Setting the Scene
SWOSU football returns to Arkansas for one final time in the 2013 season this Saturday with a trip to Arkadelphia to face Henderson State. The Reddies are the defending Great American Conference champions and a playoff team from 2012 and they are currently ranked in the top 10 nationally by both the American Football Coaches Association (AFCA) and D2football.com.
Henderson State has been dominating their opponents to start the season, opening the year 5-0, with four commanding wins against GAC opponents to date. Last week, the Reddies shutout Northwestern Oklahoma State, 42-0, in their lowest scoring game of the season.
The Bulldogs are coming off their second defeat of the season, a 31-14 setback against Ouachita Baptist last Saturday. SWOSU will be looking to bounce back and avoid consecutive losses for the first time in 2013.
The Series
The series between SWOSU and Henderson State dates back to the 1980 season, but the teams have met just four times in history. After splitting a home-and-away series in 1980-81 in which both teams won on their home field, the teams did not meet again until the formation of the Great American Conference prior to the 2011 season.
In their last trip to Arkadelphia, SWOSU defeated the Reddies 17-13 before Henderson State returned the favor with a 50-22 victory in Weatherford last season. The all-time series is knotted up at 2-2 and the Bulldogs are 1-1 all-time in Arkadelphia.
The Coaches
Dan Cocannouer enters his fifth season as the head coach of the Southwestern Oklahoma State University football team in 2013. He returned home to lead his alma mater in 2009 and helped the team better its won-loss record in each of his first three seasons. After finishing 1-10 in his inaugural season, SWOSU improved to 5-6 in 2011, the first season of the Great American Conference. In 2012, the Bulldogs slipped slightly in the win column, finishing 3-7 (2-6 GAC) with three losses of 10 points or less. Overall, Cocannouer is 15-33 overall at SWOSU and 1-1 against Henderson State.
Scott Maxfield is in his ninth season as the head coach at Henderson State, helping the Reddies to some of their most historic seasons in school history. Last season, Maxfield led HSU to a 10-0 regular season mark, the first undefeated/untied regular season in school history. Maxfield currently has a record of 54-35 as head coach of the Reddies.
The Last Meeting
SWOSU stayed within striking distance early but were unable to keep pace and watched Henderson State pull away for a 50-22 football victory Saturday night in Weatherford.
SWOSU wide receiver
Kirk Jones was the Bulldogs offensive standout in the game, finishing with five catches for 111 yards and one touchdown. He made an acrobatic eight-yard touchdown catch from quarterback
Dustin Stenta for SWOSU's first score late in the first quarter. He then added a 73-yard reception that set up a short touchdown run by running back
D.C. Walker midway through the fourth period.
Henderson, which entered the game as the nation's highest scoring football team averaging just under 60 points a game, did little to hurt their statistical ranking. They piled up 451 yards of total offense and reached the 50-point mark in the early moments of the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs found little room in the running game as they were limited to just 53 yards on 33 carries, an average of 1.6 yards an attempt.
Aaron Wilson was SWOSU's top ground gainer with 59 yards on 15 carries, including a 25-yard run early in the game. His one-yard run with 1:28 to play in the game was the final score for both teams.
Defensively,
Jonathan Darby had a solid game for the Bulldogs leading the team with 14 tackles including three passes broken up.
Devin Benton added nine tackles and
Jim O'Brien collected another sack, his fifth of the season.
Last Time Out
An emotional Saturday at Fast Lane Field honored man a great with ties to both Ouachita Baptist and Southwestern Oklahoma State University: former SWOSU head coach Paul Sharp. In the end, it was Sharp's alma mater, OBU, downing his former team, SWOSU, 31-14 to claim the inaugural cup named in his honor.
After OBU received the opening kickoff, Tigers quarterback Benson Jordan made his biggest mistake of the afternoon on the game's opening play. Trying to find a running back in the flat, Benson instead found SWOSU defensive end
Jim O'Brien who picked off the pass and returned it 29 yards for the first touchdown of his Bulldog career.
SWOSU drove the ball 69 yards in 12 plays to open the second half, capped off with a 15-yard touchdown reception by
Stephen Castiglione from
Dustin Stenta. With 10:36 to play in the 3rd quarter, SWOSU was within six at 20-14, but they would get no closer.
