GREAT AMERICAN CONF.

RB does it his way for OBU

ARKADELPHIA -- Senior running back Kris Oliver has twice suffered a broken foot during his football career at Ouachita Baptist.

Thursday night, Oliver broke something not nearly as painful -- the all-time rushing record in the Great American Conference -- during fourth-ranked OBU's 41-0 victory over undersized Southern Nazarene.

Oliver came into the game trailing former Southeastern Oklahoma State back Devlon Wortham (3,453 career yards) by 111 yards, and it didn't look like he would do it against a Crimson Storm defense that gave yards grudgingly.

Oliver rushed 12 times for 49 first-half yards as the Tigers (8-0, 8-0 GAC) plodded along to a 14-0 halftime advantage.

He was not satisfied.

"I really just really wanted the ball," Oliver said he told the coaches. "They knew how much I wanted the ball. ... I wanted to put it down their throats. I'm the guy to do it."

Oliver got the ball eight consecutive times on OBU's first drive of the second half, which ended with a 39-yard Cole Antley field goal and a 17-0 lead.

It wasn't until the Tigers' next possession, which ended in a 22-yard Antley field goal, that Oliver surpassed Wortham with a 5-yard run across midfield.

He didn't stop there.

Oliver (28-151 rushing; 3-25 receiving) scored his second touchdown on a 4-yard run with 11:06 to play to put OBU up 27-0.

Tigers reserves, led by true freshman quarterback Caleb Sallisbury, added two more fourth-quarter scores to complete the scoring.

OBU Coach Todd Knight said he was proud of Oliver, the hometown kid Knight coached in Little League and Babe Ruth baseball before recruiting him to play for the Tigers.

"He's missed about a year and a half," Knight said of the injuries that have cut into Oliver's career. "Two surgeries on that foot. It's pretty impressive to be where he is."

Oliver (117-699 rushing for the season) said he knows the record might not be his for long, with Arkansas Tech's Bryan Allen (3,317) in pursuit. Oliver finished the night with a total of 3,493 career yards.

Oliver said he talked to Allen about three weeks ago.

"He told me he was going to beat me," Oliver said. "It's not really a race. If he wins it, all the glory to him. If I win, it's all the glory to me."

Knight said he was not concerned with whether Oliver maintains the record, not with the season entering a stretch of games -- Arkansas-Monticello, Southern Arkansas and Henderson State -- that will determine if OBU wins the GAC title and earns a possible Division II playoff invitation.

"You're only as good as your last game," Knight said. "We're not worried about that. We're just so proud of him right now."

OBU ended up dominated the statistics as well as the scoreboard, outgaining Southern Nazarene 441-140, picking up 27 first downs to 6 for Southern Nazarene.

The Crimson Storm had 7 three-and-out possessions the first nine times they had the ball, picking up 2 first downs on one drive in the second quarter, taking a knee to end the first half on another, and punting 7 other times.

Southern Nazarene finished the third quarter trailing 20-0 with three first downs.

OBU led 14-0 at halftime, outgaining Southern Nazarene 209-61, but nothing came easily for the Tigers against the Crimson Storm in the first half.

Ouachita punted on 4 of its 6 first-half possessions, and the Tigers had trouble running the ball in conventional fashion.

Quarterback Brayden Brazeal (6-59 rushing in the first half) picked up most of his yardage by scrambling out of the pocket against Southern Nazarene's 3-man defensive front.

Ouachita gained 163 of its yards on its two touchdown drives.

The Tigers made it 14-0 with 6:53 to play in the half when Brazeal completed a 26-yard touchdown pass to 6-6 wideout La'Darius McElroy, who used an 11-inch advantage in height to pull the ball away from 5-7, 145-pound cornerback Jakel Davis.

Brazeal completed 7 of 10 passes for 70 yards and 1 score.

Southern Nazarene, which ranks near the bottom of the GAC and Division II in nearly every offensive category, picked up two first downs, both in the second quarter, and gained 61 yards on 20 plays.

The Crimson Storm rushed for 35 yards on 12 attempts, and averaged nearly as many yards on the ground (2.9) as on 6 completed passes, the longest gain going for 9 yards.

photo

Kris Oliver

Sports on 10/19/2018

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