By ALLI SCHIEBER, Editor-in-Chief
The NWOSU football team lost their season opener last Thursday against Arkansas Monticello with a score of 34-7.
Last season the Rangers went 1-10 and Northwestern football fans have high hopes for the team this season as they have a new defensive coordinator, Jerry Glanville and the head coach, Ronnie Jones, has had the chance to recruit some new players this year. Northwestern signed 11 transfers and 39 freshmen to play this season.
The Rangers had a few players that stood out last Thursday Royal Kyle was the only Ranger that scored a touchdown.
Some other players that stood out are quarterback Beck Moss who had for 90 passing yards, defensive lineman Cody Tilman and defensive back Isaiah Kellum led the team with six tackles each while linebacker Aiden Lewis had a sack and caught an interception.
The home opener is Thursday at 6 P.M. against Ouachita Baptist University.
Ouachita won their 17th straight season opener against SWOSU last Thursday, 42-3. In the nine years that Northwestern has played Ouachita they have never won.
The closest game they had was in 2017 when they lost by a field goal, the score was 31-28.
During the season openers last week Ouachita overall looked better against SWOSU than NWOSU did against Arkansas Monticello. Ouachita had a total of 128 rushing yards and three rushing touchdowns compared to Northwestern’s 49 yards and zero rushing touchdowns.
Some statistics: However, are a little more comparable Northwestern had two sacks against Arkansas Monticello while Ouachita had three sacks against SWOSU. Northwestern also caught two interceptions while Ouachita caught one.
Last season, when Northwestern played Ouachita, the Rangers lost 66-0. When the Tigers pounced early in the first quarter and led the rest of the game.
In the Great Americans Conference’s preseason poll Northwestern was ranked last while Ouachita was ranked second. All 12 teams in the GAC conference played last Thursday which means Northwestern was one of the six teams to lose.
The Rangers will play Southern Nazarene University in Bethany on Sept. 21, 2024, and will be back in Alva Sept. 28, 2024, to play Southeastern Oklahoma State Universtiy for Family Day.