ADA, Okla. – The Northwestern Oklahoma State football team fell to East Central, 42-24, on Saturday night.
Both sides got off to a strong start defensively, as each team punted on their opening drive, followed by the Rangers marching down the field with strong runs by
Jayce Morgan and
Jacob T. Jones, who capped the drive on a 12-yard touchdown run to give Northwestern a 6-0 lead midway through the first quarter.
East Central responded with a touchdown of their own to take a 7-6 lead, but the Ranger defense locked the Tigers down on their next possession, as
Wyatt Potter intercepted a pass to put Northwestern at the Tiger 28-yard line.
Kash Shipley chipped in a 23-yard field goal to give the Rangers the lead in the second quarter, 9-7, but the Tigers scored on their next two drives to go up 21-9 with three minutes left in the first half.
The Ranger offense struggled to find momentum, but
Terry McCutcheon recovered a muffed punt at the Tiger 43-yard line with 1:47 remaining in the second quarter to give the Rangers a shot to reclaim momentum before halftime. Northwestern continued to pound the ball against the Tigers, with Morgan breaking off runs before Jones connected with
Royal Kyle from 12 yards out for a Ranger touchdown that put Northwestern down 21-16 going into the locker room.
East Central scored the only points of the third quarter on the first play from scrimmage to go up 28-16, as the Rangers put together back-to-back drives that ended with turnovers on downs at the Tiger 30-yard line. The Tigers tacked on another touchdown early in the fourth quarter to extend their lead to 35-16 with 13 minutes remaining, but Northwestern answered back on a 82-yard drive that ended with Jones finding
Koda Bridges for his fourth touchdown catch of the season to bring the Rangers back within 13. The Rangers went for two, and converted it as Jones found
Henry Wilson to cut the deficit down to 11 with 11 minutes left in the game. The Tigers added another touchdown midway through the quarter to give East Central a 42-24 win.
Jones led the Rangers with 214 passing yards and two touchdowns while adding another on the ground, while Morgan led in rushing with 62 yards on 18 carries. Kyle led in receiving yards with 77 on five catches and a touchdown. On the defensive side,
Cade Reynolds and
Aiden Lewis each had six tackles, while four different Rangers had a tackle for loss.
The Rangers will be back in action on Oct. 3, when they travel to Magnolia, Arkansas to take on Southern Arkansas at 2 p.m.
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