SEARCY -- As for taking stock of the Great American Conference standings, it's clearly a bull market.
Unbeaten Harding clinched a share of the GAC title by running past Southwestern Oklahoma 42-27 before an announced homecoming crowd of 5,100 on an unseasonably warm Saturday afternoon at First Security Stadium.
The Bisons (9-0) finished with a season-high 506 rushing yards -- their fifth-highest total ever -- to claim their first share of a conference championship since 1989.
Harding, 9-0 for the first time, can earn an outright GAC title with a victory next week at Northwestern Oklahoma.
The Bisons needed a championship-caliber drive to finally subdue pass-happy Southwestern Oklahoma (4-5), which had been riding a four-game winning streak.
Southwestern Oklahoma drew within 35-27 midway through the fourth quarter, but the Bisons moved 61 yards in 10 plays for the clinching touchdown, a 23-yard run third-down run by senior quarterback Park Parish of Clinton with 2:23 remaining in the game.
The play punctuated Parish's stat line -- 22 carries for a career-high 153 yards and 2 touchdowns (3 and 23 yards) and 4 of 6 passing for 54 yards.
"He was exceptional," Bisons Coach Ronnie Huckeba said.
Harding, which never trailed, led 28-13 at halftime and 35-20 after three quarters.
Saturday marked the second time this fall that Harding was challenged in the fourth quarter.
It beat two-time GAC champion Ouachita Baptist 24-20 on Oct. 1, with Parish scoring the game-winning touchdown on a 2-yard run with 7:28 remaining.
"That's always good as you're progressing through the season," Huckeba said of competing for a full game against Southwestern Oklahoma. "The other thing is every time those guys made a play, we had a great answer. The last drive was about as good as it gets, as far as I'm concerned."
The 5:22 possession included a 19-yard pass completion from Parish to junior slotback Zach Shelley on third and 8 from the Harding 41 and a 7-yard run by senior slotback Eric Kelly on fourth and 3 from the Southwestern Oklahoma 33.
Harding was penalized for an illegal block, and attacked a first-and-25 situation from the Southwestern Oklahoma 41 with three consecutive running plays that netted 9, 9 and, finally, on third and 7, a 23-yard touchdown.
The final two runs -- 9 and 23 yards by Parish -- were on midline option keepers, the same play that resulted in a 75-yard run and 2-yard touchdown on consecutive fourth-quarter carries in the comeback victory against Ouachita.
"When we run the option, we're reading a guy," Huckeba said, referring to an interior defensive lineman. "Sometimes when that guy steps out, instead of closing down and take the dive, that stepping out gives us the opportunity to run the midline. We knew when we got to that last drive, we knew it was going to end up being a midline drive."
Harding held the ball more than twice as long as Southwestern Oklahoma, winning time of possession 40:55-19:05, and finished with 560 total yards. The Bisons amassed 506 rushing yards on 72 attempts.
Shelley ran 7 times for 133 yards and 2 touchdowns (66 and 58 yards).
Shelley's 66-yard touchdown run gave Harding the lead for good, 14-7, with 2:46 remaining in the first quarter.
Shelley ran 58 yards for another touchdown to give Harding a 35-13 lead with 14:07 remaining in the third quarter.
The Bulldogs finished with 378 total yards.
Senior quarterback Marc Evans completed 20 of 33 passes for 335 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Senior wide receiver D.J. Jones caught 4 passes for 136 yards and 2 touchdowns (55 and 46 yards).
Southwestern Oklahoma was within 35-27 after junior tailback Karltrell Henderson's 7-yard touchdown run with 7:49 remaining in the game.
But the Bisons -- again -- were too bullish for a GAC opponent.
"Real pleased with that last drive and the way the game turned out," Huckeba said.
Harding's last conference title came in the now-defunct Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference. The GAC's first season was 2011.
HENDERSON STATE 67,
OKLAHOMA BAPTIST 21
ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State (7-2, 7-2 Great American Conference) utilized big plays in a big way in trouncing Oklahoma Baptist (2-7, 2-7) in front of a homecoming crowd of 5,500 at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium.
The Reddies passed for 594 yards, 1 shy of the conference record, and had 785 yards of total offense. The HSU offense had 12 plays from scrimmage that covered more than 20 yards, including a 97-yard touchdown pass from Andrew Black to Al Lasker in the first quarter. Henderson passed for 595 yards against East Central (Okla.) in 2013. Black was 14 of 27 for 351 yards and 5 touchdowns. Evan Lassiter, who has split time with Black at quarterback, entered early in the third quarter and finished 17 of 26 for 243 yards and 2 scores.
In addition to the 97-yarder to Lasker, Black also had touchdown passes for 6 and 9 yards to Austin Bennett, 13 yards to Courtney Whitehead and 73 yards to Ben Johnson. Lassiter’s scores were for 2 yards to Whitehead and 58 yards to Johnson.
Johnson had 3 catches for 151 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Lasker had 3 receptions for 132 yards and 1 score. Whitehead totaled 5 catches for 67 yards and 2 touchdowns. James Driskell also had 6 catches for 52 yards and Adler Goode finished with 4 receptions for 77 yards.
In the second quarter, the Reddies picked up two safeties, both on errant punt snaps, and also blocked a punt to set up Robert Thomas’ 1-yard touchdown run a play later.
The Reddies also finished with 191 rushing yards, led by Jaquan Cole’s 91 yards on 11 carries. Micah Cooper also ran for 78 yards and 1 touchdown on 10 carries.
For Oklahoma Baptist, quarterback Dezmond Stegall of Searcy was 17 of 37 for 263 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception.
The Reddies defense had 17 tackles for loss and had interceptions by Darius Thomas, Mercardo Anderson and Anthony Hatten.
