Offense hits on all cylinders for Ouachita Baptist

ARKADELPHIA -- Earlier in the week, Ouachita Baptist Coach Todd Knight was firm in his belief that his team would need to bring its best to beat surging Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon.

If the Tigers play any better than they did against the Bulldogs, the rest of the NCAA Division II may be in trouble.

Running back T.J. Cole scored three touchdowns as No. 5 OBU sliced and diced its way to a 63-24 homecoming victory in front of a crowd of more than 5,000 at Cliff Harris Stadium.

Cole finished with 144 yards on 14 carries for the Tigers, who rode a near-perfect first half to annihilate any thoughts the Bulldogs might've had at an upset.

OBU (6-0, 6-0 Great American Conference) scored touchdowns on six of its first seven possessions over the first and second quarters to build a 42-17 halftime lead.

The only trip that didn't result in a touchdown in the opening half for the Tigers was their last one, and that was because they chose to take a knee at the end of the second quarter.

Prior to that, OBU had rolled up almost 400 yards over the first 30 minutes of play.

"[Southwestern Oklahoma State] has 30 transfers and a bunch of Division I players all over the field, so this was kind of a defining week for us," Knight said. "We wanted to see how we'd come out and play, and I really wanted to see us come out with some energy. I think we did that from the start."

Cole, who also eclipsed the 3,000-yard rushing mark for his career in the first quarter, scored on runs of 6, 10 and 10 yards during the Tigers' first-half scoring spree, but the senior was far from a one-man production.

Kendel Givens ran 8 times for 118 yards with 2 scores, and Riley Harms completed 12 of 13 passes for 197 yards and 2 touchdowns to go along with his 81 yards on the ground. He, too, added a rushing score as the Tigers darted their way to a blistering 709 yards of offense, including 481 rushing.

The Tigers forced a three-and-out on the Bulldogs' opening drive and needed just four plays to score when Harms found an open Connor Flannigan, who sidestepped one defender, then outran three others to complete a 30-yard touchdown with 12:06 to go in the first quarter.

Southwestern Oklahoma State (3-3, 3-3) did have better luck on its next drive, and for a while, countered everything OBU did.

The Bulldogs strolled 59 yards in 10 snaps to get a 30-yard field goal from Jaren Van Winkle. After Cole's 6-yarder on the Tigers' following series gave them a 14-3 lead, Southwestern Oklahoma State responded with a 1-yard touchdown run from Troy Henderson.

Cole picked up the first of his 10-yard scoring runs with 13:26 left in the second quarter to extend OBU's lead to 21-10 until Tylan Morton delivered a sharply-placed 36-yard touchdown to Deshon Moreaux four minutes later.

Givens returned fire two plays afterwards when he broke a tackle in the middle of the line and sprinted 77 yards for a touchdown for a 28-17 advantage, but the Tigers caught a break on the Bulldogs' ensuing possession that finally snapped the back and forth.

Morton, who was 24-of-33 passing for 261 yards, completed a 50-yard pass to Cameron Hairston that put Southwestern Oklahoma State deep in Ouachita Baptist territory. However, a holding call negated the gain and eventually forced the Bulldogs to punt. That allowed the Tigers a chance to create even more separation, when another 10-yard touchdown run from Cole gave them a 35-17 lead.

"Those guys had scored 123 points in their last three games before this one," Knight said of the Bulldogs. "With their Air Raid offense and their Division I quarterback, we were going to have our hands full, and we knew it. But I was so proud of our defense, and the way they responded because that team can score a lot of points."

OBU got another stop later and cashed in quickly when Harms ran up the middle untouched for a 72-yard touchdown to set its 25-point halftime margin.

The Tigers did more of the same in the third quarter by scoring the first three times they had the ball. Harms tossed a 42-yarder in the end zone to Justin Dean, Givens scored on a 1-yard run and Eli Livingston connected with De'Kairo Rudulph for a 13-yard touchdown.

Morton did end Ouachita Baptist's flurry of points with a 32-yard TD pass to Jalen Lampley with 4:04 left in the quarter, but that paled in comparison to what the Tigers were able to do from the start.

"We played really well," Knight said. "There's still some stuff on special teams that we have to clean up, and we mishandled the ball a time or two. Those are things that we'll be able to correct and be better at.

"But overall, I thought the guys did a really good job."

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