Bison to Take on Crimson Storm in Regular Season Finale

SHAWNEE – The Oklahoma Baptist football team will make the short trip down I-40 to Bethany for their regular-season finale against Southern Nazarene on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Bison will match up with the Crimson Storm for their sixth meeting all-time and fourth on the campus of SNU.

Live video of Saturday's contest is available on SNUAthletics.com and OBU fans can listen to the broadcast on the Bison Radio Network with the trio of Todd Miller, John Brooks, and Scott Wanish.

Game Notes

• The Bison are coming off a gut-wrenching 36-34 loss to Henderson State last weekend. After being down 14-9 at halftime, the Reddies scored 27 points in the second half, including a game-winning field goal, to crush OBU's Senior day.

TAKING STATE

• The Oklahoma Baptist winning streak is alive and well. OBU has the chance to sweep all-conference Oklahoma schools for a third consecutive season with a win at SNU this Saturday. The last time OBU lost to an in-state opponent was back in 2017 when Northwestern edged the Bison 31-21 in Alva. Since then, it has been 15 games of perfection.

THE LEADER

• Redshirt junior Josh Cornell made history again this season. After just three catches against HSU, Cornell became the all-time OBU reception leader with 158 catches in his career. The wideout passed the likes of Cagney Roberson (2015-18), who set the mark at 157. Earlier in the year, he became the all-time receiving touchdown leader with over 17 in his career. The Texan currently has 2,035 receiving yards, 24 touchdowns, and 158 receptions in his career as a Bison. Cornell joins Roberson as one of two receivers to reach the 2,000-yard receiving mark in school history. Roberson currently holds the record at 2,197 yards, just 162 yards more than Cornell. The wideout has been nothing less than great this season, totaling 803 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 66 receptions. His 12 touchdown receptions have eclipsed his previous single-season career-best of 10, as he has tallied at least one in all but three games this year. He ranks third for touchdowns and receptions in the GAC, while his yardage total puts him at six. Cornell's numbers rank among the best as he has a chance to be named an All-GAC player for the second year in a row.

THE GREAT ONES

• Bison fans have enjoyed witnessing two of the greatest to ever put on the green and gold for the last few seasons. Seniors Preston Haire and Josh Arnold will likely play their final game for OBU this week, as their prestigious careers could possibly come to an end. Haire owns every single passing record in the Oklahoma Baptist records, and this season, he's shown why. Haire has completed 265 passes for 2,799 yards and thrown 33 touchdowns. He has already surpassed his single-season record for passing touchdowns (28) and is on pace to post the best single-season completion percentage in school history. Haire is currently at 65.5 percent for the season. The signal-caller is third in the country for touchdowns thrown and total completions. With 12,686 career yards of offense, he is the second-ranked active career leader in the country. That is not it. Over his career, Haire has averaged 262.0 passing yards per game, suitable for No. 2 on the career active leaders list.
• Linebacker Josh Arnold became the all-time leading tackler in Oklahoma Baptist history this season with 377 career tackles thus far. Arnold is number three on the active career leaders list in Division II. The Collinsville, OK native also broke the all-time assisted career tackle record in OBU history this season as well. His knack for making sniffing out plays in the backfield has been on full display this year, as he totals 17.0 TFLs. He came into the year with 13 in his career. Arnold has 30.0 TFLs over his four seasons, and needs seven more to move past Brnyden Pitzer (36.0) for second place in OBU history.

AIR AND GROUND ATTACK

• Sophomore receiver Keilahn Harris has put together one of the best receiving seasons in Bison history. Harris has 965 yards, 14 touchdowns, and 80 receptions this year. His touchdown total already broke the OBU single-season record and ranks No. 2 in Division II. Harris came into the season with only 24 receptions and is now third in the nation. Last week, his five catches against HSU broke the Oklahoma Baptist record of 74, set by Josh Cornell in 2019 for most receptions in a single season. The Richardson, TX native has a touchdown reception in all but one game this season and has gone for over 100 yards five times this year. He came into the season with only one. Harris is on track to earn All-GAC honors, more specifically first-team, as he is either tied or slightly behind the league's leader.
• Runningback Tyler Stuever went for 103 yards against the Reddies to go over 1,000 yards in a season for the first time in his career. Stuever needs just 57 yards to break the single-season rushing record (1,083) set by Isaiah Mallory in 2016. He has 34 total touchdowns in his career, which ranks first in school history and is second among active career leaders in the conference. Stuever's 1,027 yards rank No. 2 in the GAC, while his nine touchdowns are tied for fifth. The tailback has gone over 100 yards five times this season, as he averages 102.7 yards per contest.

