MONTICELLO, Ark. – Arkansas-Monticello outlasted a defensively banged-up Oklahoma Baptist squad, 31-27 Saturday in Great American Conference action.
With three starters, including both cornerbacks, not making the trip, OBU fell to one of the best offenses in the GAC.
OBU battled with big plays throughout and Bison quarterback Dezmond Stegall hit three different receivers for touchdowns in the first half.
The Weevils scored on the first drive of the game, marching 70 yards on eight plays with Cole Sears scoring on a keeper with 11:21 showing on the first quarter clock.
The Bison countered with a 10-play, 82-yard drive, which included passes from Stegall to Stephan Turner for 13 yards and to Josh Pettijohn for 15 yards. Stegall completed a fourth-and-two pass to Jake McGuire for a 22-yard touchdown to tie with 3:18 left in the opening quarter.
Stegall completed back-to-back 12-yard passes to Turner and Cagney Roberson, the latter for a Bison touchdown and a 14-7 lead with 13:42 remaining in the first half.
UAM's Jeremy Jackson scored from 10 yards out to even the score at 14-14 with 8:17 to go in the half.
OBU re-took the lead on a 73-yard Stegall to Pettijohn touchdown pass play on a third down with 1:55 to go in the second quarter. Trey Tully's PAT was blocked and OBU carried a 20-14 lead into halftime.
Josh Marini kicked a 36-yard field goal to make it 20-17 with 1:25 left in the third quarter.
Sears passed for 56 yards in an 11-play, 80-yard touchdown drive, capped by a one-yard TD plunge by Imani Jones with 9:41 remaining in the game, giving UAM a 24-20 lead.
OBU turned to the rushing game to answer, getting gains of 15 from Isaiah Mallory, 20 from Stegall and a 38-yard TD run by Dawson Myers to give the lead back to the Bison, 27-24, with 7:09 left in the game.
The Weevils marched right down the field with 35 yards on the ground to go with a Sears touchdown pass to Jalen Tolliver for a 31-27 UAM lead with 3:34 left in the game.
Three incomplete passes and a sack gave the Weevils the ball at the OBU 20 with 3:09 to play.
The Bison got one last chance after forcing a fumble deep, but ran out of time just across midfield.
Stegall threw for 248 yards, completing 17 of 32 passes. OBU rushed for 149 yards, including 94 by Mallory. Pettijohn had 114 yards receiving and Turner collected eight catches for 86 yards.
Sears threw for 320 yards on 21 of 41 passes.
"They have a lot of speed on defense and I think depth helped them today and hurt us a little bit," said OBU coach Chris Jensen. "Our players fought hard all the way through the game. We have to correct the mistakes. It's us, it's not them. They didn't give up and we got the ball back again. That's critical. That's just because the players were determined to make the next play."
Brynden Pitzer led OBU with 14 tackles while Ke'Landus Culton broke up three passes and posted two tackles for loss in his freshman debut. At the other corner, freshman Hayden Ashley disrupted four passes.
"What a phenomenal job those guys did, Hayden Ashley and Ke'Landus (Culton) against the GAC's best receiver," Jensen said.
The Bison had seven tackles for loss, getting two from Culton and one each from Pitzer, Daniel Moniz, Jason Lee, Gage Wimer and GAC leader in the category Dennis Nguyen.
Now 2-3, the Bison return to action Saturday in a 2 p.m. kickoff at home against Southern Arkansas.
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