MAGNOLIA, Ark. – The Southern Arkansas University Muleriders (1-0) toppled the Oklahoma Baptist University Bison (0-1) in dominant fashion by a final score of 49-14 in Magnolia, Arkansas as they opened the season on their home turf. The defense forced four turnovers in the dominant win.
 
The Muleriders received the opening kickoff and drove down the field but an early fumble on a would-be touchdown run by Hezekiah Harris at the one-yard line ended the drive for the Muleriders and gave the Bison the ball in the shadow of their own endzone. Despite the sudden change, the Muleriders defense stood tall forcing a punt as the offense got the ball back with 10:20 to go in the first quarter.
 
The Muleriders opened their next possession at their own 39-yard line as Hezekiah Harris came back out at quarterback. The offense then took the long trip down the field scoring in 11-plays as the drive was capped off by a 19-yard rushing touchdown from Katrevion Thomas to put the Muleriders up 7-0.
 
Oklahoma Baptist then led a 10-play drive that was ended quickly as Kendrick Juniel intercepted a pass from Bison quarterback Chad Mascoe as the Muleriders took over at their own 24-yard line.
 
Adam Parker came out at quarterback for the ensuing Muleriders drive and continued the momentum as he capped off the drive with a 19-yard touchdown pass to Cole Cory as the Muleriders took a 14-0 lead with 10:35 to go in the second quarter.
 
The Bison's next drive then stalled out yet again after a three-yard run to open their next possession was followed by the Mulerider defense collecting their second turnover of the night as Kendrick Juniel forced and recovered his own sack fumble then returning it to the Oklahoma Baptist three-yard line. The Muleriders then quickly struck again as Arkez Gomez punched it in from one yard out giving SAU a 21-0 lead.
 
After a couple of back-and-forth drives were exchanged, the Muleriders got the ball back with 1:07 left on the clock and did not disappoint. After driving down to the Bison 43-yard line the Muleriders took a timeout with seven seconds left. Hezekiah Harris then heaved the ball to the endzone as time expired in the first half as Jacob Trussell came down with it in the endzone to put the Blue and Gold up 28-0 going into half time.
 
The Bison then put their first points of the game on the board with 12:20 to go in the third quarter, 28-7 SAU. After a stalled drive for the Mulerider offense, the defense picked up their third turnover of the game as Bryson Boulden came down with yet another interception. Adam Parker and the offense then took full advantage of the opportunity as he completed a pass to Jace Taylor in the endzone to put the Blue and Gold up 35-7.
 
The Bison then cut into the Muleriders lead again as they tried to battle back scoring to open the fourth quarter but, SAU still led 35-14. Hezekiah Harris then extended the lead for the Muleriders as he connected with Cooper Sanders from 25-yards out, 42-14. After trading back and forth drives with no points the Bison drove down to the SAU nine-yard line. The defense then stood tall yet again coming up with another turnover as Tutt McGlothan intercepted a pass from Chad Mascoe at the one-yard line and returned it 99-yards for the pick six. The 99-yard interception return is only the second longest interception returned for a touchdown in Mulerider Football history, only behind Melvin Smith Jr's 100-yard pick six against Southwestern Oklahoma State in 2023.
 
The pick six capped off the scoring for the rest of the game as neither team was able to push anything across for the remainder of the contest.
 
Top Performers
Xavier "Tutt" McGlothan: Four tackles, 0.5 tackles for loss, one interception for a touchdown (99-yards)
Kendrick Juniel: Seven total tackles, one forced fumble, one fumble recovery, one interception, 0.5 TFL
Zay Woods: Nine total tackles
Bryson Boulden: one interception
Hezekiah Harris: 10-for-14, 129 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, seven rushes for 48 yards
Adam Parker: 13-for-15, 105 passing yards, two passing touchdowns, four rushes for 23-yards.
Torey Lambert: 11 rushes, 72-yards
Arkez Gomez: Four rushes, 71-yards, touchdown
Jacob Trussell: three receptions, 59 receiving yards, one touchdown
 
Next Up:
The Muleriders will return to action next week, Saturday, September 13th as they travel to Bethany, Oklahoma to face off against the Crimson Storm of Southern Nazarene. Kick-off is set for 2:00 PM CT.