Alva Review-Courier -

After taking two losses on the road, Northwestern Oklahoma State football traveled back to Ranger Field to host the Ouachita Baptist Tigers for Military Appreciation Day.

It was already a rough start for both teams as thy had to wait for a weather delay that set back kickoff time for 7:45 p.m. on Saturday. The Rangers struggled to get that early rhythm as they went three-in and three-out after a three-play with a one-yard loss on the drive before having to punt the ball for the Tigers' first possession.

Starting from their 34-yard line Ouachita had a big gain on their second play of the drive as Kris Oliver rushed for 41 yards to Northwestern's 19-yard line. From there, the Tigers tried to hammer the ball up the middle with their rushing game before going to quarterback Austin Warford who found Logan Morris for a nine-yard touchdown pass to lead the Rangers 0-7 within five minutes of the game.

The Rangers gained some much needed ground as they tried a hurry-up offense to make an easy march down the field, keeping the Tigers' defense off balance.

Ranger quarterback Reid Miller hit three different receivers on the drive with a 10-yard pass to Arté Miura Jr., an 11-yard pass to Jacob Peyton, and a 38-yard pass to Horatio Smith to put Northwestern on the Tigers' 16. Miller then opted to run the ball all the way into the end zone as he dived across to tie the game 7-7 with 9:10 left in the first quarter.

Ouachita dominated the rest of the first quarter as they scored twice more off a 68-yard pass to Ke'Vontae Pope in answer to Rangers last touchdown, followed by six yard quarterback keep from Warford to lead Northwestern 7-21.

Those were the Tigers' only points of the first half, as the Rangers defense finally found a spark after Rontez Smith sacked Warford for a 19-yard loss, causing a fumble that put them all the way at Northwestern's 48. Tacking on a 15-yard sideline interference to the end of that play put the Tigers all the way on their 37 making it a third down with 58 yards to go.

On Ouachita's very next possession, Ranger defensive lineman Ramon Readus broke through a block to put pressure on Austin Warford who was forced to roll out of the pocket to avoid the sack. Though Warford was able to avoid the sack, his pass landed into the outstretched hands of Northwestern's Dom Blackmon putting the Rangers' possession on their 39-yard line.

Less than two minutes later, Miller was able to find Horatio Smith cutting up the middle who cut back left toward the side line to avoid a tackle to get the 60-yard touchdown to trail Ouachita 14-21 with 5:18 left in the half.

Though the Rangers built big momentum going into halftime, it was Ouachita Baptist who struck first as they were given first possession of the second half. The Tigers picked up the only touchdown of the third quarter, starting from their 25-yard line and making the 75-yard march in nine plays to increase their lead 14-27.

The Tigers answered again to start the fourth with a 37-yard touchdown pass to Allie Freeman to put the score at 14-35.

Northwestern got their first response in the second half starting their drive from their 16-yard lie with 14:48 left in the game. Their first possession of the final quarter started with back-to-back big plays – a 15-yard pass to Smith followed by a 36-yard pass to DaShawn Gordon – to put them in Tiger territory. The Rangers were able to end the drive on a four-yard pass to Smith to trail Ouachita 20-35 after Blayne Lankford's extra point attempt got blocked.

Northwestern was able to come back within eight points of the Tigers lead with 7:42 left in the game off a four-yard rushing touchdown from Miller to put the score at 27-35, but Ouachita held onto that lead. Both teams scored once more before the end of the game as the Rangers fell 34-42.

Stats

Leslie Nation

Ramon Readus (47) pressures Ouachita Baptist quarterback Austin Warford (10) forcing him to rollout of the pocket leading to an interception for the Rangers.

In the passing game for the Rangers, Miller completed 28 of 42 passes for 400 yards, three touchdowns and one interception. Miller's go-to receiver for the game was H. Smith who picked up 141 yards receiving off six catches and two touchdowns. Other receivers contributing in the passing game were Miura with 72 yards off seven catches, Andrew Yates with 72 yards off five catches, Tammarick Courtney with 49 yards off three catches for one touchdown, Gordon with 36 yards off two catches, J. Peyton with 16 yards off two catches and Malcolm Robinson with 11 yards off two catches.

In the rushing game, J. Peyton had finished with 91 yards off 10 carries while Miller had negative yardage on 11 attempts, but two touchdowns – Miller was sacked six times.

On defense, Maurice Wright Jr. was the only one to hit double digits with 10 total tackles, one for a loss of three yards. Rontez Smith finished with six tackles, two for a total loss of 31 yards and one forced fumble. Devin Peyton had eight tackles, Aharon Barnes and Shane Collins each had six tackles. Defensive back Blackmon snagged the only interception of the night.

Up next, the Rangers come back for homecoming, hosting East Central University on Oct. 1, for a 4 p.m. kickoff.