Ouachita Baptist 39, A&M-Commerce 36
Location: Memorial Stadium • Commerce, Texas
Records: A&M-Commerce (0-3); Ouachita Baptist (3-0)
Up Next: at Texas A&M-Kingsville • Saturday, October 1 • 7 p.m.

COMMERCE, Texas – Trailing by three scores at the start of the fourth quarter, Texas A&M University-Commerce mounted a furious comeback, but came up just short, falling to Ouachita Baptist 39-33 in its home opener at Memorial Stadium Thursday night.

Yogi Gallegos completed 28-of-47 passes on the night, setting career highs in yards (345) and touchdowns (three). His favorite receiver was Taylor Fore, who also set career-bests in both receptions (10) and yards (92) and was on the receiving end of one of Gallegos' touchdowns. Kevin Bevans also had his best game as a Lion, hauling in seven catches for 76 yards.

But again, it was the lack of a running game that played a major role in the loss as A&M-Commerce garnered just 39 yards on the ground, compared to 340 for Ouachita Baptist. Darryll Crummie led the way with 14 yards on four carries with Marcus Graham adding 10 yards on four carries.

But the star of the night was Ouachita Baptist quarterback Casey Cooper, who finished with 142 passing yards and an additional 200 yards on the ground, accounting for 342 of the Tigers' 482 total yards. Cooper rushed for a pair of touchdowns and threw for another in the OBU victory.

Ouachita Baptist moved down the field on its opening drive, taking a 7-0 lead off a 10-play, 55 yard drive early in the first quarter. A&M-Commerce responded with a nice drive of its own, covering 57 yards in seven plays, capped by an eight-yard pass from Gallegos to Fore to tie the game at seven with four minutes remaining in the quarter.

The Tigers and Lions exchanged field goals early in the second quarter as Jacob O'Neil hit a 27-yarder to tie the game once again at 10 with 4:52 remaining in the half. Ouachita Baptist then strung together a 10-play, 87-yard drive that ran just over four minutes off the clock, finished off with a 32-yard pass from Cooper to Brett Reece in the corner of the endzone, putting the Tigers up 17-10 with 38 seconds remaining in the half.

But A&M-Commerce responded, moving 51 yards to set up O'Neil for another 27-yard field goal as time expired, cutting the Tiger lead to 17-13 at the half.

The third quarter, however, belonged to the Tigers' quarterback as Cooper accounted for both of Ouachita Baptist's scores in the stanza, rattling off a 45-yard touchdown run early in the third, followed by a 19-yard touchdown scamper with 7:24 remaining to give the Tigers a commanding 31-13 lead after three.

But the Lions weren't going down without a fight. Gallegos led the Lions on an eight-play, 67-yard drive before finding Tyler Rawlings for a 25-yard touchdown pass early in the fourth quarter, trimming the Ouachita Baptist lead to 11 at 31-20. The Tigers then drove the field and were attempting a 37-yard field goal, but the kick was blocked by Jacoby Veals and ended up in the arms of Marlin Terrell, who raced 68 yards down the near sideline, tiptoeing the final 20 yards before finding the endzone to pull the Lions to within five at 31-26 after a missed extra point attempt.

With the Lions reclaiming momentum, Ouachita Baptist did exactly what it intended to do – string together a long, time-consuming drive. The Tigers used 14 plays to cover 64 yards and burn nearly eight minutes off the clock, aided in part by a pair of costly A&M-Commerce penalties, before punching in what would prove to be the deciding touchdown with 1:42 remaining.

But A&M-Commerce wasn't done quite yet. The Lions went 73 yards in five plays with Gallegos hitting Graham for a 19-yard touchdown with 44 seconds remaining to cut the deficit to six at 39-33. The Lions attempted an onside kick which resulted in a scramble that lasted nearly a minute. It looked as if A&M-Commerce had recovered, but ultimately it was the Tigers that ended up with the ball, sealing the nailbiting victory.

Along with Cooper's performance, Ouachita Baptist was led by Daniel McGee's 94 rushing yards on 21 carries, with Chris Rycraw racking up 43 yards on 11 carries as the Tigers rushed the ball 58 times for 340 yards. Brett Reece led the Tiger receivers with seven catches for 91 yards and a touchdown.

Defensively, the Lions were led by defensive back Joel Wren, who compiled a career-best 13 tackles, six of which were unassisted. Cory Whitfield added 11 stops for A&M-Commerce with Danny Mason making 10 tackles on the night.

The challenge doesn't get any easier for A&M-Commerce as it seeks its first win of the season. The Lions now head on the road to face nationally-ranked Texas A&M-Kingsville on Saturday, October 1. Kickoff from Javelina Stadium is set for 7 p.m.