ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The 14th-ranked Ouachita Tigers came into Thursday's season-opening contest boasting a 27-game win streak, which almost came to an end as Oklahoma Baptist (0-1, 0-1 GAC) gave the three-time reigning champs everything they could handle. After a matchup that went down to the wire, Ouachita (1-0, 1-0 GAC) prevailed 38-31 over the Bison under the lights at Cliff Harris Stadium.
The Bison offense shined against the highly-respected Tiger defense. Behind quarterback
Preston Haire, the Oklahoma Baptist offense racked up 481 total yards, outgaining the Tigers by 98 yards. OBU had 31 first downs, with 19 coming off passing plays.
However, the Bison's high-flying offense was overshadowed by the Tigers' rushing attack as they put up 289 yards on the ground, averaging 5.4 yards per rush, and reached the end zone four times.
The Tigers threw the first punch as they returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown. After forcing OBU into a three-and-out, Ouachita reached paydirt again with a score at the 9:17 mark of the game. However, OBU combated the Tigers with a
Keilahn Harris snag from Haire, scoring the first Bison points of the year.
The momentum continued to shift as almost three minutes later, Haire found
Josh Cornell for a 25-yard touchdown to bring the count to 14-13. A missed field goal prevented the Bison from tying things up. The specialists came back alive as
Leonardo Schulz chipped in a field-goal from 36 yards out to make the deficit one point going into the break.
Right of the gate of halftime, the Bison grabbed the lead as Haire found senior
Rueben Thompson for his first touchdown of the season. The teams went back-and-forth until the Tigers managed to squeeze in a score before the end of the quarter, bringing the tally to 24-23 with 15 minutes to go.
Harris would again find his way into the endzone off a Haire perfect pass into the corner of the endzone. This marked the end of the Bison's success as the Tigers made fewer mistakes down the stretch.
The Bison made one last push to overcome the top-ranked Tigers with a drive that included six pass completions, but resulted in a Ouachita Baptist interception at their own 12-yard line.
The Tigers would cement their win there, escaping the grasp of OBU, 38-31.
Haire finished 37 of 52 with 345 passing yards and three scores, as well as 22 yards on the ground. Harris had the best game of his young Bison career, catching 15 passes for 121 yards and two touchdowns. Harris was Haire's favorite target tonight as he tried him 19 times.
Cornell picked up right where he left off in 2019 reeling in 12 balls for 134 yards and one score.
Julian Clarke also had a stellar game as he finished with 63 yards on three catches.
Tyler Stuever led the Bison backfield with 81 yards on the ground , while Thompson backed him up with 25 yards and a score.
Defensively,
Nick Boone led the way as he finished with a career-high 16 tackles and 2.5 tackles-for-loss. Nine of Boone's tackles were unassisted as he added a quarterback hurry to his stat sheet.
Tyler King held his own as he also turned in a career high of tackles with 10 total. Other notables were
Peter Popoola,
Felipe Alvear,
Will Kohman, and
Malik Allen, who each added five tackles apiece.
OBU begins the season 0-1 and will travel back to Shawnee for a Saturday night showdown with Arkansas-Monticello on Sept. 11. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. inside Crain Family Stadium at the Hurt Complex.
