Ouachita Football Network returns for another season

O uachita Baptist University will again have one of the largest radio networks in all of NCAA Division II with six Ouachita Football Network affiliate stations that cover most of Arkansas and parts of Oklahoma, Texas and Louisiana.
For a second year, the Ouachita Football Network will be produced by Noalmark Broadcasting.

Network affiliates for the 2008 football season are KYXK-FM, 106.9, in Arkadelphia; KELD-FM, 106.5 in El Dorado; KBHS-AM, 1420, in Hot Springs; KVMA-AM, 630, in Magnolia; KNAS-FM, 105.5, in Nashville; and KQOR-FM, 105.3, in Mena.

Rex Nelson of Little Rock returns for his 27th season of play-by-play. He will once more be joined in the booth by Dr. Jeff Root of Arkadelphia. Joining the broadcast team for the first time will be Richard Atkinson of Arkadelphia. Chris Babb will contribute to the pregame and postgame shows.

The stadium producer of the Ouachita Football Network is Patrick Thomas. The executive producer is Pete O’Steen.

“We will have a game day production that runs for five hours,” Nelson said. “It will equal or surpass what many NCAA Division I schools are putting on the air. We want to thank Noalmark, our affiliate stations and our sponsors for making it possible for college football fans in four states to hear Ouachita games.”

Nelson is the longest-serving play-by-play announcer for any college football team in Arkansas. Root and Nelson grew up within blocks of A.U. Williams Field in Arkadelphia and have worked together on the broadcasts since they were students at Ouachita almost three decades ago. On Friday nights, Root does Arkadelphia High School play-by-play and Nelson co-hosts the Arkansas Radio Network’s statewide high school scoreboard show.

“I believe we have the finest radio network for any Division II school in the country,” said Ouachita athletic director David Sharp. “We know that the Gulf South Conference is the toughest Division II football conference in America. I hear from many people who enjoy listening to the exciting GSC games on our network.”

Each network broadcast will begin one hour prior to kickoff with the Baptist Health Tiger Countdown To Kickoff. The program will include an interview with Ouachita head coach Todd Knight, an interview with the opposing coach, a Gulf South Conference report, taped highlights from the previous week’s game and interviews with a Ouachita assistant coach.

The Hot Springs Halftime Report will feature live interviews, scores from across the country and halftime statistics.

The one-hour Southern Bancorp Tiger Recap will feature a postgame interview with Knight, final statistics, taped highlights, scores from across the country and the naming of offensive and defensive players of the game.

Ouachita opens the season at noon on Saturday, Sept. 6, against Fort Lewis College of Colorado. The broadcast will begin at 11 a.m.