GAC FOOTBALL NOTEBOOK - WEEK 11 (PDF)
WEEK 11 SCHEDULE
11/12: * Henderson State at Ouachita Baptist, 1 p.m.
11/12: * Southeastern Oklahoma State at Harding, 2 p.m.
11/12: * Southern Arkansas at East Central, 2 p.m.
11/12: * Southwestern Oklahoma State at Arkansas-Monticello, 3 p.m.
OBU MOVES UP TO NO. 7 REGION RANKINGS, EARNS AFCA VOTES
Ouachita Baptist received a one-spot increase in this week’s NCAA Division II Super Region 4 Rankings to No. 7, giving the Tigers motivation for its Saturday’s matchup against Henderson State. The top six teams of each super region advance to the NCAA playoffs. Topping this week’s region poll is Midwestern State (9-0), followed in order by Washburn (9-1), Pittsburg State (8-1), Missouri Western State (8-2), Abilene Christian (7-2), Northwest Missouri State (8-2), OBU, Humboldt State (8-1), West Texas A&M (6-3) and Central Missouri (7-3)... Ouachita Baptist is also receiving national recognition with 22 votes in this week’s American Football Coaches Association Top 25 Poll. If the poll extended past 25, OBU would be No. 28.
85TH BATTLE OF THE RAVINE
One of the most unique rivalries in college football is set to take center stage this Saturday, when Henderson State travels accross HWY 7 to face Ouachita Baptist at A.U. Williams Field in the 85th Annual “Battle of the Ravine.” The series that began in 1895 is deadlocked at 39 wins for each team with six ties thrown in. The Reddies clinched a share of the 2010 Gulf South Conference Championship with a 35-26 win over the Tigers in last year’s Battle of the Ravine at HSU’s Carpenter-Haygood Stadium. For OBU, a perfect conference record is at stake on Saturday. The Tigers have already clinched the inaugural Great American Conference Championship. OBU clinched that title last Saturday with a 21-18 win over Southeastern Oklahoma State. The Reddies, which collected a 16-10 non-conference win over McKendree last Saturday, will be seeking to wrap up second place in the conference with a win over OBU.
SAVAGE STORM SEEKS TO SNAP 7-GAME LOSING SKID AGAINST HARDING
Southeastern Oklahoma State takes a seven-game losing streak to Searcy, Ark. this Saturday to face off against Harding in the season-finale. Harding took East Central to overtimelast Saturday, but the Tigers came away with a 23-16 victory after holding Harding to only nine yards on its overtime possession. Southeastern ralliedlate last Saturday, but Ouachita Baptist held on for a 21-18 win to clinch the GAC championship. Harding holds a 15-7 all-time lead in a series that began in the 1978 season. The two squads competed against each other as member of the Lone Star Conference-North Division for three years from 1997-99. Harding won two of those matchups, but Southeastern won the last one with a 41-27 victory in 1999. Harding is 9-1 all-time against Southeastern at home in Searcy.
EAST CENTRAL LOOKS FOR 8TH WIN AGAINST MULERIDERS
East Central is looking to continue its best season in program history since winning the 1993 NAIA National Championship. The Tigers host SouthernArkansas this Saturday. SAU’s offense has produced high totals recently, highlighted by a 53-28 win over Arkansas-Monticello this past Saturday. ECU is fresh off its exciting overtime victory over Harding by a final score of 23-16. The Tigers captured their seventh win of the season, the highest win total in program history since 1993. ECU and SAU met in five consecutive years from 1993-97 with ECU winning three of the contest. SAU recorded a 37-9 win over ECU in their last meeting in the 1997 season. Prior to that five-year stretch, the last time the two squads met on the football gridiron was in the 1958 season.
WEEVILS, BULLDOGS LOOK TO EVEN CONFERENCE RECORDS
Both Arkansas-Monticello and Southwestern Oklahoma State would like to even its GAC record after Saturday’s scheduled meeting in Monticello. UAM is looking to rebound from its 53-28 loss to Southern Arkansas last Saturday, while SWOSU brings momentum into Saturday’s meeting after pulling off a 23-20 win over Arkansas Tech last weekend. This will be the first meeting between UAM and SWOSU on the football gridiron.