November 16th, 2024 2:00pm
ARKADELPHIA – The ninth-ranked Ouachita Baptist University football team likely extended its season with a 27-20 victory over Henderson State University on Saturday afternoon at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in the 97th Battle of the Ravine.
In addition to the rivalry win, which improves Ouachita's lead in the series to 47-44-6, the Tigers also secured the program's seventh Great American Conference championship, the fifth season in program history with at least 10 wins, and most likely punched the team's ticket into the NCAA Division II playoffs. The tournament field will be announced on Sunday evening. Ouachita (10-1) is seeking its sixth NCAA postseason berth.
The victory also marked win No. 162 for Todd Knight as the head coach at his alma mater, tying him with the late Buddy Benson as the winningest coaches in program history. Knight, who is now 162-102 in 25 seasons at Ouachita, played for Benson in the 1980s. Knight's first win at Ouachita was also in the Battle of the Ravine, a 34-17 victory over the Reddies in the 1999 season opener.
Saturday's game started with a defensive battle in the first quarter with only one field goal for both teams in the first quarter from Ouachita's Dax Jaggers and HSU's Kolby King.
With 11:44 remaining in the second quarter, the Tigers went up 10-3 on a 60-yard touchdown pass from Eli Livingston to Bo Baker streaking down the Ouachita sideline. The Reddies kept Ouachita off the scoreboard the rest of the half, while adding a field goal with 5:30 remaining to put the Tigers up 10-6 at the break.
The defenses kept their stingy play going into the third quarter with both teams coming up empty. That set the stage for 31 combined points in the fourth quarter.
HSU (8-3) tied the game on a 17-yard touchdown run by quarterback Andrew Edwards at the 11:19 mark. Ouachita responded less than two minutes later on a 42-yard touchdown run by Kendel Givens to take a 20-13 lead.
The Reddies came back eight plays later to tie the game at 20-20 with 5:43 remaining.
Givens found the endzone again on what ended up being the game-winning drive, punching it in from one yard out with 1:54 remaining. That score was set up by a 45-yard catch and run by Garrison Jackson, who was knocked out of bounds at the one-yard line.
HSU then marched into Ouachita territory, but stalled out at the 37-yard line with four consecutive incomplete passes.
The Tigers held a slim margin in total offense at 394-341, including a 233-82 lead in rushing yards. Eli Livingston was 8-for-17 through the air with one touchdown. He added 84 rushing yards on 16 carries. Kendel Givens finished with 24 carries for 108 yards, his fourth triple digit rushing performance of the season and 16th of his career.
Jax Miller paced the Ouachita defense with seven tackles. Mario Ganter added six tackles and had an interception returned 39 yards that negated a potential HSU score in the redzone in the third quarter. Josiah Johnson and Dawson Miller also had six tackles.
The Tigers will learn of their likely playoff selection on Sunday at 5 p.m., when the NCAA reveals the bracket on www.NCAA.com.