OBU, down 20, can’t complete rally
GAC SE OKLAHOMA ST. 41, OUACHITA BPATIST 35
ARKADELPHIA — Southeast Oklahoma State nearly let a 20-point, second-half lead slip away against Ouachita Baptist on Saturday night, but the Savage Storm got key defensive stops when they needed them to win at OBU for the first time in 18 years.
Running back Kenneth Burks carried 29 times for 144 yards and 1 touchdown, and the SEOSU defense stopped OBU on back-toback possessions late in the game to pull out a 41-35 victory at Cliff Harris Stadium.
Quarterback Rollin Kinsaul accounted for 250 offensive yards and three touchdowns for the Savage Storm, who have beaten the Tigers in consecutive seasons after losing six in a row to OBU.
The Savage Storm last beat OBU in Arkadelphia in 1999, won the next meeting in Durant, Okla., in 2002 before going on the six-game skid.
OBU leads the all-time series 32-18-4, but Savage Storm Coach Bo Atterberry said it was gratifying to beat OBU on its home field.
“Ten of the last 12 have gone down to the last possession, but we end up coming out on the good side of it this time,” Atterberry said.
The Tigers (2-1, 2-1 Great American Conference) trailed 41-21 early in the fourth quarter but got touchdowns from wide receivers Allie Freeman and Drew Harris in a span of four minutes to get within 41-34.
OBU twice had chances to either tie the game or take the lead over the final six minutes, but the Savage Storm pinned the Tigers deep inside their 10 on both occasions and kept the Tigers bottled up.
OBU’s final drive ended at its own 19.
Quarterback Austin Warford completed 17 of 31 passes for 215 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran 16 times for 101 yards and 1 touchdown for OBU. Freeman finished with 10 receptions for 134 yards and caught both of Warford’s scoring passes.
“We just made too many mistakes,” OBU Coach Todd Knight said. “I was proud of the way we played in the second half, but we self-inflicted ourselves a lot. That’s on the coaches as much as it is the players, so we’ve got a lot to correct still.”
The Savage Storm (3-0, 3-0) had 305 yards of offense after two quarters, scored
on all five of its possessions and took a 31-14 lead into halftime.
“It seemed like we may have had them guessing a bit, but football’s a game of momentum,” Atterberry said. “We just so happened to grab it there in that half.”
The game was tied 1414 when the Savage Storm grabbed the lead for good after linebacker Seu Luafatasaga recovered a fumble by OBU running back Kris Oliver on the Tigers’ next possession. The Savage Storm needed plays to score, getting a 24-yard touchdown run from Burks at the 13:13 mark of the second quarter to cap a 59-yard drive.
Kinsaul later added a 9-yard touchdown run, and Joel Carlos drilled a 35-yard field goal with 37 seconds left in the quarter to give the Savage Storm a 17-point halftime lead.
OBU cut into its deficit to 31-21 on wide receiver Drew Harris’ 2-yard touchdown run with 5:54 remaining in the third quarter, but Carlos’ 20-yard field goal handed the momentum right back to SEOSU. The Savage Storm then pushed its lead to 20 when defensive back Jacob Parker returned an interception 43 yards for a touchdown just as the third quarter buzzer sounded before the Tigers mounted their final rally.
NO. 19 ARKANSAS TECH 58, OKLAHOMA BAPTIST 21
Quarterback Ty Reasnor threw 4 touchdown passes, including 3 to Tevin McKenzie, and Bryan Allen had 2 short touchdown runs to carry No. 19 Arkansas Tech (3-0, 3-0 GAC) over Oklahoma Baptist (0-3, 0-3) at Thone Stadium in Russellville.
Reasnor was 14-of-19 passing for 264 yards and had scoring passes of 14,14 and 4 yards to McKenzie and a 64-yard touchdown to J.V. Davis.
Allen scored his touchdowns from 2 and 5 yards for the Wonder Boys who also got scores from Kristian Thompson on a 28-yard punt return and a 46-yard interception return by Jandt Weary that made the score 55-14 entering the fourth quarter.
Justin Bailey led the Wonder Boys with 48 yards on 5 carries, while Jakcob Dean’s 83 yards receiving were a game-high.
Tech’s Seth Culp’s had a team-high 11 tackles.
Isaiah Thompson had 170 yards and 3 touchdowns on 22 carries to lead Oklahoma Baptist.
ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 49, EAST CENTRAL (OKLA.) 7
Cole Sears threw for four touchdowns and ran for another in Arkansas-Monticello’s victory over East Central (Okla.) at Willis “Convoy” Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium in Monticello.
Sears was 23-of-34 passing for 283 for the Boll Weevils (2-1, 2-1 GAC). His 70 yards rushing on 10 attempts also led the team.
Jalen Tolliver had 8 catches for 99 yards and caught 2 of Sears’ touchdown passes.
Quarterback Rayjohn Austin-Ramsey led East Central (1-2, 1-2) with 20 completions on 44 attempts for 202 yards and a touchdown.
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 38, SW OKLAHOMA ST. 14
Quarterback Barrett Renner threw three touchdown passes to help lead Southern Arkansas (2-1, 2-1 GAC) over Southwestern Oklahoma State (1-2, 1-2) at Wilkins Stadium in Magnolia.
Renner was 18 of 29 but threw 3 interceptions. Michael Nunnery led SAU’s rushing attack with 102 yards and 1 touchdown on 11 carries. Keiandre Purifoy added 53 yards and a score on 13 carries for the Muleriders who led 31-14 at halftime.
