ARKADELPHIA -- Henderson State struggled with turnovers as the Ouachita Baptist Tigers evened the series with a 38-10 victory over the Reddies in the 92nd edition of the Battle of the Ravine at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium and Ruggles Field Saturday.
The Reddies (5-6) had three turnovers that turned into touchdowns for the Tigers (11-0) while losing 26 yards more than Ouachita on penalties. The win leveled the series at 43-43-6.
"You play a team like that and you've got turnovers, that's what's going to happen," said Henderson head coach Scott Maxfield. "You take away the turnovers, and we had some chances there in the third quarter.
"We get down there and can't score then we miss a field goal. We had our chances. They've got a good football team. You turn it over, you're not going to be able to get it done."
Henderson controlled the ball for 12:38 seconds in the third quarter, giving up just 16 yards to the Tigers, but the Reddies converted just three points on a 23-yard field goal with 7:36 left in the period. Their second drive ended three plays into the fourth with a missed 27-yard attempt.
"It's frustrating," Maxfield said. "We haven't done good inside the 10 all year. We don't have a very good power run game. So when you get down there and you can't run the football, that's what happens."
Ouachita head coach Todd Knight said he was pleased with his defense forcing the turnovers.
"We got in good position," he said. "We came in with plus-15, No. 1 in the GAC and No. 3 in the country in turnover ratio. Turnover ratio is an indication of a football team. Those takeaways are huge."
Knight admitted that while his Tigers took a 24-7 lead into the break, the game had not gone as he anticipated.
"We felt like we were just a little bit nasty in that first half," he said. "We just weren't clicking. You've got to give them all the credit. They've got a good football team. It's the Battle of the Ravine; you've got to expect the best play from both teams.
"We had a few penalties that I was disappointed in, but all-in-all, we got it done. The score really wasn't an indication of the game. They played a lot better game than that score showed."
Reddie quarterback Richard Stammetti threw for just under 65 percent on the day, connecting on 21 of 37 passes for 203 yards, but he also had a pair of interceptions, including one with 2:45 remaining in the game that was returned 20 yards to the Reddies' 3.
"He made a couple of good plays, but down there in the red zone when you have the opportunity to score a touchdown, you've got to do it," Maxfield said. "When you're down there with your back against the wall, you can't throw interceptions."
Maxfield said he plans to get his athletes in the weight room, but he also plans to focus on his team's offense.
"We've got to get bigger and physical," he said. "We've got to be a lot better on offense. I don't think we scored but 30 points the last three games. In college football nowadays, you can't win many games if you only score that many points. I don't think defensively we're that far off, but offensively, we've got some work to do."
The Tigers are competing for the top seed in the NCAA Division II's Super Region 3 with Ferris State, who is also 11-0 after defeating William Jewell (Mo.), 47-6, Saturday afternoon. The Bulldogs defeated the Tigers in the first round of last year's super segional.
"We hope we compete for the No. 1 seed, so we'll just have to see," Knight said. "We need it. We're beat up a little bit, so that week off would really be good."
With the top seed in Super Region Three, the Tigers would get a first-round bye as well as home-field advantage for their second-round game.
"We're one of two undefeated teams, so it's a 50-50 chance that we get a bye," Knight concluded. "Hopefully we do. Hopefully, we'll get to play at Cliff Harris Stadium when we play."
The seedings for the Division II Football Championship will be released at 4 p.m. today during the NCAA's selection show on NCAA.com.
1Q 2Q 3Q 4Q F
OBU 14 10 0 14 38
HSU 0 7 3 0 10
First quarter
OBU--Brayden Brazeal 22 run (Cole Antley kick), 9:23
OBU--Brockton Brown 1 run (Antley kick), 1:31
Second quarter
HSU--Ben Johnson 36 pass from Richard Stammetti (Temo Martinez kick), 8:50
OBU--Antley 35 field goal, 3:32
OBU--La'Darius McElroy 16 pass from Brazeal (Antley kick), 1:00
Third quarter
HSU--Martinez 23 field goal, 7:36
Fourth quarter
OBU--Brown 42 run (Antley kick), 9:00
OBU--Brown 3 run (Antley kick), 2:39
OBU HSU
First downs 38 10
Rushes-yards 42-246 25-92
Passing yards 66 203
Comp-att. 6-15 21-38
Punts-avg. 4-38.5 3-39
Fumbles-lost 1-0 2-1
Penalties-yards 7-65 8-91
Time of possession 29:53 30:07
Individual statistics
Rushing -- OBU, Kris Oliver 14-68, Brayden Brazeal 8-67, Brockton Brown 8-63, Drew Harris 10-48. HSU, Querale Hall 10-39, Logan Moragne 6-19, Richard Stammetti 5-18, Kody Whitaker 4-13.
Passing -- OBU, Brazeal 6-15-0-66. HSU, Stammetti 21-37-2-203, Whitaker 0-1-0-0.
Receiving -- OBU, Harris 3-26, La'Darius McElroy 1-16, Lamar Haynes 1-13, Oliver 1-11. HSU, Ben Johnson 8-112, John Murray 4-50, Ethan Lazarek 2-15, Moragne 2-10.
Sports on 11/11/2018