ADA – Oklahoma Baptist's Reece Gilbert reeled in a two-point conversion pass from Dezmond Stegall and the Bison left Koi Ishto Stadium with a dramatic 36-34 triple-overtime win Saturday night.
The Bison rallied from 14 points down to get the win.
"Our focus all week has been to make one play at time," said OBU Coach Chris Jensen. "It was a pretty even ball game. The kids believed and the players believed. I'm just thankful to be blessed to work with some really good people."
Isaiah Mallory rushed 27 times for a school record 236 yards and two touchdowns.
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East Central broke the scoreless tie with the lone touchdown of the first half – a seven-yard Brooks Holder to Tre Harvey pass – after the Tiger defense produced a turnover to set ECU up at the OBU 21.
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Holder and David Moore connected for a 37-yard TD pass for a 14-0 lead with 5:44 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bison answered with a touchdown drive of seven plays and 57 yards, fueled by passes from Dez Stegall to Cagney Roberson of 15 and 18 yards to set up a three-yard touchdown plunge by Isaiah Mallory.
OBU tied the game with Stegall passing to Josh Pettijohn, who had gotten so open on the 38-yard scoring play that he was able to juggle the ball for five yards before securing it and going untouched into the end zone. Trey Tully tied the game with the PAT with 14:06 left in the fourth quarter.
Mallory gave OBU its first lead when he went off left tackle, got to the sideline and outran the defense for an 86-yard TD run – the longest scoring run of the season for the Bison.
"Just want to give praise to God and to the offensive linemen and everyone who opened the holes for us. It felt like peewee years when you just get to the sideline and turn on the speed. We still have a lot of work to do."
The Tigers fired right back to tie it with 9:41 remaining in the fourth on a 51-yard Holder-to-Moore touchdown pass.
ECU took a 28-21 with just 3:37 left in the quarter on a Moore TD reception from five yards out.
Stegall and Pettijohn tied the game less than a minute later on a 26-yard touchdown pass with 2:42 showing.
Devontrae Young thwarted a last drive of the fourth quarter by ECU with an interception after having been victimized earlier.
"It's always about the next play," said Young. "I came back out and had to jump in and make the play. Our motto is to make the next play. I saw it coming and I was thinking it's my time, it's my time."
"It took us a little while to figure out how to stop Moore," said Jensen. "We had every opportunity to check it in, but it was a good effort by everyone."
In the first overtime, former Bison Jarod Haynes missed a 24 yard field goal, but the OBU possession ended in a fumble.
Both teams missed long field goals in the second overtime.
Je'Qualon Wright scored from 25 yards for a 34-28 lead in the final overtime, but an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty forced a play from the 18 and the long pass failed.
A 10-yard run by Mallory and a 13-yard Stegall to Alex Lewis pass set up a Stegall quarterback sneak for the tie. Stegall found Gilbert in the near right corner of the end zone for the winner.
Mallory rushed for an 8.7 yards per carry average.
Stegall passed for 211 yards, completing 20 of 31 passes. Pettijohn had six grabs for 109 yards and two TDs.
Defensively, Levi Jennings had 15 tackles, Dennis Nguyen had nine, including four tackles for loss.
The Bison continue the season next week with its third road game of the season as they travel to Arkansas-Monticello for a 3 p.m. kickoff with the Boll Weevils.
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