ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The No. 7/9 Ouachita Tiger football team will look to extend their five game home winning streak against Arkansas Tech tomorrow afternoon on Homecoming Saturday at Cliff Harris Stadium.

Ouachita (4-0, 4-0 GAC) has gotten off to an historic start in the 2018 season. The Tigers are looking to start the season 5-0 for just the third time since the year 2000.
Ouachita has outscored opponents 83-8 in home games this year and is coming off a 42-0 rout of East Central University. How good has Ouachita been at home lately? Since renaming the stadium to Cliff Harris in 2014, the Tigers have gone 20-5 at home.

A win on Saturday against Arkansas Tech (2-2, 2-2 GAC) will give the Tigers 64 victories this decade, tying the All-Time record for wins in a decade set by the Tiger football team from1970-1979. A win would also give the Tigers a 7-2 record on homecoming Saturday's this decade.

This will be the 82^nd meeting All-Time between Ouachita and Arkansas Tech, with Arkansas Tech holding a 44-30-7 advantage. However, Ouachita holds a 6-2 advantage in the Great American Conference era and won last year's meeting 35-31.

Ouachita senior quarterback Austin Warford threw for 293 yards and a pair of scores in the victory, while Drew Harris recorded three total touchdowns and 177 yards of total offense. On the Arkansas Tech side, it was Ty Reasnor who passed for 236 yards and a touchdown to lead the Wonder Boys offensively.  

Last year the two teams battled back-and-forth for the majority of the game with neither team wanting to yield an inch. Ouachita opened up the game with a 70-yard touchdown on the second play of the game. Ouachita went into halftime with a 20-17 lead. Branden Stringer broke a 68-yard run in the third quarter to give Arkansas Tech their first lead of the game. Ouachita entered the fourth quarter trailing 31-23. Harris scored a pair of runs in the final quarter as the Tigers escaped Russellville with a 35-31 win over Arkansas Tech.

The Tigers offense has been bolstered by a solid group of running backs in Kris Oliver (Arkadelphia, Ark.), Shun'cee Thomas (Bossier City, La.) and Brockton Brown (Sheridan, Ark.). Together the trio have averaged 279 yards per game on the ground, which ranks third nationally and second in the conference only behind Harding. At home the Tigers rushing attack has kicked into another gear as the trio has averaged 337.5 yards a game inside Cliff Harris Stadium. Brown now leads the team in scoring with six touchdowns on the season after scoring a hat trick in last week's matchup against East Central.

If the Tigers are forced to go to the air they have one of the most efficient quarterbacks in the Great American Conference. Brayden Brazeal (England, Ark.) has yet to throw an interception this season while completing 65 percent of his passes to Tiger receivers. Brazeal's favorite target so far this season has been Allie Freeman (Little Rock, Ark.) who has caught 21 passes for 243 yards and a score.

On the defensive side of the ball Airric Parker (San Diego, Calif.) and Keandre Evans (Junction City, Ark.) lead a swarming Tiger defense. Opponents have averaged 129 yards rushing and 153 yards passing this season against the Tigers. The Ouachita pass defense has already shown improvement from a season ago, the Tigers have already intercepted eight passes and broken up 21 passes this season.

So far this season the Wonder Boys are averaging just over 21 points a contest and run a balanced offense with the run-pass option scheme. Arkansas Tech is averaging 195.5 yards on the ground and 190 yards through the air this season. The Wonder Boys are currently 8-15 in the red zone and just 23-68 on third down conversions.

Bryan Allen is currently toting the rock for the Wonder Boys, averaging 82.25 yards a game with a touchdown on the season. Quarterback Carter Burcham is averaging 167 yards passing and has thrown five touchdowns and three interceptions this season. The Tigers will look to shutdown wide receiver Terrez Hampton who is averaging 15.24 yards per reception.

On the defensive side of the ball the Tigers will look to limit the impact KJ Reid has on the line of scrimmage. Reid already has 51 tackles this season, 4 tackles for a loss and a sack. Behind Reid is Cua' Rose with 30 tackles and Andrew Craig with 23 tackles and 5.5 tackles for a loss.

Ouachita and Arkansas Tech will kick-off at 12 p.m. tomorrow afternoon in the Tigers first day game of the year. Homecoming festivities will be happening all morning and we encourage fans to take part in all the festivities and homecoming games throughout the day. For more information on Ouachita Athletics log onto obutigers.com.