ALVA, Okla. -- Southern Arkansas broke open a tight game with four touchdowns in the first 9:29 of the second half on its way to a 47-14 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State, Saturday at Ranger Field.
Despite a commanding lead in time of possession that saw the Ranger defense on the field for just 24 of the 60 minutes, SAU piled up 500 yards of offense, while holding Northwestern to 230.
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"We certainly didn't help ourselves. We made plenty of mistakes," said Northwestern head coach Alan Hall. "When you try to fight, scratch and claw your way out of a hole, you've got to play that much more perfect. Defensively we had penalties that we committed that extended drives. Offensive we had penalties that killed drives."
13 penalties for 121 yards, to be exact – the type of stat that will keep a coach up at night.
Tyler Sykora completed just 11 passes in 26 attempts for SAU (3-1, 3-1 GAC), but three of them went for touchdowns. Mark Johnson rushed 12 times for 120 yards and two scores.
Northwestern (0-4, 0-4) used a pair of quarterbacks - three if you count running back Javari Liggins' snaps from the wildcat. L.T. Pfaff made his second-straight start. Reid Miller played the bulk of the middle two quarters before Pfaff returned to finish.
"We had every intention of playing both of them today," Hall said. "They both had a good week of practice. That's why I felt like they both needed to play. That's a position we've got to go back and study a little more on film. See who had the better game and move forward from there."
Each had his moments.
Miller threw for 64 yards on 6-of-14 passing. He scored the Rangers' first touchdown with 1:34 remaining in the opening half on a three-yard carry that came with style points.
Miller faked a handoff, rolled to his right and dove toward the near pylon. An SAU defender met him low, sending Miller head-over-heels into the endzone. That cut into a 20-0 SAU lead and sent the Rangers into the break down just 13.
Pfaff, meanwhile, completed 9-of-15 attempts for 115 yards. His 38-yard strike to Reginald Harris on the final play of the third quarter, helped set up the Rangers' second touchdown of the game. That came with 10:30 to go on a one-yard Liggins run.
In between, SAU's offense kicked it into gear. After being turned aside by the Ranger defense on each of their last three possessions of the opening half, the Muleriders scored on three-in-a-row to start the third.
A roughing the passer penalty, followed by a 31-yard pass from Sykora to Jack Brown moved SAU inside the Ranger-10. Johnson finished the drive with a seven-yard touchdown run to make it 27-7 with 13:58 to play in the third.
Sykora and Johnson reversed roles on the next possession. This time Johnson did the heavy lifting - carrying three times for 61 yards to open the drive - and Sykora finished. His five-yard pass to Paul Walker-Hall made it a 34-7 game.
Si Blackshire took the quarterback reigns for SAU on the next series, leading a five play, 51-yard march. Over half of that came on a 26-yard TD toss to Tevin McDonald to get it to 40-7 with 6:20 to go in the third.
The SAU defense delivered the final blow, hitting Liggins in the backfield as he took a handoff. Alex Mills grabbed the loose ball and raced 15-yards for the score.
Theodis Williams snuffed out a potential scoring drive- one of several nice moments for the Rangers down the stretch. His 10-yard sack of Blackshire moved SAU back from the Ranger 25 to the 35 and gave Northwestern the ball on downs.
On the first play from scrimmage, Pfaff - who had just re-entered the game- hit Harris in stride to the SAU 27.
Liggins carried on three of the next four plays, as the Ranger chipped away. A facemask penalty gave Northwestern a big lift after Liggins had been stopped at the 2 on third-and-goal. With the fresh set of downs, Liggins went to work, scoring on a burst up the middle.
The Ranger kept SAU's high-power offense off the field for much of the first quarter, limiting the Muleriders to just 10 offensive snaps.
SAU turned a short field into its lone first-quarter score. The Ranger punted into the wind from their own 15. Jack Brown took the kick 21 yards back to the Northwestern 37. It was third-and-10 from the 22 when Johnson broke free on a long run. His touchdown made it a 7-0 game with 4:45 to play in the opening quarter.
On their next possession, the Muleriders went 87 yards in eight plays and needed just 2:38 to do it. Walker-Hall's 25-yard catch pushed the lead to 14-0 with 13:24 to go in the second.
Scoring drive number three came in just three plays - all of them for 20-plus yards. A 25-yard touchdown pass to Brown finished it. SAU missed the extra point but led 20-0 with 8:19 left in the half.
Northwestern missed out on a great chance just a few minutes later. LaRon Mitchell stripped Johnson of the ball on a tackle, and Ira Hill II fell on it for the Rangers at the SAU 24. However, the Ranger offense wasn't able to cash it in. Kevin Ditch missed wide left on a 34-yard field goal.
Northwestern made amends with a quick stop and its first scoring drive. Miller - who had entered the game midway through the second - hit Davontaa Bryant on a 15-yard pass. Northwestern dug itself a deep second-and-20 hole on a holding penalty, but Miller dug them out with a big 26-yard strike to Girod Fluellen.
Miller's endzone acrobatics came on the very next play to slice the lead to 20-7.
Liggins rushed for 50 yards on 25 carries. Jarion Tudman added five yards on five attempts to go with Zachry Doyle's four for four yards.
Montrell Logan led the Ranger receiving core with five grabs for 47 yards, and Mervin Stewart chipped in 25 yards on three catches. Harris finished with with two receptions and 45 yards.
Jordan Norris and Rontez Smith each finished with seven tackles to pace the defense. LaRon Mitchell tallied six of his own.
Northwestern will host Henderson State next Saturday in another 1 p.m. kickoff.
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