoon will be at a minimum. Frankly, that's how it should be. For the 97th time in a series that dates back to the Woodrow Wilson administration, Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello clash on the gridiron as the longtime bitter rivals put it on the line in the Battle of the Timberlands. Kickoff from Willis "Convoy" Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium is set for 2 p.m. Live coverage links are available at www.MuleriderAthletics.com. 

BATTLE OF THE TIMBERLANDS
>>> Southern Arkansas and Arkansas-Monticello meet for the 97th time in a series that dates back to 1913 when both programs were in the midst of their third year of football and serving the Natural State as the Third District Agricultural School (SAU) and Fourth District Agricultural School (UAM).
>>> SAU and UAM clash in the oldest rivalry between DII schools in the state of Arkansas. The rivalry is tied for the seventh-longest active rivalry in DII Football.  It is the longest-standing rivalry for both schools which at one point had played every season for 63-consecutive years: 1957 to 2019. It is the second-longest rivalry in the GAC behind SOSU and ECU (105).
>>> The two teams square off in Monticello for the 46th time overall, while SAU makes the trip east into Drew County for the first time since 2018. 
>>> In 2012, the 88th meeting between the two schools, the rivalry was officially marked as the "Battle of the Timberlands" with the winner claiming a unique traveling trophy adorned with a golden football and designed pines as a backdrop. 
>>> Since the trophy's inception, it has found a familiar home inside the Auburn Smith Fieldhouse on the campus of SAU as the Muleriders won the first seven meetings of the trophy game.
>>> However, as of late, the Weevils have grown accustom to seeing the trophy on their own campus as UAM has won two of the past three which includes denying SAU a shot at the NCAA playoffs with a 20-17 win in the 2018 regular season finale and a dominant 36-point victory last season in Magnolia which at one point saw UAM score 59 unanswered.
>>> The 73 points by UAM in last year's blowout are the most for the Weevils in the series and marked just the third time that UAM scored north of 50 points in the rivalry (1978, 1995). It was the second-most points by either team in the series behind SAU's 91-point outburst in 1925.
>>> The 110 combined points in last season's matchup are the most in the series topping the 108 combined points in the 2014 matchup that saw SAU claim a 66-42 win in Monticello. 
>>> While the rivalry has undoubtedly had its fair share of legendary players, colorful coaches and unforgettable moments, one matchup reminds us that its not about the success either team has had in the past, but rather the four quarters of the present that end with yearly bragging rights for one program.
>>> On Thanksgiving Day 1950, over 5,000 spectators gathered in Drew County in an affair that resulted in the Muleriders reclaiming their "stolen" mascot mule Optimaggie, taking home the Weevils' goat M-Aggie and notching a mark in the win column with a 24-17 victory which avenged a 12-point home loss to the Weevils in '49. Noted by Dr. Kathryn Brown, that Turkey Day contest was "the hardest hitting game I've ever seen." Writing in the faculty bulletin, Dean Graham exulted, "Sweet Vengeance—Our Cup Runneth Over."

SATURDAY SHOWDOWN
>>> There is no love lost between the two programs that will take to the playing surface at Willis "Convoy" Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium in what will be the final game of the 2022 season for both teams. 
>>> Not lost on the Muleriders is last year's defeat to the Weevils which was SAU's second in three efforts against their bitter league rival. It stood as UAM's largest defeat of an opponent since Week 3 of the 2017 season.
>>> Both teams will be looking to gain some momentum heading into the offseason as the Muleriders are looking to bounce back from a last-second loss at home to Southern Nazarene, while the Weevils are hoping to snap a six-game losing streak.
>>> It is the ninth-consecutive meeting between the programs on the last Saturday of the regular season which aligns the bitter rivals with the Great American Conference's Rivalry Weekend. 

OF NOTE: SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
>>> The Muleriders will carry the GAC's third-highest scoring offense (35.7 ppg) and its second-best total offense (489.4) to Monticello.
>>> SAU owns a rushing attack that ranks fourth in the GAC and sixth nationally at over 250 ypg. Six players have rushed for over 160 yards this season: the first time since 2012 that six players have eclipsed the century mark and the first time six have been north of 160 yards since the 2005 season (7).
>>> Redshirt sophomore Jariq Scales' 95.5 rushing ypg ranks 4th (GAC).
>>> Junior OB Jones' 62.1 rushing ypg which ranks 12th (GAC).
>>> Jones ranks second in the GAC in QB efficiency at 161.9. He has completed 136 passes for 1,899 yards and 16 touchdowns.
>>> Junior Dekendrick Bender (27 catches at 41.0 ypg) and sophomore Cole Williams (28 catches at 35.3 ypg) both rank inside the GAC's top 20 in receiving yards per game.
>>> Junior Jacob Berry is one of six players in the GAC with 80+ stops this season. His 87 tackles are the fourth-most in the league and the most by a Mulerider since GAC All-Decade performer Elgin Moore's 93.0 in 2015.
>>> Grad Prince Udenze's 8.5 TFL this season are tied for the fifth-most in the GAC through Week 10. 
>>> Sophomore Melvin Smith Jr. is one of 11 players with 6+ pass breakups this season.
>>> Grad placekicker Austin Wilkerson leads the league in scoring among kickers with 73 points and ranks eighth overall in the GAC. His 90.9% success rate on FGA this season leads the league among kickers with 10+ attempts.

