Down by as many as 13 points in the second half, the Ouachita Baptist University football team rallied for a thrilling 43-36 victory in the 82nd meeting of the Coleman Dairy Battle of the Ravine Thursday night in a Gulf South Conference game at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium.
Ouachita (7-3 overall, 5-3 GSC) scored the game-winning touchdown with 3:13 remaining on a Lance Parker 2-yard run and the Tiger defense forced a pair of interceptions, including Denszell Brown’s first collegiate interception as time expired to give Ouachita the victory and snap a two-game Henderson State winning streak in the rivalry.
Julius Pruitt set a school record 250 receiving yards on 10 catches with a season-high and collegiate high four touchdowns. Jeremy Young, who became the all-time single-season leader in kick return yards, also had 10 catches for 111 yards as the Tigers won seven games for the first time since the 1985 season.
Parker, who was 28-of-44 in the air, finished with a career-high 415 yards, along with four touchdowns.
KJ Johnson finished with 64 yards on 23 carries to pace the Tiger ground game.
Mikhail Lindsay and Terrence Garrett led the Ouachita defense with six tackles.
Henderson State (5-5, 4-4) used it second drive and went 76 yards in nine plays as Roch Charpentier, who was 37-of-58 for 438 yards and three interceptions, connected with Greg Godfrey for a 16-yard pass to give the Reddies a 7-0 lead with 6:04 in the first half.
Ouachita took advantage of a Charpentier interception as the Tigers went 86 yards in 12 plays with Parker connecting with Pruitt for a 34-yard touchdown to tie the contest at 7 with 12:32 left in the second quarter.
The Tigers broke the 7-all tie with 7:57 remaining in the first half as Zach Wright booted a 42-yard field goal. However, Godfrey scored his second touchdown of the night on a 19-yard pass with 2:03 left in the second quarter to give Henderson State a 14-10 advantage going into the half.
Ouachita got the ball to start the second half, but just two plays into the third quarter, Parker fumbled the ball and on the next play Charpentier connected with Elliot Hebert for a 28-yard touchdown to give the Reddies a 21-10 advantage with 13:57 left in the third.
The Tigers cut the margin to 21-13 after a Wright 37-yard field goal with 8:09 left in the third and trimmed the deficit again to 21-16 after Wright’s 19-yard field goal with 1:38 remaining in the quarter.
Henderson State put together a 77-yard, 7-play drive with the big play Charpentier to Garett Manning for 28 yards. Bernard Palmer punched it in from the 1 and the Reddies converted the 2-point conversation to grab a 29-16 advantage with 14:13 remaining.
Ouachita answered the Henderson State drive as the Tigers marched 57 yards in just five plays with Parker connecting with Pruitt for a 15-yard touchdown to cut the Reddies lead to 29-23 with 12:10.
The combination of Parker to Pruitt worked again and helped the Tigers pulled even at 29 with a 64-yard touchdown with 9:23. The extra point attempt by Wright was wide left.
Palmer gave the Reddies a 36-29 lead with a 36-yard run with 6:40 left, but Jeremy Young’s 55-yard return on the ensuing kickoff set up Parker’s 30-yard touchdown pass with a spectacular catch by Pruitt to tie the game at 36.
Ouachita forced a Henderson State punt and the Tigers marched 67 yards in five plays as Parker scored on a 2-yard run to give Ouachita its first lead of the night, 43-36 with 3:13 remaining,
The Reddies were driving for the potential game-tying score, but Jamerson Tolbert intercepted Charpentier in the end zone with 1:13 left.
The Tigers went three-and-out and were forced to punt, and Henderson State’s offense went to work, driving to the Ouachita 18 with seven seconds left. A pass interference penalty against the Reddies moved the ball back to the Tigers’ 48.
On the final play, Brown intercepted Charpentier in the end zone to give the Tigers a thrilling 43-36 victory.
Palmer finished with 46 yards on 10 carries to lead the Reddie ground game. Godfrey had 10 catches for 117 yards, while Manning finished with 138 yards on eight receptions.
Nick Finley led the Henderson State defense with 15 tackles and a forced fumble. Darnei Bates and Keathon Ransom recorded eight and seven, respectively.
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