OBU puts it together in victory
Ouachita Baptist’s 38- 10 victory at Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday was a classic case of the Tigers employing a “bend-but-don’t-break” defense.
SWOSU held a 23- 13 advantage in first downs and outgained the Tigers by 102 yards, but poor field position and failing to convert on fourth- down plays doomed the Bulldogs.
“Our field position was so good that we were able to convert on a lot of short drives,” OBU Coach Todd Knight said. “And our defense did a good job of not allowing them to get into the end zone.”
After the Bulldogs tied the game at 10- 10 five minutes into the second half, OBU sophomore Allie Freeman returned the ensuing kickoff 78 yards to the SWOSU 7. Three plays later, the Tigers scored and held the lead for good.
“We have two very good return guys and you don’t always know who to kick it to,” Knight said. “[ SWOSU] was unable to kick it very deep. Allie did a good job of running and we did a good job of blocking. It was a huge play.”
Although the Bulldogs outgained the Tigers 452350, Southwestern was only 5 of 16 on third- down conversions and 0 of 5 on fourth- down tries. OBU also posted six sacks for a combined 43 lost yards.
Tigers quarterback Austin Warford ( 13 of 20) threw for 118 yards and ran for 79 more. Drew Harris ran only six times, but he scored on runs of 3, 1 and 51 yards to finish with 67 yards.
OBU ( 2- 0) has won five consecutive game dating back to last season. The Tigers also have won six consecutive games against opponents from Oklahoma. Their last loss to an Oklahoma school was a 45- 38 loss at Southeastern Oklahoma State, the Tigers’ opponent Saturday.
“I really haven’t paid attention to the winning streak,” Knight said. “A different team, a different year. … We’re just trying to stay consistent and levelheaded.”