Arkansas Tech University completed one of the most successful seasons in the history of its football program on Saturday night with a 51-35 win over Eastern New Mexico University in the 2015 C.H.A.M.P.S. Heart of Texas Bowl at Bulldawg Stadium in Copperas Cove, Texas.
The Wonder Boys (9-3) rolled up 620 yards of total offense while earning their first bowl victory and their first postseason win away from home since the 1957 Rice Bowl.
With the victory, Arkansas Tech reached the nine-win plateau in a season for just the 10th time in the 101-season history of its football program. The Wonder Boys also won nine or more games in 1946, 1949, 1960, 1964, 1968, 1971, 1999, 2004 and 2009.
Raymond Monica joined John Tucker, Raymond Burnett, Marvin “Shorty” Salmon, Don Dempsey and Steve Mullins as the only Arkansas Tech head football coaches to lead the Wonder Boys to nine or more wins in a season.
Arkansas Tech senior quarterback Arsenio Favor was voted most valuable player of the 2015 C.H.A.M.P.S Heart of Texas Bowl. He completed 19-of-30 passes for 357 yards and five touchdowns, rushed 15 times for 84 yards and two touchdowns and tied the Great American Conference record for most touchdowns accounted for in a game (7).
Favor’s fellow senior, linebacker Logan Genz, broke his own school record for tackles in a game with 25. The record-breaking and final tackle came on a fourth-down play at the Arkansas Tech 7-yard line with 4:57 seconds left, forcing Eastern New Mexico to turn the football over on downs and sealing the win for the Wonder Boys.
Genz completed his four-year Arkansas Tech career with 480 tackles, most in the history of the Wonder Boys and the GAC. He ranks fourth in NCAA Division II history in career tackles.
Arkansas Tech started fast, jumping out to a 16-0 lead in the first four-and-a-half minutes of the game. The Wonder Boys held two other 16-point leads over the course of the evening, but every time it seemed as though they might pull away the Greyhounds rallied.
Back-to-back touchdowns by Eastern New Mexico trimmed the Arkansas Tech lead to 37-35 with 5:20 left in the third quarter.
The fourth quarter belonged to the Wonder Boys. Favor threw a 37-yard touchdown pass to Brayden Stringer with 12:30 remaining, and Favor went around left end for a 21-yard touchdown run at the 9:16 mark of the fourth quarter to set what proved to be the final score.
Arkansas Tech running back Bryan Allen carried 26 times for 150 yards to complete his freshman season with 1,150 rushing yards, the third-highest single-season total in Wonder Boys’ history.
As a team, Arkansas Tech completed the 2015 season with 5,505 yards of total offense (second-most in school history) and 3,230 rushing yards (third-most in school history).
Tech’s Jabyes Cross caught three passes for 125 yards and two touchdowns on Saturday. Jermaine Murdock and Chris Eastburn made one touchdown reception apiece.
Demetris Ford made 12 tackles for the Wonder Boys, while Bruce Livingston, Nick Akins and Andrew Craig accumulated nine tackles apiece.
Eastern New Mexico quarterback Jeremy Buurma completed 13-of-24 passes for 255 yards and three touchdowns. Fullback Kamal Cass rushed 35 times for 171 yards and two touchdowns. ENMU’s Aaron Johnson caught six passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns.
