OUACHITA BAPTIST 35,
ARKANSAS TECH 31
RUSSELLVILLE -- Big plays late from both its offense and defense allowed Ouachita Baptist to pull out a miraculous come-from-behind victory Saturday night over Arkansas Tech, ranked No. 11 in Division II.
Drew Harris' four-yard touchdown run with 1:36 left in the game gave Ouachita Baptist the lead late, and Arkansas Tech's last-second pass in the end zone was knocked away as the Tigers escaped with a 35-31 comeback victory at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field.
"The thing about this conference is that anybody can beat anybody," OBU Coach Todd Knight said. "You can't take a week off. We had a disappointing loss a few weeks ago at home, but in this one, our guys responded and played with their hearts.
"This one was huge, and now these guys have really set the table for us to have a phenomenal year."
Harris finished with 72 yards rushing and 2 touchdowns and caught 5 passes for 105 yards and 1 score for the Tigers (4-1, 4-1 Great American Conference), who had to sweat out a frantic rally late by the Wonder Boys before getting the victory.
Arkansas Tech (4-1, 4-1) moved from its 25-yard line to OBU's 17 after Harris' touchdown, but senior quarterback Ty Reasnor couldn't connect with junior wide receiver J.V. Davis on the game's final play.
Senior quarterback Austin Warford completed 17 of 22 passes for 293 yards and 2 touchdowns from OBU, which snapped a two-game losing streak to Arkansas Tech. Sophomore wide receiver Allie Freeman added 7 catches for 78 yards and 1 touchdown.
Reasnor threw for 236 yards and one touchdown for the Wonder Boys, who trailed 20-17 at halftime before battling back in the second half. Senior running back Braden Stringer carried 9 times for 89 yards and 1 touchdown.
Stringer's 68-yard run with 6:54 left in the third quarter gave the Wonder Boys a 24-20 lead. Arkansas Tech led 31-23 before Harris' 34-yard touchdown run with 7:18 remaining in the game got the Tigers within 31-29. OBU came up empty on its two-point conversion try but got the ball back with 5:31 left to mount their game-winning drive, one that included Warford completing a 39-yard pass to senior wide receiver La'Darius McElroy on third-and-12.
"He's a football player," Knight said of Warford. "He practiced so hard this week, and he made some tremendous plays to put us in position to pull it one."
The teams traded scores on nearly every possession in the first half. In fact, the only time a drive didn't end with points was when Arkansas Tech senior kicker Eric Perez missed a 39-yard field goal after the Wonder Boys had moved 53 yards in 17 plays on their third series.
OBU didn't take long in getting on the board first. Warford found Harris for a 75-yard touchdown on the second play of the game to put the Tigers' up 7-0, but Arkansas Tech responded quickly.
The Wonder Boys marched down the field behind Reasnor, who completed 3 of 5 passes for 31 yards and had a 31-yard run before junior running back Bryan Allen scored on an 8-yard run to tie the game at 7-7.
The Tigers got a 26-yard field goal from junior kicker Cole Antley on their next trip before Arkansas Tech took its first lead on the following drive. The Wonder Boys drove 81 yards in 10 plays, with Reasnor hitting Davis for a 1-yard touchdown with 2:11 left in the quarter.
Warford added a 38-yard touchdown pass to Freeman and Antley nailed a 30-yard field goal with 1:24 left in the second quarter to give OBU a 20-14 lead before Perez hit a 33-yard field goal just before halftime to pull the Wonder Boys to within three.
"It was a tough one, but we'll learn from it," Arkansas Tech Coach Raymond Monica said. "We'll watch the tape and get back to work. We'll look at the things we did good and what we did bad, come on back and get ready for the next opponent."
SOUTHERN NAZARENE 42,
HENDERSON STATE 24
Southern Nazarene (3-2, 3-2 GAC) scored two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to seal its victory over Henderson State (2-3, 2-3) at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia.
The Crimson Storm led 28-24 entering the fourth quarter, and quarterback Jacob Spady threw a 40-yard touchdown pass and rushed for a 6-yard touchdown on the team’s way to its third victory over an Arkansas-based conference member since it joined the Great American Conference in 2012.
Henderson State quarterback Evan Lassiter was 26-of-45 passing for 276 yards and 1 touchdown. He threw two of his three interceptions during the fourth quarter.
The Reddies, trailing 35-24, reached the Southern Nazarene 27 when Lassiter threw his second interception on a crossing route at the 7. Southern Nazarene’s Josh Jordan returned the interception to the Henderson 5, and Spady scored the game’s final touchdown two plays later. Southern Nazarene’s offense had 192 rushing yards, led by Spady’s 89 yards on 20 carries, which took advantage of Henderson State’s 137th ranked rushing defense in NCAA Division II (205.3 rushing yards per game).
Henderson State was coming off a 37-14 victory last week at SW Okla. State after it had lost two consecutive games to Arkansas Tech and NW Okla. State.
