Goodwell, OK - Oklahoma Panhandle
State and Southern Nazarene are a pair of evenly matched
college football teams who make up a strong Oklahoma intra-state
rivalry. They met again on Saturday and Southern Nazarene
came away with a hard fought 17-16 victory.
The Crimson Storm’s excellent kicker, Chris Borah,
opened the scoring with a 29 yard field gold to put Southern
Nazarene ahead 3-0 with eight minutes left in the opening
quarter.
Still in the first quarter, the Aggie’s gifted running
back, David Daniels, sailed in on a 45 yard sprint to put
the Aggies in the lead with just over two minutes left.
The Hal Rogers extra point made it 7-3.
With but five seconds gone in the second period, Darryl
Mapp’s 16 yard scoring run and Borah’s PAT
put the Crimson Storm back in front at 10-7.
With just 14 seconds remaining in the first half, Southern
Nazarene’s Jordan Bley hauled in a five yard scoring
pass from Tyler Schneider and another Borah extra point
put the Crimson Storm ahead 17-7 as the teams went to intermission.
The halftime ceremony included recognition of former OPSU
All-Americans Ivan Simmons (’55), Junior Wolf (’59),
David Flowers (‘79), Joe Stepp (’94) and current
Aggie Jeborric Evans (’04). Wolf, who is retired
and lives in Oregon, had also addressed the team prior
to the game.
The Aggies came out for the second half prepared for a
dogfight, and that’s exactly what it was as the Aggie “D” was
determined to stand tall.
With six minutes left in the third quarter, and after
a Southern Nazarene turnover, Aggie quarterback Brandon
Warner plunged for a one-yard touchdown. Rogers’ conversion
got the Aggies within three points at 17-14.
With just a minute left in the third period, an exceptionally
strong OPSU defensive stand forced the Crimson Storm to
punt from their end zone. An errant snap went high and
the Aggies were awarded a safety to make the score 17-16.
In the fourth quarter, the OPSU defense continued to play
well, however, and though the Aggie “O” threatened,
they could not get on the board. Eventually, Southern Nazarene
let the clock run out as they notched the 17-16 victory.
Warner led the Aggies in passing with five completions
in ten attempts for 60 yards, one of them a 35-yarder to
Shane Black. Daniels led Aggie runners with 83 yards in
11 carries.
On defense, Gary Hendricks (an All-Independent Football
Alliance performer last year) was tough “in the pit” and
had nine tackles for the Aggies, including two tackles
for losses as well as a quarterback sack. Rugged linebackers
Ranoaldo Davis, Clifford Dean and LaKendrick Bevil also
performed well for OPSU. Davis had eight tackles (including
a sack) and Dean and Bevil each had seven stops. Davis
also had an interception (he returned for four yards),
as did Andre Gumbs (who had a nice 23 yard return). Marcus
Dudley also had a sack for OPSU.
OPSU head coach Kyle Davis said that he saw several positive
things the team will continue to build on. The first year
mentor was pleased with his defense and the hard running
of Daniels.
OPSU fell to 0-3 and Southern Nazarene now stands at 1-2
on the season. Next Saturday, the Aggies will be on the
road, facing Wayne State in Wayne, Nebraska.
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