ARKADELPHIA – Ouachita Baptist University football players TJ Cole and Peyton Stafford have been selected to the D2Football.com Elite 100 Watchlist heading into the 2022 season.

Both Cole and Stafford were All-America honorees in the 2021 season. Cole earned All-America honors from the American Football Coaches Association, D2Football.com, and the Don Hansen Football Committee. Stafford earned All-America honors from the Division II Conference Commissioners Association and the Don Hansen Football Committee.

Stafford is serving as one of Ouachita's team captains for the second straight season. The Amarillo, Texas native is also being nominated for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is college football's annual premier scholar-athlete award from the National Football Foundation.

Cole set the Great American Conference single-season rushing record last season and ranked fifth in the nation with 1,530 yards on 236 carries. He was named Ouachita's overall most outstanding male athlete for the 2021-22 year.

Cole, Stafford, and the rest of the Tigers open the 2022 season on Thursday, September 1 in Shawnee, Oklahoma against Oklahoma Baptist. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m.