ARKADELPHIA- Though it was a school night for both universities, it was Ouachita Baptist that did all the teaching Thursday night, as the Tigers defeated Texas College 70-0 to kick off the 2010 season at A.U. Williams Field in Arkadelphia.
Ouachita (1-0) seemed to find an endless variety of ways to score against the Steers (0-2), with a touchdown on a punt return, several offensive scores and a pair of interception returns for touchdowns. The Tigers recorded 354 yards of total offense, while holding Texas College to just 62 yards total, including -9 yards rushing. Leading the way offensively was senior quarterback Eli Cranor, who finished 10-of-16 for 183 yards and three touchdowns and no interceptions. Along with the 193 yards passing for Ouachita, a trio of running backs led the Tigers to 161 yards total. Freshman Ricky Brown finished with eight rushes for 57 yards, followed by 38 yards and two touchdowns from sophomore Daniel McGee and 12 rushes for 27 yards from sophomore Demarcus Collier.
“Defensively I thought we really swarmed the football and played at a high level after the first few minutes of the first quarter,” Ouachita Head Coach Todd Knight said. “We want to have the mentality to say we were the most physical team throughout the year and that held true tonight. I thought Eli threw the ball well and we played solid on special teams and with the kicking game tonight.”
Ouachita senior A.J. Williams provided the first spark of the evening for Ouachita; taking a punt from Avery Walker back 52 yards for the games first score, giving the Tigers a 7-0 lead with 6:37 remaining. From there, it was a rout in the final six minutes of the first quarter.
Cranor connected with sophomore receiver Brett Reece for a 15-yard touchdown strike with 3:13 remaining for a 14-0 advantage. McGee then ran it in from six yards out, followed by sophomore cornerback Troy Shoate’s first interception return for a score to put Ouachita up 28-0 with just nine seconds left in the first quarter.
The passing game for Ouachita went to work again in the second quarter, as Cranor found a wide open Jamie Harris on the home sideline for a 22-yard score, followed by a second connection from Cranor to Reece from 49 yards out to put Ouachita up 42-0 with 5:51 left in the first half.
Shoate found the end zone for the second time on the evening with another interception return for a touchdown with 2:06 remaining, picking off a Kieran Johnson pass for a 49-0 advantage at half.
In the second half, the defensive fronts for both teams took over the spotlight, before Ouachita sophomore quarterback Casey Cooper found the end zone on back-to-back possessions. Cooper scored his first career touchdown on a three-yard run, followed by a 10-yard strike to senior Graham Cole to put Ouachita up 63-0.
McGee then bulldozed his way through the right side of the defense for a 15-yard touchdown run, setting the final score at 70-0 in the home opener for the Tigers.
Ouachita moved to 13-4 in games played at A.U. Williams Field in the past three seasons. For a defense that finished ranked second in total defense in the Gulf South Conference and first in rush defense, the Tigers showed promise for another impressive season. Ouachita recorded six sacks total, led by eight tackles from junior linebacker Terrence Garrett and 1.5 sacks. Sophomore Augustine Ume-Ezeoke and redshirt freshman Jackson Guerra each finished with four tackles, while sophomore defensive end Alonzo Newton added four tackles and .5 sacks and 1.5 tackles for loss.
While Thursday provided fans in attendance plenty to be entertained with, Ouachita won’t have the luxury of being able to relax for too long, having to turn around and travel on the road on Thursday, Sept. 9 to face No. 12 Nebraska-Omaha (0-0). The Mavericks play their first game of the season on Saturday against the University of Nebraska-Kearney.
“I look forward getting back to practice in preparation for a tough opponent this next week in Nebraska-Omaha,” Knight said. “We realize that we have to raise our game to a higher level than we played at tonight and shore up some areas where we need to become a better football team.”
Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 9, as the Tigers will face their first test of the season in the Mavericks. You can follow the Ouachita Football Network broadcast online as the pre-game show is set for 6 p.m.
