87TH BATTLE OF THE RAVINE

Good to the last hop

Reddies (11-0) require 3 OTs to best Tigers

Henderson State players, coaches and fans celebrate after the Reddies defeated Ouachita Baptist in three overtimes in the 87th Battle of the Ravine on Saturday in Arkadelphia.
Henderson State players, coaches and fans celebrate after the Reddies defeated Ouachita Baptist in three overtimes in the 87th Battle of the Ravine on Saturday in Arkadelphia.

ARKADELPHIA - It was certainly a game you’d cross the street to watch.

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Henderson State receivers Darius Davis (8) and Joseph Snapp celebrate after one of Davis’ overtime touchdowns in a 60-52 triple overtime victory over Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia on Saturday. Davis, who had 9 catches for 136 yards, scored three times — twice in overtime — while Snapp had 4 catches for 80 yards and 2 touchdowns.

Darius Davis caught two of his three touchdowns passes in overtime, then accounted for the game’s final points when he corralled a two-point conversion on a tipped pass in the third overtime, and Henderson State secured, then savored a 60-52 victory over bitter rival Ouachita Baptist in the 87th “Battle of the Ravine” on Saturday.

The game was tied 52-52 after two overtimes, and Henderson got the ball first to start overtime No. 3, when rules mandate teams must go for two if they score a touchdown.

Running back Daniel Mc-Coy scored on an 8-yard run on second and goal to make it 58-52, then Davis made a diving catch in the right corner of the end zone after quarterback Kevin Rodgers’ conversion pass was tipped.

OBU still had to take its turn, with an opportunity to force a fourth overtime.

But an offensive pass interference call forced a fourthand-23 situation for the Tigers, and even though they got a reprieve on a Reddies holding call, Benson Jordan’s next attempt was tipped and Gary Vines intercepted to end it.

Reddies fans in the overflow crowd of 9,648 swept onto the field after Vines’ interception, and players hoisted Henderson State Coach Scott Maxfield to their shoulders, merrily tweeting one shrill note on his coaching whistle, celebrating Henderson’s fourth consecutive victory in the series and consecutive undefeated regular seasons.

“We came out and played like a championship team when it mattered,” Maxfield said. “Ouachita Baptist played a great football game. They brought the best game they could probably bring at us and we were still good enough to beat them so I’m proud of our guys.”

The three-overtime outcome marked the longest game in the series, and the second to be decided in overtime, keeping with the fiercely passionate tone.

But it wasn’t what Davis, a redshirt junior, said he expected when he dressed out with his teammates and walked across Arkansas 7 to A.U. Williams Field.

The Reddies (11-0, 10-0) strolled in as the undefeated Great American Conference champions looking to lock up a home playoff game while OBU (7-3, 7-3), had suffered two heartbreaking losses to common opponents HSU had beaten convincingly.

“Honestly I thought we were going to blow them out, but it’s one of the greatest rivalries of all time,” said Davis, who had 9 catches for 136 yards. “So you can’t expect nothing less. I’m just excited.”

OBU wasn’t intimidated by Henderson’s daunting resume, one that included an undefeated record, a No. 4 NCAA Division II national ranking, Division II’s top scoring offense (54.4 ppg), the No. 2-ranked passing offense (411.4 ypg) and average margin of victory of 34.8 points per game.

The Tigers led twice, and drove from their 26 with 1:01 left to tie it on Matthew Ehasz’s 24-yard field goal as time expired.

OBU Coach Todd Knight tipped his cap to Henderson, crediting it with making the plays to win at the end.

“But saying that, our kids were phenomenal too,” Knight said. “Everybody is going to talk about who won the last game and everything that happened. But everybody that was in that stadium knows it came down to one play and either team could have won it.”

Rodgers hit Davis on a 9-yard pass and Charles Gonsalves kicked the extra point to start the first overtime. OBU responded with Chris Rycraw’s 8-yard run and Ehasz’s extra point.

Jordan scored from the 1 for OBU in the second overtime and the Tigers led 52-45. Moments later, Henderson faced fourth-and-goal at the OBU 3, its undefeated season one play away from ending.

But Rodgers found Davis in the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown, Rodgers’ sixth touchdown pass of the game.

“We practice overtime twice a week,” Maxfield said. “That’s what we’ve been practicing for and we executed really well.”

The game was tied 21-21 at halftime when Henderson stopped OBU and drove for Keaton Stigger’s 2-yard touchdown run that made it 28-21 with 11:05 left in the third period - getting completions of 26 yards from Rodgers to Al Lasker and 15 yards to Davis on the way.

The Reddies tacked on Gonsalves’ 31-yard field goal for the 31-21 lead with 4:12 left in the period. But the Tigers drove 79 yards to score, with help from a pass interference call on Vincent Thompson along the way, on Jordan’s 14-yard completion to Jalen Jones to cut it to 31-28 with 7:09 left in the game.

Henderson’s next drive stalled and Christian Latoof’s punt was fielded at the OBU 33 by Etauj Allen, who veered to the right while slicing through a crowd near the 50 and hustled up the right sideline for the score and the 35-31 lead with 5:48 left.

But the Reddies drove from their 22 with 5:42 left, overcoming two holding penalties and getting help from a pass interference call and going ahead 38-35 on Rodgers’ 5-yard pass to Israel Valentin.

Ehasz’s field goal forced the first of three overtimes and six offensive possessions that produced some of the most memorable moments the stories series has produced.

“This is an emotional game, it was a great turnout for this game, a great atmosphere for college football and I’m just glad to be a part of it,” Maxfield said.

Sports, Pages 22 on 11/17/2013

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