ARKADELPHIA- Led by senior Jeremy Young’s school record 261 yards receiving, Ouachita Baptist started strong to carry the team to victory over No. 16 Valdosta State, 24-14, for the school’s first victory against the the Blazers. The victory extends the Tiger’s current winning streak to eight games, the longest since 1968.
The victory against the Blazers is the first in the program’s history, going 0-9 against Valdosta State since Ouachita joined the Gulf South Conference in 2000. It was the first victory over a top-25 opponent since the 2003 season, when the Tigers defeated Southeastern Oklahoma State and Central Arkansas.
With the victory, Ouachita Baptist improves to 3-0 on the season to extend the current winning streak to eight games that span back to the 2008 season, as the Tigers won the final five games of the ’08 season. The current total is the longest such streak since the 1967-68 10-game winning streak under former Head Coach Buddy Benson that spanned from the end of the final five games of the 1967 season, to the first five games of 1968.
Senior Wide Receiver Jeremy Young put the finishing touches on the game with a 60-yard touchdown catch from Cranor that turned a 17-14 lead in the game to a 24-14 advantage that would give Ouachita the lead for good. Young capped off the huge GSC win with an OBU single-game record for receiving yards in a game, with 261 yards on 13 receptions with two touchdowns.
Ouachita opened the scoring up in the first quarter with a 35-yard field goal from freshman kicker Jason Fowler to give Ouachita an early 3-0 lead with 4:02 left on the clock.
Valdosta State answered back with a two-yard touchdown run from running back Ronnye Nelson to begin the second quarter for a 7-3 Blazers lead.
Senior running back Keldrick Johnson gave Ouachita their first touchdown of the game with a 45-yard touchdown blast on an off-tackle carry to give the Tigers a 10-7 lead that held for the rest of the game’s entirety. Johnson again powered the running attack with 27 carries for 144 yards and one touchdown on a night when the Tigers needed every yard from the Monroe, La native.
The Tigers dominated the line of scrimmage in the first half offensively, recording 244 yards with an attack that kept the Blazers off-balance. Johnson led the ground game at half with 106 yards, compared to the Blazer’s team total of 27 yards. Cranor was efficient in manufacturing yards on second and third down, going 12-for-18 with 160 yards after two quarters of play. Young emerged as the primary receiver for Cranor, catching six passes for 99 yards to lead all receivers.
Valdosta State benefitted from the Blazer specials team’s field advantage via punter Jack Fulford’s pair of punts inside the Tiger 20 yard-line. Quarterback Kellen Lewis paced Valdosta with a 14-for-21 effort with 115 yards and no touchdowns at half.
Young opened the third quarter with a 56-yard touchdown grab from the Russellville, Ark product Cranor to give Ouachita a 17-7 lead with 4:29 left in the third.
To begin the fourth quarter, junior Chad Emmons intercepted a pass from Lewis to swing momentum back to the Tiger’s side as the Blazers threatened again with a sustained drive into Tiger territory.
After both teams traded possessions with no scoring drives, Blazers quarterback Kellen Lewis connected with Kody Case on a 10-yard touchdown strike to cut Valdosta’s deficit to 17-14.
After Young’s 60-yarder that gave Ouachita the final 24-14 score, as Valdosta started the final drive of the game at the Valdosta State one-yard line. After a near safety effort by the Tigers defensive line, Lewis drove the Blazers to the Ouachita six-yard line to end the game on a quarterback run for the game’s final play.
Valdosta State hadn’t lost to a GSC Arkansas-based school since Sept. 17 of the 2005 season in an overtime loss to Harding University, 16-13. The regular season GSC loss to Ouachita is only the fourth regular loss in Blazers Head Coach David Dean’s three seasons at the program.
Aided by the single game record performance by Young in receiving yards, Cranor finished the program’s first victory over a ranked opponent in the Ouachita Baptist Head Coach Todd Knight era. Knight came into the contest with a 3-12 record against Valdosta, with all three victories coming from his time as the former head coach with Delta State.
Freshman Jaime Harris again had a productive evening with three catches for 59 yards, including a 31-yard catch midway through the first half. Arkadelphia native Clinton Dewitt added three catches for 25 yards.
Cranor was the only other Ouachita player that recorded positive rushing statistics with 15 yards on four carries.
Ouachita junior linebacker Clayton Goree led all defenders with 11 tackles, while senior defensive lineman Jerry McNeil added two sacks and 6 tackles on the evening.
Emmons recorded the only interception on the evening and freshman defensive back Denszell Brown added eight tackles.
The Tigers return to action against No. 9 Delta State at home on Saturday, Sept. 26 for the 7 p.m. kickoff at A.U. Williams Field. Delta State (2-1) defeated Harding in a 48-10 blowout over Harding in a GSC matchup in week three. Delta State opened the 2009 season with a 28-17 loss to Texas A&M-Kingsville, followed by an overwhelming 42-3 victory over Arkansas-Monticello in week two.