ARKANSAS TECH 41,
NW OKLAHOMA STATE 35
RUSSELLVILLE — Kristian Thompson rushed for a career-high 145 yards and 3 touchdowns on offense, while D’Vonta Derricott had a season-high 18 tackles on defense as Arkansas Tech (5-4, 5-4 Great American Conference) held off a rally in the fourth quarter by Northwestern Oklahoma State (4-5, 4-5) to earn a homecoming victory Saturday.
Thompson’s first touchdown was also the Wonder Boys’ first, coming on a 15-yard run with 11:52 in the second quarter to take a 7-0 lead. He added a 5-yard touchdown run in the third quarter and a 42-yard run in the fourth quarter. Arkansas Tech had 443 yards of total offense, with 322 yards coming on the ground. Jackob Dean blocked a punt in the end zone with 11:57 left in the game to give the Wonder Boys a 35-14 lead, but the Rangers scored 21 unanswered points to tie the game at 35-35. Quarterback Reid Miller threw touchdown passes to
Sports on 10/30/2016Horatio Smith (2 yards) and Riley Hess (6 yards), and Jordan Norris added a 35-yard interception return with 6:43 remaining to tie the game. Thompson’s final touchdown provided the final margin.
Miller went 26-of-52 passing for 344 yards with 3 touchdowns and 1 interception for Northwestern Oklahoma State, which had 454 yards of total offense.
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 38,
SE OKLAHOMA STATE 24
MAGNOLIA — Southern Arkansas (7-2, 7-2 GAC) outscored Southeastern Oklahoma State 24-7 in the first half on its way to a victory Saturday.
Three of quarterback Barrett Renner’s five touchdown passes came in the first half for the Muleriders. The first was for 13 yards to Jared Brown in the first quarter. Renner hit Tanner Hudson on touchdown passes of 61 and 45 yards in the second quarter, and a Bradford Grems 21-yard field goal gave SAU a 24-7 halftime lead. Quarterback CB Cantwell found Kaymon Farmer for a 13-yard touchdown in the second quarter for Southeastern Oklahoma (5-4, 5-4 GAC).
Renner found Hudson for a third time on a 17-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, then found Dalton Wright on a 4-yard pass in the fourth quarter. Renner finished 28 of 36 passing for 338 yards. Hudson had six catches for a game-high 148 yards.
ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 42, EAST CENTRAL (OKLA.) 21
MONTICELLO — Quarterback Cole Sears threw for 343 yards and four touchdowns to lead Arkansas-Monticello (4-5, 4-5 GAC) to a victory over East Central (Okla.) on Saturday.
Sears found Ed Smith on touchdown passes of 42 and 9 yards in the first quarter to get out to a 14-7 lead. Jalen Tolliver caught a 7-yard touchdown pass and Nathan Crouch added a 67-yard touchdown catch in the third quarter for the Boll Weevils, who had 537 yards of total offense.
Deountario Brown added 154 yards and 1 touchdown on a nine-yard fourth-quarter run for UAM. Tolliver finished with 9 catches for 135 yards.
DIVISION III
RHODES 55, HENDRIX 54
MEMPHIS — Hendrix jumped out to a 20-7 first-quarter lead Saturday at Crain Field, but Rhodes (3-5, 2-4 SAA) outscored the Warriors 28-14 in the second quarter and 14-13 in the third quarter as Hendrix (6-2, 4-2) fell from a three-way tie for second place at the start of the day in the Southern Athletic Association standings.
Quarterback Seth Peters threw a touchdown pass to Ethan Hoppe and two more to Ben Luedtke in the first quarter. Hoppe added touchdown catches of 13 and 35 yards in the second quarter as the Warriors trailed 35-34 at halftime.
Dayton Winn had touchdown runs of two and 42 yards in the third quarter for Hendrix, but Rhodes answered with two touchdown throws from quarterback P.J. Settles for a 48-47 lead going into the fourth quarter.
Winn added a third touchdown run in the fourth quarter, but Settles answered with a touchdown run of his own to set the final margin. Settles went 23-of-40 passing for 425 yards and 5 touchdowns. He also ran 10 times for 42 yards and 2 touchdowns.
Peters went 23-of-34 passing for 359 yards for Hendrix, while Luedtke led Warriors receivers with 4 catches for 104 yards. Winn had 284 yards rushing on 34 carries as Hendrix had 670 yards of total offense.
WAYLAND BAPTIST 52,
LYON COLLEGE 14
PLAINVIEW, Texas — Dwane Robinson was the lone bright spot for Lyon College, throwing for a touchdown in the first quarter and running for another in the fourth quarter in a loss to Wayland Baptist on Saturday at Sherwood Memorial Stadium.
The Bulldogs (7-1, 4-0 Central States Football League) jumped out to a 17-7 lead in the first quarter, thanks to two touchdown passes from quarterback Mitchell Parsley and a 25-yard field goal from Renato Dos Anjos. Robinson’s 25-yard touchdown pass to Jonathan Hendrix with 2:37 left in the first quarter brought the Scots (3-6, 2-3) within 10-7. The Bulldogs, who had 579 yards of total offense despite just 19:07 in time of possession, scored 35 unanswered points in the second and third quarters to take control of the game. Parsley threw three more touchdown passes, Josh Paul returned an interception 21 yards for a touchdown and De’Sean Johnson ran for a 50-yard score to take a 52-7 lead with 2:34 left in the third quarter. Parsley finished 13-of-18 passing for 304 yards, while Johnson rushed for 169 yards on 12 carries.
Robinson ran for a 5-yard touchdown with 13:24 remaining for the Scots’ only touchdown of the second half. He finished 7-of-19 passing for 67 yards and rushed 11 times for 15 yards.