SHAWNEE – A high-octane Southern Nazarene (6-5) rushing attack racked up 376 yards en route to a 49-21 defeat of Oklahoma Baptist (6-5) in Saturday's regular-season finale.
The loss moved OBU to 6-5 on the year, a remarkable turnaround from last year's one-win season. As a result, the Bison finished in a tie for fifth with SNU in the final Great American Conference standings.
Oklahoma Baptist allowed its second-most yards on the ground and the third-most total yards (511) this year. Meanwhile, the offense compiled its fourth-best mark (335 yards) in 2023.
The majority came through the air as signal-callers Aidan Thompson (155) and Jason Thomason (162) combined for 317 yards. In the first action of his young career, Thomason charted 10 completions and pitched two touchdowns. His counterpart, Thompson, threw one touchdown and two interceptions.
Nick Harris was the favorite target as he finished with career-highs in yards (115) and touchdowns (2). Harris caught five balls, including a game-long catch of 42 yards. Alex Nabavi nearly reached the 100-yard mark with seven receptions for 92 yards. Both were also career-bests for the senior.
The other touchdown recipient was Donovan Dixon, who hauled in his first career score to go along with three catches.
Brayden Johnson led the defensive unit with 11 tackles, including eight unassisted, while Luke Morrow chimed in a career-high eight stops and a tackle-for-loss. Brett Karhu had one sack for nine yards, capping his historic season with 11.5.
Southern Nazarene burst out the gate on fire, going up by two scores midway through the second quarter. OBU finally responded on a 26-yard connection from Thompson to Harris with eight minutes left in the second frame.
Then, the Crimson Storm regained the momentum and tacked on a couple of touchdowns for a 28-7 advantage going into the break.
SNU continued to pour it on until Thomason found Harris for a 28-yard score as time expired in the third stanza.
The Bison would find the endzone again with a little over a minute left in the fourth, courtesy of a Thomason and Dixon link-up, but the damage was already done as the Southern Nazarene stormed on to the finish line.
OBU's six wins are the third-most since the program joined Division II in 2015.
