ARKADELPHIA — Chris Rycraw spent most of Saturday’s game riding an exercise bike because of a bum ankle.
But the Ouachita Baptist sophomore needed only one carry to get the Tigers back in gear in a shootout against Southern Arkansas.
On the first play of the fourth quarter, Rycraw took a delayed hand off, moved two steps his right, planted his foot and burst through a hole for a 66-yard touchdown run at A.U. Williams Stadium that gave the Tigers an 11-point lead in a 53-43 victory.
Considering Rycraw had just 4 yards on three carries before the run, Ouachita Baptist Todd Knight could more than live with the result that helped give his team firm control of the GAC title race.
“No doubt about it,” Knight said. “It was more than a little good.”
Granted, quarterback Casey Cooper had been a suitable stand-in, rushing for 102 yards and 2 touchdowns on 18 carries as the Tigers (5-2, 4-0 GAC) rolled up 269 of their 518 total yards on the ground. Cooper added 260 yards on 15 of 23 passing and 2 more touchdowns.
“That’s what you see here every week,” Muleriders Coach Bill Koepple said. “He did a nice job for them, and offensively they’re so solid. ... They’ve looked good all year; and from our standpoint, we made too many mistakes.”
Senior wide receiver Clinton DeWitt had a team-high 78 yards receiving on 6 catches for the Tigers, while Rycraw finished with 82 yards rushing on 10 carries along and Daniel McGee rushed for 73 yards and 2 touchdowns.
The Muleriders (2-6, 2-3) outgained the Tigers with 559 total yards, behind quarterback Tyler Sykora and receivers James King and Montel Hardman.
Sykora, a third-year sophomore, threw for 520 yards and 5 touchdowns on 36 of 52 passing, with King making a career-high 10 catches for 171yards and Hardman catching 8 passes for 146 yards. Junior Mark Johnson had 75 yards rushing on 10 carries and 1 touchdown.
The Muleriders made four mistakes, turned into 14 points by Ouachita Baptist.
“The turnovers were the big difference,” Muleriders Coach Bill Koepple said. “You don’t want to look at the scoreboard and see that you gave up 53 points against anybody. That’s discouraging. We gave up too many big plays.”
Ouachita Baptist’s first two drives ended in back-to-back Jason Fowler field goals for a 6-0 lead with 5:52 to play in the first quarter. But Sykora hit receiver Carlos Brown for a 42-yard touchdown pass and 7-6 lead with 4:08 to play in the first quarter.
Cooper needed only four plays to give the Tigers a 13-7 lead at the 2:16 mark on a 35-yard touchdown pass to uncovered tight end Phillip Supernaw. Less than a minute later, the Muleriders answered on Johnson’s 3-yard touchdown run with 1:19 left for a 14-13 lead.
Early in the second quarter, Cooper’s 4-yard scoring run made it 20-14 with 12:45 left in the first half.
On the ensuing drive, safety Terrill McCray stripped receiver Damion Atkins of the ball and recovered at the Muleriders’ 25, and Cooper scored on the next play for a 26-14 lead.
Ouachita Baptist led 33-21 at halftime.
Sports, Pages 31 on 10/23/2011