ALVA, Okla. - The 2017 football season ended with a bang when the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers took down the rival Bulldogs of Southwestern Oklahoma State in convincing fashion to cap off the first five-win season since joining the NCAA Division II ranks.
The Red-and-Black will be looking to continue their success in the Fall of 2018 and will have a full 11-game schedule this season, five of which will be at Ranger Field.
As is tradition, the first game of the season will be played on a Thursday evening and this year, the game will be at home on August 30 where the Rangers will host the Ouachita Baptist Tigers at 6 p.m. OUA and Northwestern had a great opening game last season where the Rangers came up on the losing end, but will be looking for redemption this time around at home.
After hosting the Weevils of Arkansas-Monticello last season on the second Saturday, this year the roles will reverse and UAM will host the Red-and-Black at 6 p.m. on Saturday, September 8. It was another hotly contested game and another the Rangers have marked on their calendar as another game that they would like to see end differently for the coming season.
Before going on the road for two straight weeks, Northwestern will host Henderson State on September 15 in a night game at 6 p.m. A season ago, the Rangers won their first game against the Reddies since 2002 and for the first time since joining the NCAA Division II ranks.
On the weekends of September 22 and September 29, the Rangers will be on the road where they will make the long trek to Magnolia, Ark. to kickoff with the Muleriders of Southern Arkansas in the first road trip at 6 p.m.. The second will be in Durant, Okla. to play Southeastern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. It was a tough loss last season to the Savage Storm, losing by just three and Northwestern will be looking to change the outcome in that one this coming Fall.
On the flip side of the previous two weeks, the Red-and-Black will then host two straight weekends. Homecoming this year comes on October 6 where the Rangers will host East Central in a 4 p.m. start. Northwestern will be looking for three straight wins over the Tigers in their upcoming meeting. The second of the consecutive home games will be held on October 13 in a 2 p.m. kickoff where the Wonder Boys of Arkansas Tech will come to town.
Following the homestand, the Rangers will head to Searcy, Ark. where they will take on 2017 National Semi-finalist team, Harding. The game is set to begin at 2 p.m. on October 20.
October 27 will be the last home game and Senior Day for the Red-and-Black where they will take on Southern Nazarene at 2 p.m. The Crimson Storm beat the Rangers on the field for the first time since the series began in 2004.
The second-to-last game of the season will come at Oklahoma Baptist in Shawnee, Okla. where the Rangers will look to make it back-to-back wins against the Bison. The game is slated to kickoff at 2 p.m.
In a 5:30 p.m. kickoff, the Rangers will round out their season with arch nemesis, Southwestern Oklahoma State in Weatherford, Okla. Northwestern had the Bulldogs number a season ago, winning the rivalry game by 14, 31-17.
Season Ticket information will be coming out in the first of June.
2018 Football Schedule
