The Ouachita Baptist football team’s upset bid fell short as top-ranked Valdosta State used two second-half big plays to pull away from the Tigers Saturday night 29-6 in a Gulf South Conference game at Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
“The final score was not indicative of how we played,” Tigers head coach Todd Knight said. “They made some big plays and that was the difference.”
Valdosta State, playing for the first time in three weeks after starting the season 2-0, had to rally in the third quarter with a pair of touchdowns to take the lead after trailing at the break, 3-2.
T.J. Williams caught a 76-yard pass from Chris Hart with 6:32 remaining in the third to give the Blazers the lead for good, 9-3. After a Ouachita Baptist punt, R.J. Bastone was the recipient of a Hart pass, this one 38 yards as Valdosta State added to the advantage with a 16-3 lead with 3:42 left in the quarter, capping a 6-play, 53-yard drive.
Zach Wright’s 30-yard field goal with five seconds left in the third quarter cut the deficit to 16-6, but Valdosta State answered as Ronnye Nelson caught a 66-yard pass from Hart to give the Blazers a 23-6 lead with 13:19 left in the game.
Hart, who was 22-of-35 in the air, took the final touchdown on the ground, a 29-yard run, capping the scoring and give Valdosta State a 29-6 lead with 8:48 remaining. Hart added six carries for 33 yards.
The Tigers (2-1 overall, 1-1 GSC) broke the scoreless tie with 3:53 remaining in the opening quarter as Wright booted a 36-yard field, his longest of the season, to give Ouachita Baptist a 3-0 lead over the top-ranked team in the country.
Valdosta State (3-0, 1-0) cut the margin to 3-2 after blocking a punt that went out of the end zone early in the second quarter.
The Blazers held the Tigers to just 97 total yards rushing as John Johnson led the way with seven carries for 32 yards. Terrell Alex had seven touches for 31 yards and the Gulf South Conference Player of the Week, KJ Johnson rushed for 30 yards on 10 carries.
For the first time this season, Lance Parker was intercepted – twice. He went 28-of-49 in the air for 227 yards, but the offensive line did their job by not allowing a sack.
Julius Pruitt led all Ouachita Baptist receivers with 10 catches for 67 yards. Jeremy Young caught eight balls for 80 yards and Alex came out of the backfield to catch four passes for 37 yards.
Jerry McNeil paced the Tigers defense with eight total tackles, including one for a loss. Terrence Garrett and Robert McKee each had six tackles.
The Tigers make their second trip to a ranked opponent 3 p.m., Saturday, Sept. 27 to Cleveland, Miss., to take on No. 17 Delta State. The game can be heard on the Ouachita Football Network through the following stations: Arkadelphia (KYXK-FM 106.9); Hot Springs (KBHS-AM 1420); Magnolia (KVMA-AM 630); El Dorado (KELD-FM 106.5); Nashville (KNAS-FM 105.5); Mena (KQOR-FM 105.3) or on the web at: mms://rain.obu.edu/tigerathletics/
