The Ouachita football team fell behind early and couldn’t recover as the Tigers dropped their second straight contest, losing 35-17 to No. 17 Delta State in a Gulf South Conference game Saturday afternoon at Parker Field at McCool Stadium.
“The better team won today,” Tigers coach Todd Knight. “I was really disappointed because I thought we could come in here and get an upset. We were just soft on both sides of the ball. We’ve got to be a lot better next week.”
Delta State struck early as Garrett DeWitt led the Statesmen 76 yards in 11 plays as he connected with Chad Schroeder for a 22-yard touchdown for the first score of the game.
After going three and out, the Tigers punted the football and Eric Jackson returned it 60 yards to set up another score. It took just two plays after the big return as DeWitt connected with Rafael Mitchell for a 10-yard touchdown to give Delta State a 14-0 lead with 7:48 left in the opening quarter.
Ouachita (2-2 overall, 1-2 GSC) tried to put something together on its next possession, but the result was a 50-yard missed field goal attempt by Zach Wright.
The Tigers got on the scoreboard with 6:12 remaining in the first half as Lance Parker found Jeremy Young in traffic over the middle, capping an 86-yard, 15-play drive to cut the deficit to 14-7.
Delta State, which took over in good field position as the kickoff went out of bounds, responded and answered the Tigers’ score.
DeWitt, who was 27-of-37 for 298 yards, found Rob Moore for a 48-yard catch, setting up an 11-yard touchdown as DeWitt connected with Dedrick Wilson, capping a four-play, 60-yard drive, giving the Statesmen a 21-7 lead with 4:58 left in the second quarter.
Right before the half, Ouachita cut the Delta State advantage to 21-14 as Bryan Church forced a fumble by DeWitt at the Statesmen 18-yard line and Tyler George scooped up the loose ball at the 16 went the distance for the score with 53 seconds remaining in the first half.
The Tigers got the ball to start the second half as Young had a huge return, but Ouachita was unable to move the football and was forced to punt the ball.
Delta State (3-1, 2-0) got the ball at the its own 12 and went 88 yards in nine plays as DeWitt scored on an eight-yard run to push the lead to 28-14 with 9:17 left in the third quarter.
Ouachita was able to move the ball, but failed to convert on fourth down. However, DeWitt was picked off by Jamerson Tolbert at the Delta State 46 and ran the ball 33 yards to the Statesmen’s 13.
John Johnson picked up five yards on first down, but KJ Johnson lost two on second down. After an offsides penalty against the Statesmen moved the ball to the Delta State five, KJ Johnson lost a yard. On fourth down, Wright booted a 23-yard field goal as it went off the upright, cutting the deficit to 28-17 with 3:50 left in the third quarter.
In the ensuing kickoff, the Tigers tried some trickery as the onside kick went out of bounds to give Delta State good field position.
The Statesmen capitalized on the good field position and converted a fourth-and-1 play as Ben Stallings scored on a 1-yard fun, increasing the advantage 35-17 with 47 seconds left in the third quarter.
Parker, under pressure all afternoon, was 16-of-35 in the air for just 136 yards and a score. Julius Pruitt led all receivers with 10 catches for 96 yards. Young added seven catches for 69 yards.
The Tigers, who had 16 first downs and 86 rushing yards, was led on the ground by KJ Johnson with 11 touches for 41 yards.
Delta State, which had 391 passing yards and 27 first downs, was led by Wilson, who caught six balls for 43 yards, while Moore had five catches for 94 yards. Schroeder finished with 64 yards on five receptions.
The Tigers return home 7 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 4 to A.U. Williams Field against Arkansas-Monticello.