CLOGGING THE RUN

• The second-ranked GAC rushing defense resides in Shawnee. The Bison are only allowing 153.5 yards per game as they held the nation's leading rushing offense (Harding) to a season-low 245 yards earlier this year. Much of its success is credited to the work done behind the line of scrimmage as OBU totals 67.0 TFLs and 27.0 sacks. Nobody in the league has more team sacks than OBU, as Josh Arnold leads the Bison with 6.5 this season. Defensive Lineman Robert Lolofie isn't far behind with 6.0 sacks after recording 2.5 against the Reddies last week. Nick Boone and freshman Malik Allen come in at third (4.5) and fourth (3.5) on the team behind the two, respectively. Arnold's 17.0 TFLs are ranked first in the GAC, while Boone's 11.5 are tied for fifth.

LAST TIME OUT

• Oklahoma Baptist suffered a heartbreaking 36-34 loss to then-No. 16 Henderson State on senior night last weekend. The Bison were on the cusp of claiming their most significant win in program history until the Reddies battled back to win with a game-winning field goal as time expired. The two squads combined for nearly 1,000 yards of total offense and nine touchdowns. Despite getting outgained in both offensive categories, OBU made their yards count when it mattered most.
• The two top-ranked offenses got off to a slow start in the first half, as it featured only three total touchdowns. OBU garnered two of the scores, courtesy of Josh Cornell and Braden Phipps receptions. At the break, the Bison held a slight 14-9 advantage. Then the Reddies erupted to score 27 points in the second half to win the contest. It seemed like the Bison had HSU right where they wanted them when Josh Arnold picked off the Reddies late in the fourth, but Henderson had other plans. HSU denied OBU on the goal line on the ensuing drive and marched down the field to kick the game-winning field goal.
• Preston Haire tallied 173 yards through the air with three scores. Haire also ran for 86 yards and another touchdown. Runningback Tyler Stuever charted 103 yards on the ground with one score, averaging 4.1 yards per carry. Josh Cornell caught five passes to give him 158 career receptions and became the all-time reception leader in school history. Nick Boone led the Bison defense with 10 tackles while Josh Arnold tallied nine. Arnold caught an interception that he returned eight yards to go along with two pass breakups. Robert Lolofie recorded a career-high 2.5 sacks and six total tackles. Tyler King and Felipe Alvear were other notables who were in eight and five stops, respectively.

• Southern Nazarene enters Bethany with a 1-9 record, as the Crimson Storm have suffered significant injuries at the quarterback position. Their leading offensive player from 2019, quarterback Gage Porter, went down in week one, and things have not been the same since. SNU also underwent a coaching change in the past season as first-year head coach Dustin Hada has the Crimson Storm looking to find their true identity. SNU's offensive woes have plagued the squad this year as the Crimson Storm rank near the bottom in total offense. Still, the Southern Nazarene has fought as they have the sixth-ranked passing defense in the conference, allowing 190.6 yards per game.
• Southern Nazarene is coming off a 31-10 loss against Southern Arkansas last week. The Crimson Storm only trailed seven going into the break, but the Muleriders found their rhythm and scored 14 unanswered points in the second half to prevail over SNU.
• Sophomore quarterback Jarvis Davis leads the Crimson Storm in passing (1,026) and rushing (475) yards this season. Davis has 10 touchdowns so far, with five coming on the ground. Senior Reid Roelofs has been Davis' favorite target as he totals 384 yards, averaging 42.67 yards per contest. Teammate Andrew Tisdale leads all wideouts with two touchdown catches to go along with 311 yards. Tailback Angel Ramirez ranks second on the team with 263 yards and three scores this season. The SNU defense is headed by linebacker Josh Lopez who totals 68 tackles. Lopez also ranks first on the team with 6.0 TFLs and adds a forced fumble to his stat sheet this season. Safeties Trenton Smith and Elijah Calhoun have tallied 63 tackles, while Smith has recorded 2.5 TFLs. Corner Josh Johnson has a team-high two interceptions while he and Doryan Harris have broken up six passes.
• In 2019, Oklahoma Baptist ran through the Crimson Storm 52-27 in Bethany. Tyler Stuever scored a career-best four times to lead an offense that totaled almost 400 yards of offense. Despite the score being tied 14-all after the first, OBU stuck to their bread and butter to score seven touchdowns. Trajan Lands led the Bison defense with eight tackles while Josh Arnold tallied six.