SAU’s Davondrick Lison had three sacks for a loss of 28 yards. Teammate Anthony Washington added a pair of sacks.
The Muleriders outgained the Bulldogs 395-278 in total offense for the game.
NW OKLAHOMA STATE 36, HENDERSON STATE 30
Anthony Cota’s 1-yard dive with 1:32 left in the fourth quarter lifted Northwestern Oklahoma State (1-2, 1-2 GAC) over Henderson State (1-2, 1-2) at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia.
The Rangers concerted three fourthdown conversions in the second half including quarerback Isiah Weed’s 35yard run on fourth and 2 that set up Cota’s winning score.
Henderson State led as late as 3:24 left in the game when Julio Cervantes made a 19-yard field goal that gave the Reddies a 30-28 advantage.
The Reddies outgained the Rangers 431-413 in total offense including 161-143 through the air. Quarterback Andrew Black was 8-of-15 passing for 143 yards and scored 3 rushing touchdowns on 22 attempts and a game-high 143 yards.
Weed was just as effective for the Rangers, completing 10-of-18 passes for 161 yards and 2 scores, while also rushing for a team-high 93 yards and a touchdown on 15 carries.
Malik Brown led the Henderson State defense with 10 tackles, all solo. Defensive end Sam Johnson had two sacks.
The loss was the second consecutive for the Reddies who were defeated 26-3 to Arkansas Tech on Sept. 9 in Arkadelphia after they opened the season with a 28-20 road victory over Harding in Searcy.
SOUTHERN NAZARENE 28, HARDING 27
Southern Nazarene (2-1, 2-1 GAC) scored twice in the game’s final 49 seconds to upend Harding (0-3, 0-3) at First Security Stadium in Searcy.
Harding led 27-14 after Tristan Parsley’s 22-yard field goal with 3:57 left in the game. The Crimson Storm then went on an 11-play, 83-yard drive that culminated in Jackson Hopking’s 16yard touchdown pass with 49 seconds remaining that made it 27-21 after Carlos Anguiano’s extra point.
The Crimson Storm’s Reid Roelofs then recovered the ensuing onside kick at the SNU 46. A pass interference call against Harding gave the Crimson Storm the ball at the Bisons 39 where Hopking found Roelofs to tie the score with 29 seconds left. Anguiano’s extra point proved to be the game winner.
Harding’s Terrence Dingle threw two incomplete passes before being intercepted by Josh Jordan on the game’s final play.
Dingle led all rushers with 121 yards and 2 touchdowns on 12 attempts. Teammate Cole Chancey ran for 95 yards on 12 carries and also scored once.
Besides Hopking’s two touchdown tosses, the Crimson Storm got a third passing score from Jacob Spady who also ran for another to open the third-quarter scoring.
Harding, which led 14-0 at halftime, lost for the third consecutive time since joining the GAC in 2011.
SAA CENTRE 52, HENDRIX 42
Hendrix (2-1, 0-1 Southern Athletic Association) could not recover from a 32-13 halftime deficit and lost their league opener to Centre (3-0, 1-0) at Farris Stadium in Danville, Ky., despite five touchdowns by Warriors quarterback Miles Thompson.
Centre opened a 21-0 lead after the first quarter, bolstered by a 95-yard touchdown return by Cody Estep on the opening kickoff.
Hendrix cut the deficit to 28-13 when Thompson found Blake Hinton on a 28yard touchdown pass with 7:41 left in the second quarter, but Sandy Burks’ extra-point attempt was blocked and returned for two points by Jaxson Hilander to give the Colonels a 30-13 lead.
A safety gave Centre the halftime lead before Thompson connected with Nate Hodapp on a 16-yard touchdown pass to begin the second half as the Warriors trimmed the deficit to 32-21 after Kody Smith’s two-point conversion run.
Centre’s Ben Logsdon kicked a 33yard field goal to give the Warriors a 42-29 lead early in the fourth quarter, but Thompson found Ben Luedtke on a 22-yard scoring pass with 9:09 left to get Hendrix to within 42-36.
A field goal and interception return for a score boosted the Centre lead to 5236 before Thompson capped the scoring with a 10-yard touchdown pass to Blake Hinton with 1:10 remaining.
Thompson’s 5-TD feat came on 21 of 37 passing for 311 yards. Three of his touchdowns went to Hinton who had 4 catches for 101 yards. Hodapp added 126 yards receiving on 9 catches, while Mason Milsap led the Warriors on the ground with 120 yards on 25 rushes.
CSFL LYON 61, TRINITY BIBLE 0
Lyon College (2-2) traveled 1,000 miles from Batesville to Ellendale, N.D., and came away with the easy victory over the Lions (0-3) at Tatum Field.
The Scots had 616 yards of total offense (350 passing, 266 rushing) to the Lions’ 208 and had 14 more first downs (24-10). Lyon ran 75 plays to the Lions’ 59, outgaining the hosts 8.2 yards to 3.5 per snap.
Fabian Buenrost scored 4 touchdowns for the Scots, 3 on the ground and 1 on a 6-yard pass from Cody Jones who went 13-of-15 passing for 251 yards and 3 touchdowns.
Josh Abel led Lyon with 110 yards rushing on 4 carries, while Jacquez Parker had 3 receptions (2 touchdowns) and 97 yards. Thirteen Scots had receptions from three different quarterbacks.
The Scots led 48-0 at halftime on the strength of five second-quarter touchdowns.