WEATHERFORD, Okla. – SWOSU Football was unable to find a winning breakthrough score late, and it proved to be costly as the Bulldogs fall at home in a close one to Oklahoma Baptist 31-27.
 
It was the third straight week that the Dawgs found themselves in a knock down drag out affair late in the fourth quarter. In their last three games, SWOSU has been within one possession of taking the lead late in the game and has been unable to engineer that winning drive.
 
This team had to overcome adversity before they even took the field on Saturday night, as starting quarterback Tanner Griffin was ruled out with an injury. In steps the next man up Jalil Kilpatrick, and boy did he step up.
 
A Senior transfer from Detroit, Mich., Kilpatrick was forced into his SWOSU debut with the sudden absence of Griffin and he would go on to go toe to toe with the number one offense in the Great American Conference. He finished with 229 yards and three touchdowns through the air and always seemed poised for a big momentum grabbing play. All three of his touchdown passes came from over 25 yards out, throwing strikes of 26, 61, and 54 yards that ended in six. He also added another 46 yards and a touchdown with his legs. His threat to run opened up another dynamic for an already potent Bulldog offense.
 
Wide receiver Torin Justice had another big night and was clearly Kilpatrick's favorite target throughout the night. He hauled in three catches for 98 yards and two touchdowns while also accruing a season high eight targets.
 
While Kilpatrick was the best passer on the field tonight, the best pass of the day and arguably the best moment of the game came from Freshman punter David Vargas. The Bulldogs lined up to punt on a 4^th and 13 deep into the fourth quarter, but Vargas had no intention of kicking the ball away. He instead found Senior defensive back Justin Mason wide open down the middle for a first down that kept SWOSU hopes alive. It was an incredibly gutsy call from Head Coach Chet Pobolish and it worked like a charm.
 
Jalil Kilpatrick stepped up in a big way when his team needed him too, but the defensive unit for the Bulldogs stepped up their game as well on Saturday night. Facing one of the best if not the best passing offense they'll face all year, SWOSU put in their best defensive performance of the season to date. They held Oklahoma Baptist's second in the nation passing attack that had been averaging 348 passing yards per game to just 167 on the night.
 
Linebacker Davotrick Dotrey returned a first quarter interception 35 yards to set up SWOSU's first touchdown of the game. The Bulldog defense has forced an interception in every game this year.
 
Sophomore defensive lineman RJ Powell had a huge impact up front, coming up with four tackles including a half tackle for loss and two QB hurries. His big moment in the game came in the fourth quarter when he showed off his hops to swat away a Bison attempted pass on fourth and four to turn Oklahoma Baptist over on downs.
 
Costly penalties and special teams miscues kept another feisty effort from this football team from turning into a notch in the win column. Still, there continues to be a lot of positives to be taken from a team that refuses to go down without a fight.
 
They'll have another fight on their hands next week when the Bulldogs make the trek to take on Arkansas-Monticello on Saturday at 2:00 pm.