SHAWNEE -- Oklahoma Baptist defeated East Central 20-10 on Saturday, earning its first win of 2024.
Charles Whitebear had two touchdown grabs while some timely defensive play from
Brayden Johnson and
Jahden Brown helped the Bison secure the win in front of 2,223 fans at Crain Family Stadium.
OBU took control early, scoring 10 points in the first.
Aidan Thompson connected with Whitebear for a six-yard touchdown to cap a 12-play, 63-yard drive. Just a couple minutes after,
Patrick Maxwell extended the lead to 10-0 with a 33-yard field goal.
East Central responded in the second quarter with an 83-yard touchdown pass from Sergio Kennedy to Deqavius Bowens, narrowing the score to 10-7. That tally held until the 8:55 mark of the third when ECU's Brandon Perez converted a 44-yard to the game at 10-10.
What followed for the Bison was a 7-minute, 7-second drive that ended with a 43-yard field goal from Maxwell, a career-long. OBU converted three 3rd downs on the drive before Maxwell pushed the hosts back in front.
Following that score, OBU's defense came up big. Johnson and
Landen Francis earned a two-yard tackle-for-loss on first down before an
Austin Vincent sack on third.
A series later after a Bison turnover in the redzone, the OBU defense once more responded. On a second and five from the ECU 43,
Triston De La Rosa deflected a pass to Johnson who intercepted. That was the junior linebacker's first career pick.
After that interception, East Central crossed into OBU territory just once more and in that time Whitebear scored again. With about four minutes left, Thompson lobbed a pass into the left corner of the endzone and watched as the 6-foot-4 Whitebear brought down the ball. That sealed a 20-10 victory for the green and gold.
Oklahoma Baptist dominated in ball control, as they held possession for over 38 minutes. The Bison also outgained East Central 336-207 in total yardage. Thompson threw for 187 yards and two touchdowns, while East Central's Kennedy passed for 180 yards with interceptions by Johnson and
Jylun Spence.
East Central struggled to establish the run, managing only 27 rushing yards, the fourth-fewest rushing yards allowed by OBU in the D2 era. Johnson led with nine tackles and 4.0 tackles-for-loss while Brown added 3.0 TFLs and two sacks. Plus,
Brandon Spencer II had two pass-breakups while
Jean Ilunga forced a fumble.
Next week, the Bison will visit Henderson State on Oct. 5 at 1 p.m. in Arkadelphia, Ark.
