WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Oklahoma Baptist (4-3) squeezed out at 20-13 over Southwestern Oklahoma State (0-7) on the back of a six-sack performance from the defense to improve its record to 4-3 on Saturday afternoon in Weatherford.
The Bison held SWOSU to 241 yards of offense, including 166 yards through the air. It was the sixth straight game OBU held a team under 200 yards through the air, aiding its average of 155.9 passing yards allowed per game.
Four different Bison got in on a sack, led by Scooter Baker and Brett Karhu, who tallied two apiece. Baker's sacks were a part of 11 total tackles and 3.0 TFL, while Karhu turned in six stops and 2.0 TFL that accounted for 19 yards lost. Karhu now has the most sacks in the conference (8.0).
Nick Carpin and Ameer Johnson were the other recipients, recording 1.5 and 0.5 sacks, respectively. Carpin added his first career forced fumble, to go along with five tackles.
Tainique Taylor broke up a career-best four passes to break the OBU record for PBUs in a season, eclipsing D'Ante Meeking's mark (10) set in 2016.
Oklahoma Baptist produced season-highs in tackles-for-loss (9.0) and sacks as a defense.
Quarterback Kenny Rosenthal racked up 255 yards of offense, a significant contribution towards OBU's total of 305 yards. Rosenthal's stat sheet included 231 passing yards, 24 rushing yards, and two touchdowns. His score on the ground was a six-yard scamper, while his second came through the air.
Aaron Smith rushed for 51 yards in the backfield, while Nick Harris hauled in five balls for 90 yards and a score.
On the game's opening kickoff, Southwestern fumbled to give possession to the green and gold early on. However, the SWOSU defense eventually forced a punt to avoid further damage.
The possession arrow swapped sides a few times before the Bulldogs put a field goal through to go up 3-0 late in the first quarter. It took till the 3:28 mark in the second quarter for the Bison to respond as a 22-yard field goal from Luke Watkins tied the tally.
After the Bison defense forced a three-and-out, Rosenthal capped a five-play 54-yard drive with a score to put OBU ahead 10-3 before the break.
Following the half, Southwestern took back the advantage with a touchdown and a field goal. Then, Rosenthal took back the reins on a connection with Harris on a 61-yard dart for a 17-13 Bison lead.
With 41 seconds remaining, Watkins put the icing on the cake with his second field goal of the contest. He has now tied the all-time OBU single-season mark for field goals (9).
Oklahoma Baptist returns to Bison Hill next week for back-to-back home games, beginning against Northwestern Oklahoma State (0-7) on Saturday at 7:00 p.m.
