ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Ouachita Tigers' football team (6-2) will host the Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils (5-3) at home Saturday at 1 p.m.
 
The Tigers' 6-2 start to the season has them locked in a battle for the GAC championship. Ouachita is currently in a four-way tie for first place in the conference alongside Arkansas Tech, Southern Arkansas and Southeastern Oklahoma.
 
"I think now the guys realize we've got about two-and-a-half weeks to play, to make a run. I think now they realize they're right in the mix of it, and they're very excited about playing the next couple of weeks and see where we come out."
 
The Tigers put in a great performance last week to aid in their hunt for the conference crown. Ouachita defeated Oklahoma Baptist by a huge 52-14 margin in a game where the Tigers dominated in every facet of the game. Ouachita's offense accrued 632 total yards, while the defense forced four turnovers and stopped Oklahoma Baptist without points in the red zone two times.
 
"We feel like we've made a bunch of improvement," Ouachita head coach Todd Knight said. "We didn't play down to a team that is struggling a little bit. That's one thing we were concerned about. We want to be concerned about us, and that's what we did."
 
Knight has stressed the importance of winning the turnover battle all season, and the team has caught on. Ouachita has not turned the football over in their past four games and have a plus-six turnover margin in that time.
 
"The way they squeeze the ball in practice, the way they talk about it in practice, and the way the coaches talk about it in practice all play into it," Knight said. "But all the talk in the world doesn't change the fact that you get the heck knocked out of you out there, and you've got to learn how to squeeze it. I think our guys are doing a great job of that right now."
 
Quarterback Austin Warford continues to accumulate impressive stats this season. Warford passed for 199 yards and ran for 75 last week to bring his season total up to 1558 passing yards and 535 rushing yards.
 
Wide receiver Drew Harris also continues to put up big numbers this year. Harris is currently tied for second in Division II with 17 total touchdowns this season. Harris is tied for fourth in the entire NCAA and has more touchdowns than any Division I player. The wide out ran for two touchdowns against Oklahoma Baptist last week while catching four passes for 79 yards.
 
UAM has gotten off to a great start to the season as well. They currently sit just one game behind the top four teams in the conference, so they are still in the hunt for the conference championship. The Boll Weevils have won their last three games, including an impressive 46-45 win over Arkansas Tech, after starting the season with a 2-3 record.
 
In last week's 35-23 win over Southern Nazarene, UAM rushed for 290 yards and quarterback Cole Sears threw for three touchdowns. The Boll Weevils tend to have a balanced attack, both rushing and passing for over 1800 yards. Sears, a junior, has thrown for 1893 yards and 23 touchdowns this season.
 
Ouachita's defense will be prepared to stop UAM, however. The Tigers have utilized a bend-but-not-break approach this season and have been able to keep opposing teams out of the end zone. Linebacker Elijah Jones is the team's defensive leader with 64 total tackles, seven tackles-for-loss and two interceptions.
 
Kick-off Saturday will be at 1 p.m. at Cliff Harris Stadium in Arkadelphia. If you can't make it to the game, tune in to the Ouachita Football Network at OBUTigers.com.a