ARKADELPHIA- In its 84th meeting overall since 1895, Ouachita Baptist and Henderson State resume the Coleman Dairy Battle of the Ravine series at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia on Saturday.
For Ouachita Baptist (5-2, 3-2 GSC), the Tigers are coming off of a 24-23 overtime upset of then-No. 10 North Alabama, while Henderson State (5-3, 4-2 GSC) had a barn burner victory over Harding with a final second touchdown drive to win, 33-28. Both victories came on Homecoming Weekend and both teams will understand the importance of not only the rivalry surrounded by the matchup, but the Gulf South Conference implications that are involved.
“I’ve been through this rivalry series before, and anything can happen in this game,” Ouachita Head Coach Todd Knight said. “The team that makes the fewest mistakes will usually win.”
It will be a battle between the top two scoring offenses in the GSC (Ouachita Baptist, 35.3 points/game; Henderson State, 35.2), the No. 2 total defense in Ouachita against the No. 2 total offense in Henderson and the top two teams in turnover margin with Henderson at a plus-10 margin and Ouachita at plus-8.
The keys to victory for the Tigers remains to be a balanced offensive attack and opportunistic defense that makes stops inside the red zone and comes up with takeaways in key moments. Ouachita has passed for 1,794 yards and rushed for 1,151 yards, forcing teams to respect both aspects of their attack. Defensively, the Tigers enter with 17 sacks and seven interceptions in 2010.
Leading the Tigers offensively remains to be senior quarterback Eli Cranor, who a week ago against North Alabama, led the Tigers in rushing and passing, totaling 271 yards of offense, including 81 yards on the ground and 190 yards and two touchdowns passing. The Tigers became the first team to eclipse the 300-yard mark against North Alabama, while also becoming just the second team to rush for 100 yards against the Lions, as well. Cranor has recorded 2,068 yards of total offense and 16 touchdowns in 2010, including 284 yards rushing. The top target for the Tigers has been sophomore receiver Brett Reece who has totaled 582 yards receiving on 33 catches and five touchdowns. A total of six receivers have over 100 yards receiving, including sophomore Jamie Harris with 293 yards and one touchdown and junior All-GSC tight end Phillip Supernaw with 20 catches for 283 yards and one touchdown.
Sophomore running back Daniel McGee remains in third in the GSC in rushing with 517 yards and seven touchdowns, while freshman Ricky Brown adds 176 yards and three touchdowns on the ground.
Defensively, the Tigers are led by junior linebacker Terrence Garrett with 44 tackles and 3.5 sacks. Senior Blake Burkett adds 30 tackles, 8.5 tackles for loss, one sack, four passes broken up and an interception returned 20 yards for a touchdown. The defensive line unit has had steady production from senior Bryan Church, junior Taurus Williams and sophomore Alonzo Newton, who combine for 72 tackles, 18.5 tackles for loss and 5.5 sacks.
Henderson State has driven defensive coordinators mad all season long with the GSC-best passing attack, led by senior quarterback Nick Hardesty’s 2,942 yards and 20 touchdowns. The Reddies have a group of talented receivers led by Chris Evering (673 yards, five touchdowns), Josh Sipho (602, 4) and Jazz Scott (422, 2). On the ground, Henderson has only rushed for over 100 yards three times this season, but against Delta State, the Reddies racked up 240 yards. Elliot Hebert leads the rushing attack with 169 yards, followed by Hardesty with 152 yards.
“Henderson has a great offense that will be tough to contain,” Knight believes. “Offensively we have to do a good job of moving the football and scoring. We have to be really good in all three phases to have a chance to win on Saturday.”
On defense, the Reddies have 17 sacks and 12 interceptions, as Mike Wightman leads the unit with 52 tackles, followed by Steve Butrick with 51 and 4.5 tackles for loss. In the secondary, Kenny Evans has three interceptions. In a 47-0 victory over Arkansas-Monticello on Oct. 2, the Reddie defense held the Boll Weevils to just 127 yards of total offense, including just 55 yards passing. Both are the lowest outputs of the season for Arkansas-Monticello, which averages 318 yards of offense.
In a game where talented offensive and defensive players are present, special teams will be a big factor. Knight believes that his football team has improved in all three phases throughout the year.
“We feel like we’ve improved throughout the year in all three phases.”
Weeklong festivities will take place in the Arkadelphia community, as well as on both campuses throughout the week. Knight believes this will only heighten the excitement:
“As a coach, we don’t feel the distractions as much as the players would. We have a job to do, where as the players will have to filter the distractions on campus and in the community. They’ll do a good job of staying focused as they have all season long, and I think the more you hear about it, the more it gets you excited about playing the game.”
Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium on the Henderson State campus, as Ouachita is set to walk over from A.U. Williams Field at approximately 11:45 a.m.
“The big thing is playing with fundamentals and not trying to do something you haven’t done all season. We’re looking forward to the matchup and it’s always a fun week and a fun game to be a part of.”
