By TRAVIS HARMON-SMITH
Sports Editor
Most season openers have their pros and cons.
Evidently, Northwestern experienced a few pros and cons in their own manner, coming up short on the road in Russellville, Ark during Thursday evening’s season opener, which saw the Rangers lose 33-14 to Great American Conference opponent Arkansas Tech. Early in the first quarter, the Rangers displayed a newly improved and defined offense, with new formations and signals.
However, Arkansas Tech capitalized on Northwestern’s offensive miscues.
The Ranger offense showed promise in the first quarter, as Northwestern effectively executed its passing schemes. During the second offensive drive of the quarter, Northwestern quarterback Reid Miller threw a short pass to running back Jarion Tudman, who made a few sharp cuts around the Arkansas Tech defenders at the line of scrimmage for a 30- yard touchdown run, giving the Rangers a 7-0 lead.
Unfortunately, Arkansas Tech made a huge adjustment on special teams to return the scoring favor. The Wonder Boys turned the tables on Northwestern by returning a 102-yard kickoff to even up the score 7-7 at the end of the first quarter. Two series later, the Northwestern defense couldn’t withstand Arkansas Tech’s offense, as the Wonder Boys racked up two more scores for a 21-7 lead.
By the middle of the second quarter, Northwestern had its chance to cut the deficit down one score, but a Miller interception in the red zone on fourth down eliminated that chance. After the interception, Arkansas Tech gained possession for most of the second quarter to close out the first half at 21-7.
Miscues, forced errors and penalties by the Rangers in the first half kept them from gaining offensive momentum against the Wonder Boys. Northwestern was charged with eight penalties for 60 yards. Northwestern held possession of the ball for 32 minutes total, while Arkansas Tech only had possession for 27 minutes.
Despite the offensive troubles that Northwestern experienced in the first half, Tudman found energy in his tank. Tudman erupted for a 75-yard touchdown run to open up the third quarter. Offensively, this would change the game entirely, as the Rangers were only down one score, 21-14.
After the initial touchdown scored by Tudman at the 9:40 mark in the third, the defenses of both squads made big stops down the stretch for the rest of the third quarter of play. Arkansas Tech still had yet to find the end zone, which resulted in a 27-yard field goal attempt with 6:47 left on the clock in the third.
As the final minutes approached during the fourth, the Northwestern offense pushed the ball effectively, but was stopped short close to the one yard line by the Wonder Boys defense. A couple of plays later, Arkansas Tech quarterback Dennis Robertson connected with a 98-yard touchdown pass to a wide open receiver, which made the score 33-14 at the two-minute mark in the fourth.
Quarterback Miller went 10-for-21 for 112 yards and a touchdown. Sophomore running back Tudman finished the night with 162 yards, scoring both touchdowns for the Ranger offense.
Northwestern will return for its first home match-up of the season against Harding University at Ranger Field Saturday. Kickoff is 1 p.m.