ALVA, Okla. - For the second straight game, the Northwestern Oklahoma State football team made it very interesting towards the end of the game, but pulled out the win this time around against the Oklahoma Baptist Bison, 31-24.

Northwestern rushed for an impressive 316 yards on the afternoon where two Rangers were over the 100 yard mark in Jacob Peyton and Anthony Cota who had 145 and 109 yards respectively.

Horatio Smith also had a stellar game on offense as he caugh two passes for an astonishing 125 yards and a TD.

The defensive side of the ball had a few standouts as Maurice Wright Jr. led the way in tackles with 16 on the day and was followed up by Dakota Driskill who recorded 13 and Mickal Arvie who finished the day with 12. Wright also finished the contest with 3.5 tackles for loss and a sack.

Both teams' defenses were very stout to start the contest as both teams combined scored just three points in the opening frame. The three points came off the foot of Northwestern kicker, Zave Goodrich, who knocked it through the uprights from 31 yards out.

Following two-straight four-and-outs forced by the Ranger defense, Northwestern went for their second consecutive score. With a long 89 yards left to go, Jake McClurg and the offense started making their way down the field.

Just six plays after the drive start, Jacob Peyton broke open a 58-yard rush to the promised land, making it a 10-0 lead.

OBU wasn't going to go away easily however as the Bison traveled 75 yards down the field, kicking a field goal, as that was all the home team would allow, making it a 10-3 contest.

One of the quickest drives of the game was the next one by Northwestern where McClurg rushed for a 24-yard TD of his own, putting the hosts ahead, 17-3.

Lighting up the scoreboard, Northwestern posted one more on the board, this one by Anthony Cota, taking the rock to the house from 19 yards out.

The score by the junior running back made the score, 24-3 and what looked like would be an insurmountable deficit for the Bison.

It only took two Bison possessions to find the scoreboard for the second time, but this time finished in a touchdown. With the drive of OBU starting at 7:49, the guests only needed one play in order to score and it was on a 47-yard pass from Preston Haire to Josh Pettijohn. The score was just the beginning of the drama for the game.

In a quick attempt to respond to the quick score, the Rangers pushed the lead back up to 21, which is where the scoring would stop in the third quarter, as Northwestern led 31-10 after 45 minutes of play.

The next drive for the Bison was eight plays long and it once again ended in seven points for the visitors, bringing the score to 31-17, Northwestern.

Following the last score for the Black-and-Red, Northwestern had a very hard time moving the ball down the field as it would be the last time they would score.

With 8:00 left on the clock, the visitors struck gold again, scoring on a 17-yard pass to the corner of the endzone, making the advantage for the home team, just seven.

The final drive of Oklahoma Baptist was the biggest of them all as OBU was driving and it looked like they were sure to push it into the endzone from the one yard line, but Haire tried a gutsy pass to the corner of the endzone and was picked off by Aharon Barnes.

The interception ultimately did the Bison in as the Rangers were able to drop into victory formation on the last possession to take the game, 31-24.

UP NEXT
Northwestern will be hosting Southwestern Oklahoma State this coming Saturday on Senior Day where the Rangers will try to take down the arch rival for the first time since 2015. Kickoff is set for 4 p.m. at Ranger Field.