ARKADELPHIA – For the 42nd time in 99 Battle of the Ravine games, the contest was decided by one score with 25th-ranked Ouachita Baptist University walking away from Carpenter-Haygood Stadium on Saturday with a 35-33 victory over Henderson State University.
The Tigers took advantage of a pair of Reddie turnovers in the third quarter to go up 35-13.
Justin Crutchmer forced a fumble with 3:55 remaining in the third, followed four plays later by a 30-yard touchdown pass from quarterback
Tre Nichols to
Eli Holmes-Holt to put the Tigers up 28-13. On HSU's next drive, former Tiger quarterback
Jordan Walker was picked off by Ouachita's
Kris Robinson, which set up a 10-yard touchdown run by
Chris Henley, Jr. just after the teams switched ends at the quarter break.
The Reddies' passing game found a rhythm on their next two drives to get the game back to a one-score difference. HSU scored at the 11:33 mark, forced the Tigers to a three-and-out, and then scored six plays later to make it 35-27 with 7:16 remaining in the game.
Ouachita looked to be in position to run the clock out with a first down in Reddie territory at the two-minute timeout, but a fumble forced by the Reddies returned to the other end of the field set up HSU with a chance to tie the game. The Reddies scored a touchdown, but the two-point conversion pass attempt was picked off by
KJ Colen to leave the Tigers with a 35-33 lead with 1:33 remaining.
The onside kick attempt was deflected out of bounds, which allowed Ouachita to use the victory formation to run out the clock.
Both teams scored on their opening drives. The Reddies struck first on a seven-play, 88-yard drive that ended with a failed extra point attempt.
Ouachita answered with a seven-play, 78-yard drive that ended with a 39-yard touchdown pass from Nichols to
Carter McElhany down the Tiger sideline. A
Braden Johnson extra point left the Tigers with a 7-6 lead with 8:16 remaining in the first quarter.
The Tiger defense then forced the Reddies to punt on their next four drives, while the Ouachita offense took a two-score lead on a 41-yard touchdown run by Nichols at the 11:17 mark of the second quarter and a 17-yard touchdown run by Henley, Jr. with 3:31 remaining before halftime.
HSU responded with a drive that used up most of the remaining game clock, ending with a touchdown with 15 seconds remaining to trim the Tiger lead to 21-13 at the halftime break.
Henley, Jr. eclipsed 2,000 career rushing yards in the win, finishing with 193 yards on 35 carries for an average of 5.5 yards per carry. Nichols added 95 yards on 12 rushes to go along with 139 yards on 10-of-15 pass completions. Holmes-Holt finished with 74 receiving yards on five receptions.
Crutchmer led the way on defense, filling up the stat sheet with five total tackles, one tackle for loss on a key fourth down stop late in the game, and two forced fumbles.
Cortavion McMillan and
Kris Robinson also had five tackles each.
Romelo Bell,
Walter Hicks, and
KJ Colen all had four tackles.
With the win, the Tigers close the regular season at 9-2 to mark the 11th season in program history with at least nine victories. The Tiger win also extends the streak of visiting teams winning the Battle of the Ravine to five straight seasons. Ouachita now has a high chance of getting an at-large bid into the NCAA Division II playoffs, which would be the seventh in program history. The NCAA will host a selection show at NCAA.com on Sunday at 5 p.m. central time.
