The Ouachita Baptist football team will look to snap out of a three-game skid Saturday as the Tigers travel to in-state foe Harding with a chance to even their record to .500.
Ouachita (2-3 overall, 1-3 GSC) began the season with a victory over Fort Lewis College and opened Gulf South Conference play with a win against West Georgia. However, since the victory over the Wolves, the Tigers have been going backwards, resulting in a three straight losses.
The latest setback was a 44-24 loss at A.U. Williams Field against Arkansas-Monticello last Saturday.
Despite getting 200 yards of passing from Lance Parker, Ouachita hurt themselves with turnovers. The Tigers coughed it up six times and Monticello took advantage.
Saturday’s loss marked the first time all season in which Ouachita had been careless with the football. The Tigers are plus-four in the turnover margin, but were minus-five last weekend.
The Boll Weevils were able to score on their opening possession, but Zach Wright’s 26-yard field goal cut the deficit to 7-3 heading into the second quarter. Ouachita grabbed a 10-7 lead as Jimmy Pinkney recovered a fumble in the end zone early in the second quarter.
Monticello took a 13-10 lead into the break and outscored the Tigers in the third quarter, 21-7, with the only Ouachita score coming on a KJ Johnson 7-yard run. The Boll Weevils put the game away by scoring 10 points in the fourth, despite Parker connecting with Julius Pruitt for a 26-yard touchdown.
KJ Johnson leads all Tiger rushers with 65 carries for 391 yards. John Johnson has added 187 on 45 touches and Terrell Alex has rushed 36 times for 145 yards.
Parker is 92 of 166 passing for 1,026 yards, while averaging 205.2 a contest. He has also thrown nine touchdown passes.
Julius Pruitt has caught the bulk of Parker’s passes, hauling in 39 balls for 444 yards and four touchdowns. Jeremy Young has 293 yards on 26 catches and a pair of scores. Jerrad Nutt rounds out a very talented trio with 14 catches for 171 yards.
Terrence Garrett paces the Tiger defense with 45 tackles, including seven for a loss of 34 yards. He also has two pass breakups and a forced fumble. Blake Burkett has 29 tackles with one interception and one pass breakup.
Harding (2-4, 1-2) outlasted Southern Arkansas, 39-33 to halt a two-game skid last weekend.
Much like the Ouachita game, turnovers were costly for Southern Arkansas as Harding scored 17 points from the mistakes. The Bisons forced a school-record six fumbles, recovering four of them.
David Knighton completed 29 of 50 passes for 384 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
Luke Tribble led Harding’s defense with a career-high 15 tackles, the second time this season he has led the team in the category.
Jeremy Holt leads the Harding ground game with 34 carries for 205 yards. Alan Webster has rushed for 159 yards on 46 carries.
Knighton is 188-of-331 for 2,169 yards and 15 touchdowns. He is averaging 361.5 yards a game has also been intercepted seven times.
Zac Ross leads four Bison receivers with more than 200 yards. He has caught 39 passes for 317. Jordan Watson has 483 yards on 32 catches and Adams has hauled down 31 passes for a team-high 559 yards. Holt, coming out of the backfield, has 24 receptions for 226 yards.
Defensively Sevohn Greer has 52 tackles, including nine for a loss of 42 yards to lead Harding. He also has a team-high five forced fumbles. Jason Thomasson and Jeremy Townsend have 41 and 35 tackles, respectively.
A year ago, the Tigers sat in a very familiar spot at 2-3, before turning things around with a win against Southern Arkansas.
Harding leads the series 26-19-1, but each team has traded wins the past two years. The Bisons, who have scored 30 or more points in five of the six games played, won a thriller last season, 38-36.
In a game where Ouachita could finish the season at .500 at First Security Stadium, Harding raced out to a 21-7 lead before Willie Hopson scored on a 47-yard run to cut the deficit to 21-13 as the extra point was no good to end the first quarter.
Knighton seemed to be a one-man show and guided Harding to a 28-19 halftime lead. Both teams traded field goals in the third, setting up a wild fourth quarter.
In the fourth, Parker scored on a seven-yard run, but Webster answered with a 32-yard touchdown scamper to give Harding a 38-29 advantage. Tony Taylor hauled in a three-yard pass from Parker late, but that would be as close as Ouachita would get.
The Tigers return to the road as Ouachita travels 6 p.m., Saturday, Oct. 11 to Searcy, Ark., to take on Harding. The game can be heard on the Ouachita Football Network through the following stations: Arkadelphia (KYXK-FM 106.9); Hot Springs (KBHS-AM 1420); Magnolia (KVMA-AM 630); El Dorado (KELD-FM 106.5); Nashville (KNAS-FM 105.5); Mena (KQOR-FM 105.3) or on the web at: mms://rain.obu.edu/tigerathletics/
