Tech, novice QB hand OBU 32-point loss

Jabyes Cross
Jabyes Cross

ARKADELPHIA -- Jabyes Cross prepared for his second start as Arkansas Tech's quarterback not yet feeling all that comfortable at a position he hadn't played much since high school.

It took all of three plays Saturday for him to find his groove.

Cross took a shotgun snap and rolled to his right to get running back Braden Stringer open on the left side. But Cross went a bit farther than he was supposed to, and just when it seemed Ouachita Baptist's defense was collapsing on him, he flung a pass across his body to Stringer, who sprinted 63 yards down the left sideline.

"I tried to get all of them chasing me," said a smiling Cross, who scored on a 1-yard run three players later to kick-start a 49-17 rout at Cliff Harris Stadium. "That's what got me going."

Cross, who moved from receiver last week when Ty Reasnor was lost for the season with a broken wrist, finished 12-of-16 passing for 265 yards with 3 touchdowns and added 60 yards rushing and another score for Arkansas Tech (3-3, 3-3 GAC), which won at Ouachita Baptist (3-3, 3-3) for the first time since 2006.

Kristian Thompson accounted for three touchdowns -- one rushing and two receiving -- including a one-handed catch over the middle in which he sidestepped a defender and scored from 40 yards out to make it 14-3, a play that had Coach Raymond Monica beaming after the game.

Monica used that play, a third-quarter goal-line stand and a blocked field goal returned by Cua' Rose for a touchdown as examples of it being the Wonder Boys' day. It came a week after a 27-20 home loss to Henderson State, its third loss by seven points or less through the season's first five weeks.

"I'm proud of the guys for the way they played," Monica said. "It was time for something good to happen to these players."

Monica said the gameplan wasn't much different Saturday than it was in Cross' first start last week. But, both he and Cross said the Wonder Boys talked all week about how they could exploit Ouachita Baptist's beat-up secondary.

"We thought we had some chances," Monica said. "We called them big-play opportunities. We thought we had a couple there in some things, and we did."

Among a slew of starters out for the Tigers, along with quarterback Austin Warford, were starting cornerback Shaquille Hunter and safeties Devin Price and Airric Parker. They were also without receiver Ke'Vontae Pope and offensive lineman Jed Beach.

"We put those guys in some really difficult situations in a big-boy game," Tigers Coach Todd Knight said of the replacements for injured players. "They'll grow up, but it seemed like they found us. They were able to find us."

It was especially tough for the Tigers' offense. Warford, who is second in the GAC with 1,519 yards of total offense, watched the game with a boot on his right foot, an injury Knight said could keep him out "one to eight weeks."

In his place, junior Lucas Reed made his first start. Reed completed 14 of 32 passes for 182 yards and 1 touchdown, a 31-yarder to Allie Freeman that made it 21-10 in the second quarter. But Cross answered on the next drive by connecting with Thompson on a wheel route down the left sideline for a 16-yard touchdown that made it 28-10 at halftime. Ouachita Baptist didn't challenge in the second half.

The Wonder Boys finished with 513 total yards while handing the Tigers their worst loss since 2007, when Delta State won 42-10 in Arkadelphia.

The Tigers were held to 397 yards, 71 yards below their GAC-leading average. They rushed for 215 yards, but 86 of those came in the fourth quarter.

It wasn't enough to keep up with the Wonder Boys and Cross, who showed why Monica was willing to move him from receiver, where he was the team's best at that position, to fill their hole at quarterback.

"How many people make that play on the first drive?" said Monica, referring to the 63-yard pass. "You've got to have some athletic ability to make it happen. Then he makes some other runs with his feet. He's gotten better and better."

Sports on 10/09/2016

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