TEXARKANA, Ark. (Razorback Stadium) - Some wins are a long time coming. Saturday's tenth-playing of the Farmer's Bank & Trust Live United Bowl served as a proving ground for (RV) Southern Arkansas and second-year head coach Brad Smiley's enthusiastic and undaunted Muleriders engineered an historic response that will forever be lauded throughout the annals of the program. Behind an MVP-caliber performance from a trio of offensive standouts and a relentless effort on the defensive side of the football, the Muleriders (10-2) reached ten wins for the first time since 1952 with a 43-27 defeat of (RV) Missouri Western (8-4) from inside Razorback Stadium.
 
The victory gives the Muleriders the program's first postseason win in its NCAA Era (1995-96), its first postseason win since 1990 (Aztec Bowl) and its first postseason win on U.S. soil since 1948 (Papoose Bowl).
 
In the early going, redzone penalties hindered Southern Arkansas' touchdown-scoring efforts, but twice in the first quarter the Muleriders turned to the reliable leg of redshirt freshman kicker Hayden Nitz who pushed through makes of 29 and 24 yards to send SAU to an early advantage. His third successful attempt came with less than two minutes remaining before the intermission as he nailed a 37-yarder to build the Muleriders' advantage to nine, before a late MWSU score before the break pulled the "Show Me State" opposition to a 15-13 deficit.
 
SAU's lone endzone-finding score came from all-region cornerback Melvin Smith Jr. who jumped a 2nd and 10 pass from MWSU's Armani Edden and cruised across the goal line on a 19-yard return to break a 6-6 tie. Smith's final action in his junior campaign capped a remarkable season by the lockdown corner. In addition to the interception, his fourth of the season, he broke up three passes and added a forced fumble to set a new single-season program record for passes defended with 24 and a single-game postseason record with four. Four other Muleriders knocked down Edden pass attempts, while junior safety Hosea Singleton picked off Edden on the Griffons' final drive to put the game on ice.
 
Offensively, Southern Arkansas ran through the MIAA's third-ranked (26th nationally) rushing defense to the tune of 390 yards rushing at 7.5 yards per carry with rushing touchdowns scored by LUB Most Valuable Player Jariq Scales, junior running back Kadyn Roach and senior quarterback OB Jones. Scales carried 17 times for 172 yards and a ten-yard rushing dagger with just under four minutes to play. Scales gashed the MWSU defense at 10.1 yards per carry. Roach averaged 7.5 yards per tote on 20 attempts for 149 yards and a quick three-yard score less than 90 seconds into the second half to push SAU up by two possessions. The ground-pounding duo registered the two longest postseason rushes (Scales, 58; Roach, 55) in the program's NCAA Era. MWSU entered the contest having allowed no more than 177 yards rushing in any of its previous 11 games. 
 
Jones, who touched paydirt from 22 yards out just 11 seconds into the fourth quarter to tie the single-season rushing TD record, while also becoming the first signal caller to top 1,000 rushing yards in a single season, completed 16-of-23 passing for 162 yards to nine different receivers including a 29-yard scoring strike (3rd, 9:43) to junior Seth Johnson which again pushed SAU out front by two possessions. Scales caught a team-high four passes, Johnson grabbed three for a team-leading 46 yards with both Matthew Whitten (32) and D'evin McDonald (27) hauling in key chain-moving grabs.
 
In his final game as a Mulerider, senior Jacob Berry led with 11 stops, tied for fifth-most in a single postseason game for the Muleriders, and a half tackle for loss, Singleton followed with eight tackles and the Southern Arkansas front seven hounded in the MWSU backfield all afternoon recording four sacks, while also registering seven tackles for loss totaling 56 yards. Juniors Dawson Scott and Tre'Von Letts each recorded a sack, while fellow trench mobbers Elvin Calhoun, Brenton Hamilton, Hunter Hewitt and Damon LeGrande each registered a half sack.
 
Southern Arkansas' 43 points are a program record for a postseason contest, while its 552 total yards and 7.3 yards per play are both the second-most over ten postseason matchups. Defensively, SAU's three forced turnovers are a program postseason record.
 
More on the Muleriders' historic season will be available in the coming week.