The Tigers would score on their initial drive when Steven Kehner rushed for a 57-yard touchdown. The score was set up by a 16 yard run on the previous play and their first of the drive. The Tigers led 7-0 with 11:36 left in the first quarter.
“I was so proud of our guys for being able to keep fighting,” Head Coach Todd Knight of the Ouachita Tigers said. “It just didn’t come out on our end. Duluth made some plays at the end that we didn’t make and I’m so proud of our guys. They kept fighting and kept overcoming.”
The Bulldogs answered with a score of their own when Logan Lauters rushed for two yards and a touchdown. The drive started on the Ouachita four-yard line when Bofferding returned a Shelton Wooley kickoff 96 yards. After 10:48 remaining in the first quarter, the Tigers and the Bulldogs were tied at seven.
Ouachita scored again on another Kehner touchdown from 30 yards out giving the Tigers a 14-7 lead with 6:07 left in the first quarter.
With 3:39 left in the second quarter, Lauters scored again from 29 yards out. After the extra point, the score was 14-14.
With just 31 seconds left in the half, Lauters scored for a third time from two yards out. The run was set up by a 56 yard pass to Aaron Roth from Drew Bauer. The Bulldogs led at halftime by 7, 21-14.
On their first possession of the second half, the Tigers scored off a throwback pass to Kehner from Kiehl Frazier. Kehner, wide open, would stroll in. The extra point tied the game at 21.
The Bulldogs scored on the ensuing drive when Roth caught a pass from Drew Bauer with 10:52 left in the third quarter. 28-21 Bulldogs.
With 14:55 left in the fourth quarter, the Tigers scored when Kehner punched the ball into the end zone on a direct snap. The extra point was blocked, making the score 28-27, Duluth.
Duluth scored on the next drive when Bofferding would rush in for a score. The extra-point was good, giving the Bulldogs a 35-27 lead.
Frazier found Drew White in the back of the end zone on the next drive for a 31-yard touchdown. The Tigers went for two and the pass was incomplete. With 7:57 left in the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs led 35-33.
On the ensuing kickoff, the Bulldogs fumbled the ball and recovered at their own six-yard line. After a three-and-out, Shawn Magee muffed a punt and the Tigers took over at the Duluth 13-yard line. Just two plays later, Kehner scored again, and the two point conversion was no good, giving the Tigers a 39-35 lead with 6:55 left in the game.
On the next two Ouachita drives, running backs for the Tigers fumbled giving the Bulldogs multiple chances. Following the last fumble, the Bulldogs drove the ball 74 yards on 12 plays, taking up 1:41 of the clock. Bauer completed a pass to Zach Zwifel in the end zone for a Duluth touchdown with :45 seconds left. The extra-point was good, giving the Bulldogs a 42-39 lead.
Frazier completed passes to Evian Hill and Jalen Jones for 18 and 15 yards to push the Tigers down to the Duluth 3-yard line. With just :06 seconds left, Shelton Wooley nailed a 20-yard kick to tie the game at 42 with no time left in regulation.
“We had the win at our back and we wanted to get it to overtime,” Coach Knight said. “I felt like the temperature would be in our favor getting later into the game and I thought overtime would be great for us. Shelton got out there and made the field goal and it worked out perfectly.
In overtime, the Tigers went three-and-out and Wooley hit another field goal to give the Tigers a 45-42 lead.
On the ensuing possession, the Bauer would hand the ball off to Zweifel on an apparent receiver sweep. Zweifel stopped and threw the ball back to Bauer in the end zone for a touchdown that would give the Bulldogs the win 48-45.
The Tigers finish the season at 10-1. This is the first season that the Tigers have competed in the Division Two Playoffs.
