We here at Every Day Should Be Saturday’s Division II Football Bureau are nothing if not organized, which is why this news is arriving to you on time and definitely not four days after the fact.
The two teams that inspired the D2Sday feature in the first place, the University of Arkansas-Monticello Boll Weevils and the Southern Arkansas University Muleriders, met this Saturday for the 94th playing of The Battle of the Timberlands, America’s finest rivalry game.
This has been a slanted affair in recent years, with SAU winning seven straight and 18 of the last 21 contests. The Muleriders came in with their eyes on a spot in the Division II NCAA playoffs, while the Boll Weevils were hanging on at 5-5.
So what happened in this, America’s finest and most consequential rivalry game?
That’s right, my beloved UAM Boll Weevils (I have a hat) stunned Spencer’s Muleriders (he has a shirt) by rallying from a 14-0 halftime deficit to win 20-17 on a 34-yard field goal by Josh Marini as time expired.
There are major postseason implications at play here, as the loss dropped SAU out of the playoff bracket and into the consolation prize of the Live United Bowl in Texarkana, where they will face Missouri Western.
Arkansas-Monticello, Champions of the Timberland, will seize their own bowl bid, making their first postseason appearance in 25 years when they play Emporia State University in the Corsicana Bowl in Corsicana, Texas.
Check out this magnificent logo:
It is with the greatest pride that I say, Arkansas-Monticello: you have one of the finest mascots in Division II, you are a dangerous blight to our cotton crops, and you are the champions of the Timberlands... and our hearts.
Hail Weevil.