SHAWNEE – Oklahoma Baptist (1-5, 1-5 GAC) saw its second-quarter surge fizzle as the Bison fell 34-13 to Arkansas Tech (3-3, 3-3 GAC) inside Crain Family Stadium on Saturday night.
After the Wonder Boys built a 21-0 early advantage in the second, OBU responded with 13 points to draw the tally 24-13 going into halftime. After that, ATU used a productive ground game to stunt the Bison's momentum and garner tonight's victory.
Arkansas Tech racked up 517 yards of offense, including 331 rushing yards, while Oklahoma Baptist was held to 249 total yards. The opposition managed 7.2 points yards per carry, as the Bison rushing attack netted just 27 yards after gaining 59 and losing 32.
A total of 17 penalties were called between the two clubs in the contest for 151 yards lost. OBU committed nine, its highest total in a game all season.
Despite the Bison's woes in the ground game, quarterback Dayton Wolfe led a passing attack that charted 249 yards and two touchdowns. Wolfe completed 72.9 percent (27-37) of his passes and threw one interception.
Keilahn Harris went for 136 yards on 12 receptions and a touchdown. Harris' game-long catch of 52 yards set up the first score of the contest for OBU. Additionally, Braden Phipps caught five balls for 43 yards while Alex Nabavi collected his first career touchdown.
Buddy Bizzell carried the ball six times for 44 yards, averaging 7.3 yards per carry.
As mentioned, Tech got on the board first, scoring the contest's first points with a six-yard rush to go up 7-0. Again, Tech extended its lead, reaching paydirt courtesy of a rushing touchdown in the dwindling minutes of the inaugural stanza.
Following a couple of drives, the Wonder Boys found the endzone again. Jack Grissom threaded the needle to Joyrion Chase for a 28-yard touchdown to push the ATU lead to 21-0.
Then OBU found their rhythm. Freshman defensive back Chase Whitebear notched the second interception of his young Bison career to ignite Oklahoma Baptist late in the second quarter.
The action prompted a 95-yard OBU drive that was capped by a 14-yard touchdown reception from Nabavi to pull within two scores of Tech.
Oklahoma Baptist built upon this after an ATU miscue on a punt the next drive. Wolfe connected with Harris on an eight-yard fade to draw the score 21-13.
However, this would be the last of the Bison's success as the Wonder Boys stuck to their guns and tacked on 13 more points to complete the win.
Defensively, Elijah Tomlin led the charge with 12 stops and a tackle-for-loss. Nick Boone and KJ Price Jr. turned in nine tackles apiece, while Price Jr. broke up a career-best three passes. Whitebear added eight tackles and a 0.5 TFL to his stat sheet, while Kaleb Peters charted an interception.
Other notables were Caden Hall and Jake Landers, who made seven and six tackles, respectively.
The Bison will play the second part of their two-game homestand on Saturday, Oct. 15, hosting East Central for Homecoming. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m.
