Southern Nazarene Game Notes
Northwestern Oklahoma State Game Notes
GAC Notebook

BETHANY, Okla. — The final home game of the season is also the final game of the Great American Conference season for Southern Nazarene as SNU welcomes rival Northwestern Oklahoma State for Homecoming 2013. The Crimson Storm have just one more game remaining on the docket after Northwestern with a non-conference match up with McMurry who is also in transition to NCAA Division II.

Southern Nazarene is coming off a 42-14 loss at the hands of Southwestern Oklahoma State and Northwestern Oklahoma State is coming off a 70-0 loss at No. 7 Pittsburg State. The Rangers though did pick up their first win of the season the week before with a 25-21 victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State.

LAST WEEK
Red zone woes plagued Southern Nazarene as the Crimson Storm were just 1-for-4 inside the 20. 

The Crimson Storm watched the Southwestern Oklahoma State come up with two goal-line stands and an interception in the red zone as SNU dropped its final road Great American Conference contest of the year. 

The Crimson Storm threw for 172 yards and ran for 71 for a total of 243 yards while giving up 609 yards to the Bulldogs. Southwestern ran for 253 yards and threw for 356. Trey Hills threw for 164 yards and two touchdowns and completed 14 of his 33 attempts. Alex Reed and Jarod Martin each had a touchdown reception while Reed had 70 yards receiving on two catches while Martin had 38 yards on four catches.

Blake Cavill and Konner Bent led the way on the defensive side as Cavill had 12 tackles and Bent had 11. Chris Hudson also had a sack.

THE LAST TIME
Last year these two teams combined before 850 yards of offense as Southern Nazarene had 516 yards of total offense to Northwestern Oklahoma State's 334. It was the Rangers though who won out in a 35-28 fight in Alva. 

The Crimson Storm rushed for a season-high 311 yards and threw for 205 yards. Derick Perkins led the way for SNU with a career-high 229 yards and a touchdown on 32 carries. Dylan Terry threw for 205 yards as he completed 15 of his 40 passing attempts. Sedrick Johnson had 68 yards receiving and a touchdown on five catches.

Thr Rangers' Kyle Jech threw for 278 yards and three touchdowns as he completed 19 of his 31 attempts as Northwestern threw for 278 yards.

The Storm held the NWOSU rushing attack in check as it allowed just 56 yards on 36 carries. Blake Giles and Blake Cavill led the way on the defensive side as Giles had 13 tackles while Cavill had eight and 1.5 sacks. The Storm as a team had four sacks on the day.

Southern Nazarene never led, but tied the game twice at 14 and at 21. The Rangers took a 14-0 to start before Johnson put the Storm on the board with a touchdown reception to make it 14-7 and that's how it carried into half.

SNU tied it up at 14-14 just 43 seconds into the third and tied it at 21-21 late in the third, but the Rangers answered with 14 straight to lead 35-21. Dylan Terry and Alex Reed connected on a 58-yard strike with 3:58 to play to make it 35-28. 

The Crimson Storm did get the ball back at its own 24 with 1:05 to play and pushed it to the NWOSU 42-yard line with 24 seconds to play. SNU though threw four straight incomplete passes to end the game.

ABOUT THE RANGERS
Northwestern Oklahoma State comes in as the least scoring offense in the Great American Conference as it is averaging 11.6 points per game. The Rangers are averaging 271.6 yards per game in total offense, ranking them 11th in the GAC as well. 

Reid Miller and L.T. Pfaff have both played in seven games this year at quarterback for the Rangers. Miller has thrown for 765 yards this season with four touchdowns and six interceptions. Pfaff has thrown for 573 yards and three touchdowns with three interceptions. Javari Liggins is the leading rusher for the Rangers at 424 total yards. He also has two rushing touchdowns. 

Northwestern is ranked ninth in the conference rushing offense at 121.8 yards per game and is 10th in passing offense at 149.8 yards per game. Pfaff is ranked ninth in the GAC in pass efficiency at 119.6. Miller is eight in the conference in total offense at 139.6 yards per game. 

The Rangers do lead the conference in punt return average at 17.2 yards per return. They are 11th in the GAC though in kickoff returns at 15.8 per return. Northwestern is ranked 11th in the GAC in red zone offense as they have completed 52.9 percent going 9-for-17 inside the red zone.

 The Rangers are giving up an average of 495.8 yards per game which puts them 10th in the GAC just ahead of Southern Nazarene. The Rangers are also just ahead of the Crimson Storm in scoring defense allowing 46.4 points per game. Opponents are averaging 237.2 rushing yards and 258.6 passing yards per game against Northwestern. That ranks them sixth in the conference in passing defense and 10th in rushing defense.

Alex Hemberger and Kollin Retter lead the defense for the Rangers. Hemberger is ninth in the GAC in tackles with 66 on the year and seven are for a loss. Retter is 12th in the conference in tackles with 65 and four are for a loss. Both also have two interceptions on the year while Retter has four pass deflections and two pass breakups. Jeremy Gutierrez leads the team and is 15th in the GAC in sacks with three and he also has 37 tackles on the year. 

The Rangers are eighth in the GAC in red zone defense as opponents have scored 83.7 percent of the time. Teams are 36-for-43 in the red zone against NWOSU. They are also 11th in the conference in opponents' third-down conversions as teams are converting 53.2 percent of the time. NWOSU has also given up the most first downs in the GAC with 213.

INSIDE THE NUMBERS
Dylan Terry needs 181 more yards of total offense to hit 3,000 for his career. He currently stands fourth all-time in school history in total offensive yards. Jarod Martin moved passed Derick Perkins (2009-12) for second all-time in school history in total points scored. Martin now has 204 points scored. Jason Kilmer (2000-03) holds the all-time record at 316. Christo Lisika has 31 career tackles for a loss and stands ninth all-time in school history. He needs three more to catch Clay Franks (2002-05) for eighth all-time. He is also 10th all-time in sacks with 11.5 needs one more to move into a tie for sixth with three other players. 

NEWS AND NOTES
Konner Bent tied a career-high for tackles against Southwestern Oklahoma State with 13 ...  BJ Smith also tied a career-high for tackles with eight last week ... Trey Hills threw for a career-high two touchdowns and a career-long pass of 61 yard at Southwestern Oklahoma State  ... Blake had two career-highs against Northwestern Oklahoma State last year with 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for a loss ... Blake Giles also set a career-high for tackles last year against the Rangers with 13 ... Defonzo Mack recorded a career-high three back break ups against NWOSU last year.