By BRANDON WILLIS
Student Reporter
The Rangers suffer 38-41 loss at home to Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday.
Northwestern entered the game coming off a huge 31-16 victory over Southeastern on homecoming.
When play got under way at Ranger Field, it looked to be another blowout win for the Red-and-Black as they jumped out to a lead 24-7 before halftime, but things would start to tighten up in the second half.
In the first half, Northwestern junior quarterback, Reid Miller, threw for 3 touchdowns in the first half.
After a silent first quarter from either team, the Rangers scored 24 unanswered points in the second quarter.
The defense allowed zero points in half and the only OBU score was by and interception return for the touchdown to end the half.
Junior cornerback, Jordan Norris, continued his pursuit for All-American honors as he collected another interception putting his season total at seven. The seven picks places him second in the country for Division II football.
An 81 yard run from the Bison Jacob Ellis would start off the second half and spark some momentum for the OBU offense.
With 5:36 left in the third quarter, Bison sophomore quarterback Dezmond Stegall ran in for a touchdown to tighten the score at 21-24, still in favor of the Rangers.
OBU would jump out to the lead eventually in the fourth quarter but the Rangers were able to punch one in to regain a 31-27 lead.
With just eight minutes remaining in the half, the Bison intercepted Ranger quarterback, Reid Miller’s pass and return it 26 yards for a touchdown. The score by the Bison defense pushed them back out front where they never looked back.
The Rangers managed to close the deficit three points, but it was too late.
The Bison completed a massive comeback taking the contest 41-38.
Northwestern was led by quarterback Miller who completed 39 of his 60 pass attempts and totaled 500 yards passing along with four touchdowns through the air and one on the ground.
The Rangers (2-5) will take on the Southern Nazarene Crimson Storm in Bethany, Okla. at 4 p.m. on Saturday.
The Crimson Storm are 0-7 on the year and have not defeated Northwestern since 2006.