MONTICELLO — A star was born as the sun was still shining.
Buddy Taylor, called into action in the second half, threw a 63-yard completion to Anthony Dansby and scored on a 27-yard run the next play with 34 seconds left to give the University of Arkansas at Monticello a 24-20 win over Oklahoma Baptist University on Saturday. Taylor helped power a pile within the last 5 yards of his winning run.
“That was all my teammates,” Taylor said. “I just got out of the pocket and I made something happen. My team helped me to get there. My coach told me to work while I wait, and I had Demilon Brown to help me on the sideline with stuff I wasn’t seeing on the field and things he was feeling.”
Taylor started some games last season with Brown sidelined due to injury, but the true sophomore from River Ridge, La., took over for the sixth-year starter and completed 6 of 11 passes for 121 yards. The winning stat line for Taylor, though, was the 7 carries for 107 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Taylor scored on a 3-yard keeper with 9:33 left in the game to pull the Weevils (4-5 overall and Great American) within 20-17.
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Brown went 5 for 12 for 44 yards and was sacked 3 times. He also ran 8 times for 15 yards.
“Buddy is a heck of a ballplayer and Demilon is as dynamic as they come, and he’s our guy,” UAM offensive coordinator Josh Qualls said. “But as an offensive staff, we felt Buddy gave us the best chance in the second half, brought a little different spark. He’s a guy who gets the ball out quick, and we had a sense of urgency that second half. The first drive, we had to pick it up. He’s a smart guy and manages the game very well. … Making that decision, that was a staff decision, and we leaned on each other, and that’s what we felt was best for this offense going into the second half.”
Oklahoma Baptist (2-7), which led 17-3 with 11:55 left in the third quarter, earned 5 first downs on a 17-play series that lasted 7:37 after Taylor’s first TD run. With UAM out of timeouts, the Bison passed up a chance to make a field goal — Patrick Maxwell made 2 of 2 — and Camden McCrary threw incomplete on fourth-and-6 from the Weevils 10.
Taylor completed 1 of his next 3 passes and rushed for a first down on fourth-and-4, only for a holding penalty to negate the play. Taylor then ran 12 yards from the 8 for the first down and, after another holding call, saw Dansby down the home sideline on first-and-20.
“My coaches told me to keep calm, take what they give us; don’t try to do too much. When they give you a shot, take it,” Taylor said.
Oklahoma Baptist had 404 total yards to UAM’s 361. The Bison covered 150 yards in 3 first-half drives and possessed the ball for 34:25.
“The big thing was to continue to make those guys take snaps,” UAM assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Steve Wright said. “If our guys continue to buy in and do their job — 1 in 11 — the execution is really the part where our guys stepped up. But it goes back to what we did in the summer as far as establishing our culture.”
The Weevils made a goal-line stand with 1:16 left in the half after Oklahoma Baptist’s Chase Whitebear returned an interception 60 yards. Held to 71 yards on 4 first-half drives, the Weevils were forced to punt on their first two drives, the opening series nearly lasting 6 minutes.
The Bison turned in a 16-play, 96-yard drive on its first offensive series, scoring on a 3-yard E.J. Moore carry. Moore carried 32 times for 135 yards.
Camden McCrary completed 14 of 24 passes for 194 yards for the Bison. Maxwell gave them a 10-0 lead with a 39-yard field goal.
Oklahoma Baptist’s Darius Melton had a rough second half returning kickoffs. He fumbled the opening return in the second half, leading to a 43-yard Dylan Duhon field goal. Melton then slipped at his own 3, but the Bison scored in 3 plays, as Michael Marshall’s 55-yard catch over defensive back Timothy Jasper made it a 17-3 lead.
A.J. Bullock, a converted linebacker sharing carries with former quarterback Dontae Rhodes for UAM, scored on a 1-yard run with 6:58 left in the third frame. Maxwell then split the uprights on a 35-yard field goal with 13:34 left in the game to pad the Bison’s lead to 20-10.
McCrary ran 13 yards for a touchdown on fourth-and-6 to keep alive Oklahoma Baptist’s final drive. A juggled reception that went out of bounds and an incompletion on a last-play heave from the UAM 48 sealed the Weevils’ win.
The Weevils doubled their number of wins from last season and improved to 3-2 at Willis “Convoy” Leslie Cotton Boll Stadium this season, posting its most wins at home since 2019.
NEXT UP
UAM hits the road for the final time this season, visiting Southern Nazarene at 2 p.m. next Saturday in Bethany, Okla. The Weevils will close the regular season Nov. 16 at home against Southern Arkansas.
Oklahoma Baptist will take on Ouachita Baptist in Shawnee, Okla., next Saturday.