Offense was tough to come by for SWOSU on Saturday afternoon as the Bulldogs were held to 133 yards of total offense, with 94 of that coming on the ground. Stenta was held to 6-of-23 passing for 39 yards and one touchdown.
Karl Hodge had 52 yards on the ground and
D.C. Walker ran for 34 yards while
Brad Smithey was the only receiver to catch more than one pass, finishing with three receptions for 14 yards.
Defensively, the Bulldogs faced 89 plays from the Tigers, allowing 460 yards, 364 of which came through the air. Making his second consecutive start at safety,
Steven Townsley led SWOSU with 16 tackles (six solo, 10 assist) while Franklin and
Ryan Feller added 10 apiece.
Checking the Standings
A loss by Southern Arkansas and an Arkansas-Monticello victory last weekend has those two teams now tied with SWOSU for fourth place in the Great American Conference standings. Harding's victory at SAU moved the Bisons into third place at 3-1 while Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist sit atop the rankings with matching 4-0 conference records.
First End Zone Trips
Both players who put SWOSU on the scoreboard against Ouachita Baptist, defensive end
Jim O'Brien and tight end
Stephen Castiglione, scored the first touchdown of their respective Bulldog careers. O'Brien intercepted the second pass of his career and returned it 29 yards to paydirt during the first quarter. The senior from Lake Arrowhead, Calif., has racked up 30 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and one sack this season.
Castiglione made the first start of his SWOSU career on Saturday against OBU. After not having a ball come his way through the first three games, he has now made one reception each of the last two weeks, including the 15-yard touchdown reception in the third quarter against Ouachita Baptist. The senior from Thornton, Colo., was moved to offense in the offseason and he's now one of six players to catch a touchdown pass from quarterback
Dustin Stenta this season.
Stopping the Run
After Harding rolled up 232 rushing yards against SWOSU in the season opener, the Bulldogs defense has not allowed a team to rush for 100 yards in the past four games. Ouachita Baptist had 96 yards on 40 attempts on Saturday, the most allowed by SWOSU since the opener.
The Bulldogs defense ranks fourth in the GAC in rush defense, allowing 115.4 yards per game. This week's opponent, Henderson State, allows a conference-best 59.8 yards per game on the ground. SWOSU also ranks fourth in the GAC in scoring defense, allowing 21.6 points per game.
Senior linebacker
Ryan Feller leads the SWOSU defense and ranks third in the GAC with 45 tackles in five games.
Jacolby Robinson has a team-high 4.5 tackles for loss and three sacks and
Abram Piggee has intercepted a team-leading two passes.
Scouting Henderson State
The defending GAC champs have been putting up incredible offensive numbers this season, leading NCAA Division II in total offense (632.6 yards per game), scoring offense (61.2 points per game) and passing offense (442.6 yards per game).
HSU has won four of their five games by 30+ points, including a 42-0 shutout of Northwestern Oklahoma State last weekend. The Reddies have also defeated Southern Nazarene, McKendree, Southeastern Oklahoma State and East Central.
The Reddies offense is led by All-American quarterback Kevin Rodgers, the nation's leader in passing yards (2,008), passing yards per game (401.6) and total offense (399.2). HSU's offense also features the leading rusher in the conference, Ryan McDonald, and two receivers, Darius Davis and Robert Jordan, that rank in the top four of the GAC in receiving yards per game.
A SWOSU Win Would..
- Be their first victory over a Top 10 team as a member of the GAC
- Avoid consecutive defeats for the first time since October 20, 2012
- Improve SWOSU to 4-2 for the second time in the last three seasons
- Tie Coach Cocannouer for the 10th-most wins in SWOSU Football history (16)
- Be the sixth SWOSU win in their last nine games
- End the Reddies five-game winning streak
- Improve the Bulldogs record to 65-110 as a member of NCAA Division II
- Move SWOSU to 9-13 all-time in Great American Conference contests
A SWOSU Loss Would..
- Even the Bulldogs record at 3-3 on the year
- Be the second consecutive loss to Ouachita Baptist
- Make SWOSU 8-14 all-time in Great American Conference contests
- Drop SWOSU to 64-111 as a member of NCAA Division II
Looking Ahead
SWOSU heads to Durant next week for a Friday night matchup against Southeastern Oklahoma State. That game will start at 6 pm.
