ALVA, Okla. – Oklahoma Baptist (1-2, 1-2 GAC) scored 17 straight in the fourth en route to a 31-23 win at Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday at Ranger Field.
First-half defensive efforts highlighted the competition as each team gave up less than 200 yards and no more than 5.14 yards per play.
After a three-and-out by OBU on the opening drive, the Rangers had a short field to work with and took a 7-0 lead.
A four-play, 50-yard drive was capped off by a Tanner Clarkson 36-yard touchdown pass to Torrence Stevens who tip-toed deep in the endzone to break the scoreless tie.
On the very next drive, the Bison responded. OBU went 78 yards and capped off a 10-play drive with
Buddy Bizzell's fourth-down, 44-yard scamper off left tackle.
The first quarter's final score came courtesy of a Rangers field goal at the 4:40 mark.
Offense was scarce in the second, but the Bison were able to take the lead. On a nifty trick play,
Keilahn Harris found quarterback
Dayton Wolfe who muscled in for a 15-yard touchdown catch. That was at 9:54 and the green and gold took a 14-10 lead into the break.
After halftime intermission, there was just one touchdown in the third and that came to the hosts. Clarkson's one-yard dive up the middle gave the Rangers a 17-14 lead.
Fourth-quarter action was nearly all Bison.
EJ Moore lifted the Bison ahead 21-17 with a 56-yard run before a Guillermo Garcia 33-yard field goal at 9:10 pushed OBU up a touchdown, 24-17.
On the next Northwestern possession,
Nick Carpin came up with a huge sack with about seven minutes left that helped force a Rangers punt.
Following that boot, the Bison went on the game-clinching run. A five-play drive, which saw a 35-yard bomb down the sideline to Harris, was capped off by a powerful, 10-yard run by Bizzell off the right side to push OBU ahead 31-17.
By game's end, Harris had hauled in five catches for 63 yards while Moore and Bizzell, two freshmen, had run for 131 and 100 yards, respectively.
Defensively,
Brandon Spencer led the team with 10 tackles while
Elijah Tomlin added nine. On the sack front, Carpin and
Jonah Lebischak each tallied one. Additionally,
Tyler King forced a fumble and
Chase Whitebear notched an interception.
Next on the schedule for OBU is a home date with Southwestern Oklahoma State on Sept. 24 at 6 p.m. That will be a part of Hall of Fame Weekend at Bison Hill.
