Box Score (html)
WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Facing a 23-7 deficit entering the fourth quarter, the SWOSU Football team scored 20 unanswered points in the final stanza to defeat Arkansas Tech 27-23 in the Fast Lane Kickoff Classic on Saturday evening.
Steven Townsley intercepted a Dennis Robertson pass and returned it 63 yards to paydirt to put the Bulldogs on top for the first time in the game with 5:11 to play. The pick six came on the heels of back-to-back touchdown drives spanning more than seven minutes as SWOSU picked up an onside kick in between.
After getting little going offensively through three quarters,
Ryley Claborn led the Bulldogs 72 yards in eight plays, getting a trio of big runs from
Karl Hodge before hitting
Teverick Boyd from seven yards out to get within 10 at 23-13. On the ensuing kickoff,
Dalton Jackson tapped the ball forward and
Tanner Thompson was able to recover and give the Bulldogs offense another chance. Claborn and company would convert, taking 10 plays to march 53 yards, converting a 4th and 12 with a 27-yard TD pass from Claborn to
Carlos Smith that made the score 23-20 with 5:39 to play.
ATU got the ball at their own 35-yard line following Jackson's next kickoff but Robertson's second pass sailed high of his intended target and instead found Townsley, who raced past the remaining members of the Wonder Boy offense to find the end zone and complete the improbable fourth-quarter comeback.
Arkansas Tech built their on the heels of three Randy Velazquez field goals, but Velazquez did miss a 52-yard attempt off the left upright in the third quarter. His third made attempt gave the Wonder Boys a 23-7 lead late in the third quarter.
It was around that time that SWOSU got their run game going behind Hodge, who finished the game with a career-best 167 yards and one touchdown on 28 carries. His yardage mark is the seventh-most in SWOSU during the NCAA Division II era.
Claborn finished 24-of-42 for 253 yards and two touchdowns to overcome two interceptions and earn his first win as the Bulldogs starting quarterback. He found
Brad Smithey and Boyd five times each while
Collin Bricker and
X'zavious Harrison hauled in four catches apiece.
SWOSU racked up 406 yards of total offense while the defense held Arkansas Tech to 334 yards and forced four Wonder Boy turnovers.
Devin Benton was a constant force for SWOSU and a nuisance to ATU, registering 5.0 tackles for loss and a half sack as part of his team-high eight tackles.
Tanner Thompson joined Benton with team-high tackling honors while
Kevin Joseph added seven and a pair of interceptions off of Robertson.
The SWOSU defense was constantly making plays behind ATU's line of scrimmage, finishing with 12 tackles for loss and three sacks as part of a performance that also included three interceptions, four pass breakups and two quarterback hurries.
Kapena Olsen and
Collier Ward each had seven tackles while starting linebackers
Kale Sawatzky and
Austin Loomis had six apiece. In total, SWOSU had eight players record a tackle for loss – including
Jake Doyle with 2.5, including a sack on the final play of the game – and four who notched a sack.
Tyler Follis recovered an ATU fumble late in the third quarter as the Wonder Boys had driven the ball into SWOSU territory.
The win for SWOSU is the second consecutive come-from-behind victory in the Fast Lane Kickoff Classic and the 17-point deficit is the largest overcome by the Bulldogs under head coach
Dan Cocannouer. Cocannouer earned his 19th victory as head coach to tie for eighth in the SWOSU all-time wins list.
"These guys never give up," Cocannouer said following the win. "That's a great indication of us. The way the game was going into the fourth quarter, didn't look like we had much of a chance but we just went in there and kept on believing in ourselves."
SWOSU evens their record at 1-1 (1-1 GAC) with the win, giving them so momentum they will hope to carry over into next Saturday's home game against Southern Arkansas. That game will kick off at 6:00 pm from Fast Lane Field.
