Oklahoma Panhandle State University

Box Score Muskogee, Okla.—In what could have been their last meeting for the foreseeable future, the OPSU Aggie Football team overran the Warriors of Bacone College 69-20 Saturday afternoon.

The Aggies hit the ground running with back-to-back first downs on their opening drive by Devyn Williams (11 yards) and Chris McClendon (13 yards). Quarterback Brandon Ramon then went to an air assault in the Aggies' second series completing four of five passes for a combined 86 yards and the first touchdown of the day; a 42-yard reception by Devyn Williams. The remainder of the opening quarter was a defensive stand-off with OPSU holding possession going into the second quarter.

On the first play of the second quarter Rod Moore found the end zone on a 10-yard handoff from QB Shane Truelove. A missed extra point had the Aggies up 13-0 with only ten seconds off the clock. Truelove then called his own number on a first and ten play for a 38-yard touchdown; the successful point after attempt by Nik Clarkson gave the Aggies a 20-0 advantage with under twelve minutes left in the half. A roughing the kicker penalty by OPSU on Bacone's ensuing punt gave the ball back to the Warriors in Aggie territory and resulted in the first touchdown for the home team. The Warriors' celebration was cut short as Devyn Williams took the following kickoff to the house with a 97-yard return. A forced fumble by Cortney Stinnett on Bacone's next possession led to another Aggie touchdown; a rush by Terrell Miles.

Still only halfway through the second quarter, the Aggie Darkside Defense held the Warriors to their third three-and-out and Chris McClendon entered the end zone for his first touchdown of the day from the Bacone nine-yard line. As the first half ticked down an interception by Truelove turned the ball over giving the Warriors the opportunity to score their second TD with less than one minute on the clock. The score was 41-14 at the half in favor of the Aggies.

With Ramon in at quarterback the Aggies marched 97 yards in just five plays to further their lead; a 39-yard pass to Zacari Lavender put the Aggies up 48-14. On Bacone's following drive Sheldon Catley came down with an interception and an eight-yard return to give the Aggies the ball on the Bacone 45, but the Aggies were unable to convert and turned the ball back over on downs. Later in the third Rod Moore and Ramon combined for 45 yards and another Aggie TD. Bacone entered the fourth quarter with possession of the ball and a 41-point deficit as OPSU led 55-14.

The Warriors stole a second Aggie pass on a first-and-ten play early in the fourth and took the ball 84 yards in seven plays for, what would be their final touchdown of the day. Zacari Lavender then turned on the jets for a 98-yard return on kickoff and sophomore Xavier Jones entered the game and scored his first touchdown of the season to seal the deal for the Aggies.

OPSU's offense racked up 636 total yards against the Warriors; 352 rushing and 284 passing. Truelove led the team in rushing with 117 yards and one touchdown followed by McClendon who rushed for 56 yards and one TD on nine carries. Rod Moore totaled 47 yards with two touchdowns. The receiving duties were equally spread with Eddie Thomas leading the pack with 62 yards on two receptions; Deandre Perry totaled 58 yards, Devyn Williams had 56 and Lavender finished with 50 yards for the game. Williams led the team in all-purpose yards with 172; 105 off returns alone.

Defensively the Aggies dominated with a pass attack that produced nine sacks on the day; freshman Sequoia Smith led the team with 2.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles-for-loss and one fumble recovery. Leading in tackles was Sheldon Catley with ten; Catley also earned one sack, two tackles-for-loss, one interception and one pass-breakup. The Aggie defense allowed only three of 19 third-down conversions and took 54 yards on sacks and 102 yards on TFL from Bacone's offense.

Coach Russell Gaskamp was happy for the road win saying, "We knew going in to this game that we had a better team. I'm happy how our kids handled business and got the win. We were able to utilize our depth and get a bunch of guys good playing experience; that should bode well for use in the future."

With a week off before Homecoming Coach Gas intends to work on improving a few areas of concern, "Going into the bye week we'll focus on getting our players healthy and improving as a team. As coaches we'll get back to some fundamentals that we need to focus on."

As the Aggies part ways to enter the Lone Star Conference in 2016, they leave with the upper hand over this intra-state rival winning the last two games of the match-up. However, Bacone takes away an overall winning record of 7-5 against OPSU since their affiliation with the Central States Football League began in 2002. OPSU will face one final CSFL opponent this season in a home-field match-up with Texas College on Oct. 31.

The Aggies will gear up for a great week of Homecoming activities coming off this bye week and hope to fill the stands with Aggie fans on Saturday, Oct. 10 as they take on Southwestern University at 1 p.m.