Heritage Bowl: Oklahoma Baptist edges UT Permian Basin 24-21

Corsicana Daily Sun, Texas
·2 min read

Dec. 5—Oklahoma Baptist University raced out to a 24-7 lead and hung on to beat UT Permian Basin 24-21 Saturday to win the 2021 Fun Town RV Heritage Bowl at Community National Bank & Trust Stadium.

It was the first bowl game for both programs and OBU's Bison (8-4) completed the best season since the birth of football there nine years ago. Quarterback Preston Haire and tailback Tyler Stuever set school career records in passing and rushing.

Stuever was named the Fun Town RV Heritage Bowl MVP after running for 150 yards on 30 carries and scoring a touchdown on a short run just before halftime to lift the Bison to a 17-7 lead. He also caught three passes for 26 yards.

Haire wrapped up a brilliant career by connecting on 25-of-41 passes for 181 yards and a touchdown. He also ran for 43 yards on 11 carries and scored on a 17-yard run with 4:13 left in the third to give the Bison a 24-7 lead.

OBU scored first when Guillermo Garcia-Rodriguez nailed a 32-yard field goal with 9:17 left in the first quarter. UT Permian Basin answered with a nine-yard touchdown pass from Suddin Sapian to Matt Zubiate to take a 7-3 lead with 2:45 left in the first — it was the only time the Falcons (5-6) led all day.

The Bison smothered UTPB's running game, holding the Falcons to just 18 rushing yards in the game and built a 17-7 halftime lead on Haire's 12-yard TD pass to Josh Cornell and Stuever's TD run out of the Wildcat. Haire's 17-yard TD run made it a 24-7 game, but UT Permian came roaring back to make it a tense and exciting fourth quarter.

Clayton Roberts, who led the Falcons all year, throwing for 1,500 yards this season, led the comeback. He threw for 161 yards Saturday, and brought UTPB back with two touchdown passes in the fourth quarter, including a fourth-down 25-yarder to Jordan Smart to close to 24-14 with 13:17 left in the game.

The Falcons forced a punt and Roberts came right back on the next possession, driving the Falcons 52 yards in four plays to close the gap to 24-21 with an 11-yard TD pass to Marcus Molina with 9:20 left in the game.

That left plenty of time for the Falcons, but both teams stood up on defense and produced three-and-outs until late in the game when Stuever broke free for a first-down on a powerful 26-yard run to nail down the victory.