Big plays send Ouachita to impressive victory

OUACHITA BAPTIST 63, ARKANSAS TECH 14

RUSSELLVILLE — Unlike the Asian variety, the Ouachita Baptist Tigers started fast but kept up the pace for nearly three hours. Nevertheless, the quick start eliminated the prey.

Ouachita used 629 yards of total offense in its 63-14 victory at the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys’ Thone Stadium on Saturday night.

Ouachita outgained Tech 483 yards to 182 to lead 49-7 at halftime.

“I coached in the [Western Athletic Conference] back in the day,” Ouachita Coach Todd Knight said. “I remember some of those games being crazy, but just everything we did was right tonight. It was just one of those nights, and we got the breaks.”

On the game’s first play from scrimmage, sophomore wide receiver Conner Flannigan caught sophomore quarterback Riley Harms’ short pass, ran to mid-field, inexplicably fumbled forward but recovered the dropped ball in full stride near the Tech 40 and continued before he was stopped at the 24. Two plays later, sophomore running back Kendel Givens scored on a 2-yard run to give Ouachita a 7-0 lead.

“That’s a way better football team than the scoreboard shows,” Harms said. “I mean, sometimes everything just goes right. The first play of the game, the fumble bounced right up for the receiver. Everything went right for us tonight, and we had a good game plan.”

Tech’s response to Ouachita’s opening drive was to use 11 plays, including three thirddown conversions, to score on a 28-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Taye Gatewood to sophomore receiver Joyrion Chase to tie the score with 8:45 left in the first quarter.

“We thought it was going to be close,” Gatewood said. “It just came down to tempo, miscommunication, scheme differences — we couldn’t make the adjustments in time, and Ouachita’s a good team. They have a good foundation. They build on it every year, and they played their football.”

Ouachita’s trend toward big plays persisted through the first quarter. Harms’ 61yard touchdown pass to sophomore running back Xaylon Falls gave Ouachita a 14-7 lead, and a 44-yard run by Cole helped set up Given’s 11-yard touchdown run with 3:46 left in the first quarter.

A 16-yard touchdown pass from Harms to senior tight end Hunter Swoboda put Ouachita’s lead at 28-7 early in the second quarter.

Next, Harms kept for a 3-yard touchdown run.

On Ouachita’s next possession, Tech seemed to have made its first stop of the game, but on 4th-and-4 from its 42, Ouachita punter Joe Couch was run into by sophomore Jayden Jasna and Ouachita’s drive remained intact. Two plays later, Harms threw into the end zone for a 29-yard touchdown pass to Flannigan, and Ouachita’s lead was 42-7 with 2:35 left in the first half.

“We helped them out with a lot of with some really bad mistakes, but talked about it all week,” Tech Coach Kyle Shipp said. “You can’t do that with them, because they take advantage, and they did. I was very disappointed in our guys as far as just the mental mistakes, but they are a great football team.”

Ouachita’s final first-half big play came on a sophomore Trey Proctor’s 44-yard interception return to the Tech 7. Cole then scored on a 2-yard touchdown run.

For the game, Cole carried 12 times for 137 yards. Harms completed 8 of 8 passes for 237 yards and 3 touchdowns. Gatewood completed 10 of 20 passes for 116 yards and 1 touchdown.

Ouachita had third-quarter touchdowns on runs of 1 and 13 yards by reserve sophomore quarterback Issac Edwards.

Tech completed the scoring with senior running back Devontae Dean’s 22- yard touchdown run with 11:17 left in the fourth quarter.

“I thought our guys played really, really good,” Knight said. “We’ve had a lot of adversity and our guys have responded to it.”

HENDERSON STATE 37, ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 27

Henderson State Coach Scott Maxfield became the all-time winningest coach in program history Saturday, earning his 120th career victory as the Reddies (30, 3-0 Great American Conference) beat the University of Arkansas at Monticello (2-1, 2-1) at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia.

Andrew Edwards accounted for Hendrson State’s scoring in the first quarter, scoring on a 1-yard run and throwing a 31-yard touchdown pass to Matt Childers for a 13-0 ead.

Edwards threw a 38-yard touchdown pass to Xavier Malone and Tristan Heaton added a 49-yard field goal to put the Reddies ahead 23-0 with 6:32 left in the first half. After Demilon Brown scored on a 26-yard run to put the Boll Weevils on the board, Edwards threw his third touchdown pass of the half — a 35-yarder to Malone — for a 30-7 halftime lead.

Brown threw his second touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, a 29-yarder to Isaiah Cross. Edwards countered with a 26-yard touchdown pass to Riley Frederiksen before Brown scored on a 13yard run and added his third TD pass, a 25-yarder to Jordan Mansfield.

Edwards finished 21-of-33 passing for 310 yards. Malone finished with 8 catches for 169 yards and 2 touchdowns.

HARDING 37, SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 17

Will Fitzhugh ran for 124 yards and 3 touchdowns, while Cole Keylon added 114 yards rushing and a touchdown as Harding (3-0, 3-0) beat Southern Arkansas (12, 1-2) at First Security Stadium in Searcy.

Fitzhugh scored on a 2-yard run to give Harding an early lead in the first quarter, but SAU tied it with 2:34 left in the quarter on a 72-yard run by quarterback OB Jones. Cole scored his lone touchdown with 14:33 left in the first half on a 3-yard run for a 14-7 lead. Austin Wilkerson hit a 36-yard field goal to cut it to 14-10, but Grant Ennis hit a 43-yard field goal as time expired to give the Bisons a 17-10 halftime lead.

Fitzhugh scored on 2-yard runs with 9:11 left in the third quarter and 13:38 left in the fourth to make it 30-10. Braden Jay scored Harding’s final touchdown on a 16-yard run with 4:25 remaining. Judd Barton then hit Kamden Perry for a 16yard touchdown pass for the Muleriders’ final score.

NCAA DIVISION III HOWARD PAYNE 67, HENDRIX 10

PROSPER, Texas — Hendrix College led 3-0 in the first quarter, but the Yellow Jackets ran off 50 consecutive points — including a 30-0 run in the second quarter — to cruise to the victory.

Javian Myles and Billy Reagins each had three rushing touchdowns for Howard Payne. Myles finished with 146 yards on 12 carries, while Reagins had 69 yards on 15 attempts.

Landon McKinney completed 13 of 17 passes for 234 yards. In all, four Howard Payne quarterbacks were 23 of 31 for 394 yards and 2 touchdowns.

For Hendrix, Stanton Slate kicked a 39yard field goal in the first quarter and Jacob Wood completed a 2-yard touchdown pass to Jacob Mathis in the fourth quarter.