OF NOTE: ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO
>>> The Weevils enter the final Saturday of the season averaging 26.2 ppg and allowing 31.8 ppg.
>>> UAM's offense has produced just under 400 yards per game this season at an average of 392.9. Defensively, the Weevils are surrendering 389.2 ypg. 
>>> Arkansas-Monticello ranks fourth in the GAC in passing allowing 187.8 ypg through the air. Its defensive efficiency measures at 126.9 which is the fourth best in the league. On the ground, the Weevils surrender just over 200 ypg which rates sixth.
>>> UAM has allowed the third-most sacks in the league at 22. The Weevils have allowed their opponent to convert on fourth down 78.9%.
>>> Reports indicate that the Weevils could be without dual-threat quarterback Demilon Brown on Saturday. The Luxora, Arkansas product ranks fifth in the GAC in rushing ypg (94.8) and seventh in passing ypg (169.4). He has rushed for ten touchdowns in addition to tossing ten. Edwin Kleinpeter Jr. has played in seven games, including last weekend's shutout loss at ECU. Kleinpeter is 40-of-81 for 492 yards and five touchdowns. He has carried for 114 yards on 37 attempts.
>>> Jonero Scott's 65.4 rushing ypg ranks tenth in the GAC. He has scored four rushing touchdowns this season.
>>> LaCedric Smith leads UAM with 64.9 receiving ypg and five touchdown catches. 
>>> Kaytron Allen's 74 total tackles pace the team, while his five interceptions lead the GAC. UAM ranks seventh nationally in INTs with 15 as a unit.
>>> Damarous White is tied for the league lead in TFL with 10.0.

RECORD & MILESTONE WATCH
>>> In Smiley's first season, the Muleriders have put together an impressive offensive campaign. Entering the final week of the season, SAU ranks in the single season top ten in rushing yards, rushing TDs, rushing yards per game, passing TDs, completion percentage, pass efficiency, passing yards per game, total TDs, total offense, yards per play, all-purpose yards per game, total points scored, and TD responsibility. 
>>> Notably, the Muleriders are in line to set the program record for average yards per rush, are a game's average away from becoming just the third team in program history to eclipse 5,200 yards in a single season.
>>> SAU is three rushing touchdowns away from becoming just the third team in program history with 30 in a single season and the first since 2002.
>>> SAU is 45 points away from becoming just the fourth team to score 400 in a single season.
>>> R-So. Jariq Scales is four touchdowns away from matching the single season record and 45 yards away from becoming only the second player with two 1,000-yard rushing seasons. OB Jones is 101 passing yards and 79 rushing yards from the first 2,000-passing, 700-rushing season in program history. 

SAU BY THE NUMBERS
8- Southern Arkansas has won eight championships in its 104 seasons of action. In all eight of those title-winning campaigns, the Muleriders beat the Weevils. SAU's early championship teams of the late 1920s ('26, '27, '29) won a combined 55-6 with a pair of shutouts. In 1948, the Muleriders edged UAM 7-6, while the 1951 and 1952 victories saw SAU allow only seven points to its league rival each year. Fifty years ago this season, Rip Powell's 'Riders won the AIC and the 1972 victory witnessed the fifth largest margin of victory in the series with a 43-0 shutout. The 1997 Muleriders used a 25-yard game-winning field goal off the leg of Garron Spickard to cap a ten-point, fourth-quarter rally in a 20-17 win as part of a GSC title-winning season.
10- In Brad Smiley's first season at the helm of the Mulerider Football program, his offense has become no stranger to ranking inside the top ten nationally in multiple statistical categories. SAU's 489.4 ypg  ranks seventh in DII and is the second-best output in the Great American Conference. Aiding that total offensive effort is the nation's sixth-best rushing attack at 254.6 ypg which ranks fourth in the GAC. The yardage totals have certainly led to chain-moving as the Muleriders' 242 first downs this season rank seventh nationally and second in the GAC. SAU ranks just outside the top ten nationally in third-down conversion rate at 47.2% which ranks 13th in DII and third in the GAC.
46- The number of matchups in the previous 96 meetings between SAU and UAM that have been decided by ten points or less. Of those 46 matchups, all but two have been one possession games. Two of the past three years, the matchup has been decided by three points or less. Eighteen of the 96 meetings have been decided by three points or less.