DURANT, Oklahoma – The Ouachita football team picked up its first win of the 2026 season on Saturday night, escaping the Texoma region with a 23-17 road victory over Southeastern Oklahoma State.
The Tigers scored 16 of their 23 points in the first quarter, finding the endzone on their first offensive possession on a two-yard touchdown run by backup quarterback
Ty Burleson and then going up 9-0 on blocked punt by
Luke Wrublesky that went out of the back of the Southeastern endzone with 3:14 remaining in the opener.
Burleson found the endzone again on a short touchdown run with 1:41 remaining in the first on a short drive that was highlighted by a 53-yard pass from
Tre Nichols to
JJ Pipkin.
The Ouachita defense showed consistency throughout the first half. The Tigers forced Southeastern to punt on its first four drives, got a turnover on downs on the fifth, and then earned a takeaway on a fumble on the sixth. It wasn't until Southeastern's seventh offensive possession for the Savage Storm to find the scoreboard, settling for a field goal in the final seconds of the half to put Ouachita up 16-3 at the break.
The Tigers came out of the locker room and marched 75 yards on seven plays on the first drive of the second half and punched it in on a three-yard touchdown run by
Chris Henley, Jr. The extra point by
Braden Johnson put the Tigers up 23-3.
Southeastern controlled much of the rest of the game, giving up just 38 yards to the Tigers the rest of the way and rallying back to make it a one-score game with a touchdown early in the fourth quarter and another with 2:43 remaining. The Tiger defense came up with another takeaway to seal the win on an interception from
Kahlil Smith in the final minute with Southeastern looking to tie the game or take the lead.
The Savage Storm ended up with a 400-299 edge in total offense, including a 307-167 margin in passing yards. The Tigers outrushed Southeastern 132-93.
Nichols finished the game 9-for-15 through the air for 167 yards and added a team-high 44 rushing yards on nine carries. He scattered his completions around to eight different receivers.
Romelo Bell led the defense with seven tackles.
Torion Phillips,
Kris Robinson, and
Kahlil Smith all had six tackles each. Smith had two sacks in the win to go along with his interception in the final minute.
The Tigers are back on the road next Saturday, September 19 to take on Arkansas Tech. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. in Russellville.