HARDING 56,
ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 46
Harding University (2-3, 2-3 GAC) won its second consecutive game after the Bisons rushed for 474 yards and 7 touchdowns against the University of Arkansas-Monticello (2-3, 2-3) at First Security Stadium in Searcy.
Harding running backs Cole Chancey and Grant Kimberlin both rushed for over 100 yards, and Chancey led the game with 157 yards on 23 carries with 4 touchdowns.
UAM led 18-14 at halftime after Boll Weevils wide receiver Jalen Tolliver caught three touchdown passes of 35, 6 and 36 yards. Two were from starting quarterback Cole Sears. The other was from freshman Terry Bozeman, his only pass of the game. Tolliver finished the game with 12 catches, 245 yards and 5 touchdowns — the last of which pulled UAM to within 42-38 with 6:03 left in the game.
The Boll Weevils failed to convert twopoint conversions three times after the extra-point kick was blocked on the first touchdown of the game.
Harding outgained UAM 535-507 in total offense, and Chancey put the Bisons ahead by two scores with a 48-yard touchdown run with 5:06 left in the game. Sears finished 22-of-31 passing for 338 yards, 5 touchdowns and 1 interception.
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 56,
OKLAHOMA BAPTIST 27
Southern Arkansas (3-2, 3-2) totaled 718 yards of total offense in its victory over Oklahoma Baptist (0-5, 0-5) at Wilkins Stadium in Magnolia.
Quarterback Barrett Renner entered the game tied for seventh in NCAA Division II with 12 touchdown passes, and he added six more to six different receivers against Oklahoma Baptist as he went 32-of-41 passing with 405 yards.
The Muleriders led 28-0 in the second quarter, which included a 9-yard touchdown run by running back Michael Nunnery, who rushed 14 times for 109 yards and 1 touchdown.
Oklahoma Baptist quarterback Preston Haire matched SAU’s two second-quarter scores with touchdown passes of 23 and 18 yards to make the halftime score 35-13.
Haire pulled the Bison within two scores when he completed a 24-yard touchdown pass to Cagney Roberson to start the third quarter, but Renner threw two consecutive touchdowns to set the game out of reach, 49-20, with 14:55 left in the game.
SAU was coming off a 38-16 loss to Northwest Oklahoma State in which it totaled 367 yards.
Oklahoma Baptist has lost 12 consecutive games.
CSFL
WAYLAND BAPTIST 30,
LYON 28
With nine seconds left, Wayland Baptist kicker Daniel Martinez made a 41-yard field goal to beat Lyon at Pioneer Stadium in Batesville.
Trailing 24-14 midway through the third quarter, Lyon (2-4, 0-3) scored two touchdowns and held Wayland Baptist (2-3, 2-1) to a field goal to take the lead 28-27 with 52 seconds left to play.
Wayland Baptist quarterback Danny Campos completed a 28-yard pass to Malik Sims, and De’Sean Johnson rushed for 12 yards to get the Pioneers within field goal range.
Martinez had already made both of his previous field goal attempts in the game, from 24 and 25 yards.
Lyon had one play at the end, and quarterback Cody Jones was sacked at the Lyon 29.
Jones was 19-of-33 passing for 241 yards, 1 touchdown and 2 interceptions. The Pioneers’ two quarterbacks, Campos and Mitchell Parsley, combined for 20-of-34 passing, 238 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Parsley threw a touchdown before halftime and ran for a touchdown on the first drive afterward.
Lyon led twice during the first half, trading leads after a 69-yard touchdown pass from Jones to Josh Abel and a 38-yard scoring run by Titus Nelson.
Nelson led the game with 97 rushing yards on 16 carries for 2 touchdowns, and Abel led the game with 7 receptions for 136 yards and 1 touchdown.
SAA
HENDRIX 48, SEWANEE 42
Hendrix (4-1, 2-1) stopped Sewanee (2-3, 1-2) on downs with 10 seconds left in the game to earn its victory at McGee Field in Sewanee, Tenn.
The Warriors led 48-21 after quarterback Miles Thompson threw a 29-yard touchdown pass to Nate Hodapp with 12:33 left in the fourth quarter.
Then, Sewanee scored three consecutive touchdowns and reached as far as the Hendrix 11 with under 30 seconds to play. Sewanee quarterback Alex Darras threw two incomplete passes, a holding penalty backed the Tigers to the Hendrix 21, and then Darras threw two more incomplete passes to turn the ball over on downs. Hendrix outgained Sewanee 537-486 in total offensive yards. Thompson had 398 total yards (279 passing, 119 rushing) and 6 touchdowns (4 passing, 2 rushing). Hodapp — who led the game with 12 receptions, 144 receiving yards and 3 touchdowns — had 6-yard and 15-yard touchdown receptions to help the Warriors to a 35-21 halftime lead.
Sewanee’s Darras finished the game 24-of-45 passing for 353 yards, 2 touchdowns and 2 interceptions, both of which he threw on consecutive drives during the second quarter.
Hendrix scored touchdowns after both interceptions.
Sports on 10/01/2017