OBU knocked out in overtime
Trick play gives Minnesota-Duluth 48-45 Division II playoff victory.
ARKADELPHIA — One play separated Minnesota-Duluth and Ouachita Baptist in the second round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. It was a trick play. Sophomore quarterback Drew Bauer’s 9-yard touchdown reception in overtime lifted Minnesota-Duluth to a 48-45 victory over Ouachita before an announced crowd of 2,585 on a windy, unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon at Cliff Harris Stadium.
Minnesota-Duluth (13-0), ranked No. 2 in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll, will face Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference rival Minnesota State-Mankato in the quarterfinals next week.
Ouachita (10-1) still completed one of the school’s greatest seasons.
The Tigers, ranked No. 7 by the AFCA, captured the outright Great American Conference championship and, in their first attempt, were just minutes away from an NCAA playoff victory.
But leading 39-35, two lost fumbles in a frantic final 4:14 of regulation opened the door for the two-time NCAA Division II national champion Bulldogs (2008, 2010) to eventually escape in overtime.
“I felt like we won the game about five times,” Ouachita
Coach Todd Knight said. “Just didn’t come out on our end.”
Ouachita sent the game into overtime on freshman place-kicker Shelton Wooley’s 20-yard field goal with three seconds remaining in regulation.
Unable to move in overtime — each possession began on the opponents’ 25 — Ouachita settled for a 45-42 lead after Wooley’s 37-yard field goal.
Bauer gave Minnesota-Duluth a 42-39 lead with an 11-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Zach Zweifel with 45 seconds remaining in regulation.
The two hooked up again in overtime, this time in more uncharacteristic fashion.
On second-and-8 from the 9, Bauer handed to Zweifel on an apparent speed sweep to the right, then circled out of the backfield to the left and into the end zone.
Zweifel pulled up and lofted a pass over senior defensive end Kyle Lamothe and into the arms of Bauer in the back corner of the end zone.
“I don’t know if Zach Zweifel has ever thrown that in practice before,” Bulldogs Coach Curt Wiese said. “He made a hell of a throw on it. Drew made a good catch on it. It was the perfect pass in the right situation.”
Wiese said he wanted a knockout blow because he believed his players’ energy was zapped with temperatures in the low 70s, some 40 degrees warmer than in northern Minnesota on Saturday afternoon.
“Part of that decision, on that play call, was our guys were tired,” Wiese said. “They were on the field a lot in the fourth quarter. We needed to make a play. … I think the heat got to us from the kickoff. It’s not something we’re accustomed to.”
The Bulldogs amassed 509 total yards on a staggering 91 plays.
The Tigers, who trailed 2114 at halftime, finished with 576 total yards on 67 plays.
Senior tailback Steven Kehner completed his Ouachita career with 103 rushing yards and 4 touchdowns (57, 30, 2 and 4 yards) on 13 carries.
Kehner also caught a 41yard touchdown pass from senior quarterback Kiehl Frazier to make it 21-21 with 13:13 left in the third quarter.
The Tigers took a 3935 lead on Kehner’s 4-yard touchdown run with 5:54 left in regulation. A pass for two points failed.
But following two defensive stops, Kehner and sophomore tailback Brandon Marks lost fumbles inside the Minnesota-Duluth 30 in the closing minutes of regulation when the Tigers, leading 39-35, had a chance to run out the clock.
Kehner’s fumble, at the Bulldogs’ 26, came with 2:26 remaining, and Minnesota-Duluth took the lead, 42-39, on Bauer’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Zweifel with 45 seconds left in regulation.
The 11-play, 74-yard drive included a fourth-and-2 conversion and a third-and-10 conversion on pass completions by Bauer.
“Duluth just made some plays at the end that we didn’t make,” Knight said.
Frazier directed an eightplay, 58-yard drive that nearly resulted in victory after Bauer’s 11-yard pass gave Duluth the lead.
Completions of 18, 15, 21 and 4 yards gave the Tigers third-and-goal at the 3 with six seconds remaining in regulation.
Armed with a timeout, Knight opted for a field-goal attempt on third down, rather than risk time expiring by running another play.
“I felt like it would be hard to get two plays right there,” Knight said. “Didn’t want to take a chance of having that clock run out on us. I know 70 degrees doesn’t sound hot, but I really felt like that was going to be in our favor as the game went on, and in overtime.”
Frazier completed 15 of 26 passes for 295 yards and 2 touchdowns. He also ran 15 times for 101 yards.
A 31-yard touchdown pass from Frazier to senior wide receiver Drew White cut Minnesota-Duluth’s lead to 35-33 with 7:57 remaining in regulation. But a pass for two points failed.
Bauer finished 21 of 37 for 293 yards and 2 touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Aaron Roth caught 10 passes for 145 yards and 1 touchdown (15 yards). Zweifel had 5 receptions for 77 yards and 1 touchdown.
Junior tailback Logan Lauters ran 32 times for 161 yards and 3 touchdowns (2, 29 and 2 yards).
Ouachita was within 28-27 with 14:55 remaining in regulation following Kehner’s 2-yard touchdown run. But Wooley’s extra-point attempt was blocked.
The Tigers also stubbed their toe on special teams in the first quarter when sophomore wide receiver Beau Bofferding returned a kickoff 96 yards to set up Lauters’ 2-yard touchdown run with 10:48 remaining in the first quarter.
The touchdown made it 7-7 and was the only first-half score into a stiff west wind, which played havoc with kickoffs and punts throughout the game.
Minnesota-Duluth’s final touchdown in regulation was also into the wind.
“It’s a relentless group,” Wiese said. “I don’t know what number fourth-quarter drive and comeback that is for us — at least four or five on the season. It’s a tribute to these guys to believe in one another.”