MONTICELLO, Arkansas – The Ouachita football team earned its third consecutive victory and moved above .500 for the season with a convincing 45-10 road victory over Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday afternoon.
In his first career start at quarterback, true freshman
Tre Nichols led a balanced offensive attack for the Tigers (4-3). In a backup role last week against Southern Nazarene, Nichols racked up over 300 yards of total offense, and he did it again on Saturday against UAM with 184 passing yards on just five completions and 142 rushing yards on eight carries. The Arlington, Texas native had a 40-yard touchdown pass and two long touchdown runs of 57 and 66 yards, respectively.
Nichols' 57-yard touchdown run broke up the zeros on the scoreboard at the 7:29 mark of the first quarter. Nichols broke free down the Ouachita sideline and cross the goal line to cap a four-play, 80-yard drive.
The Tigers put together another 80-yard scoring drive again early in the second quarter, this time getting six from
Chris Henley, Jr. on a five-yard score.
UAM (2-5) responded with its only touchdown of the game on its next possession, marching 75 yards on 10 plays capped with a 32 yard touchdown pass.
Ouachita closed out the first half with a 40-yard touchdown pass from Nichols to
Bo Baker at the 3:58 mark, and then added a 35-yard field goal from
Dax Jaggers as time expired after the defense forced a turnover on an interception from
Steven Weston. The Jaggers field goal put the Tigers up 24-7 at the halftime break.
After forcing UAM to punt on its first possession of the second half, the Tigers tallied their third scoring drive of at least 80 yards, marching 88 yards on just four plays featuring Nichols' 66-yard score right down the middle of the field.
UAM responded with its final scoring drive of the game, going 58 yards on 14 plays and getting a 35-yard field goal with 3:59 remaining in the third to leave Ouachita with a 31-10 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
The Tigers outscored the Weevils 14-0 in the fourth on a 13-yard rushing touchdown from Henley, Jr. at the 6:26 mark and a 16-yard touchdown pass from backup quarterback
Jordan Walker to
Rae'G Dailey with 3:50 remaining.
Overall, Ouachita outgained UAM 498-295 in total offense. The Tigers rushed for 298 yards and threw for another 200.
Henley, Jr. finished with 16 carries for 84 yards, including his two touchdowns.
Bo Baker had 104 receiving yards on just three receptions.
Ouachita continued its success in the turnover margin battle at 3-0 against UAM with two interceptions and one fumble recovery.
Steven Weston and
Torion Phillips came up with the interceptions for the Tigers. Weston also led the Tigers in tackling with nine.
The defense also came up with five sacks in the win - one each from
Cortavion McMillan,
Steven Weston,
Kahlil Smith,
Kendall Williams, and
Danny Johnson.
The Tigers are back at home for their next two games. Up next is a clash with Southern Arkansas next Saturday, October 25 for Ouachita Football Alumni Day. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Cliff Harris Stadium.
