Harding 'wounded,' faces SAU

Harding's 32-31 loss to Southeastern Oklahoma State last Saturday in Durant, Okla., was not an enjoyable experience for Coach Paul Simmons and the Bisons.

"It was a real painful loss," Simmons said. "It was a night of what-ifs, but it was nobody's fault but our own. We just didn't make enough plays."

Harding rallied from a 24-10 third-quarter deficit to take a 31-24 lead with less than 3:45 to play, but the Savage Storm drove 91 yards to score a touchdown and then converted a two-point conversion with 46 seconds left.

"If you coach long enough, you're going to have these kind of games," said Simmons, who is 31-10 in four seasons at Harding. "We couldn't get anything to go our way, at least that's the way it felt."

Simmons said he is confident the Bisons (1-1) will respond as they have in the past after getting knocked off early.

Harding, 10-6 in August-September games under Simmons, has lost only one Great American Conference game after the calendar flips to October. Their other three defeats in November and December have come in the NCAA Division II playoffs.

"We have special kids who know how to respond, and they will respond the right way," Simmons said.

Bouncing back this week in Magnolia against Southern Arkansas (2-0) may not be an easy task.

Muleriders first-year Coach Mike McCarty said he understands the pros and cons of catching a good team off a tough loss.

"It depends," McCarty said. "If you come out hot, you can create some doubt. You obviously feel like they're vulnerable now, so we'll see."

There is also the other side of it.

"They're wounded right now, and wounded animals are dangerous.," McCarty said.

The Muleriders' defense will get a different kind of test against the Bisons' run-dominated Flexbone attack after defending 88 pass attempts and yielding 850 passing yards in wins over Northwestern Oklahoma State and Southwestern Oklahoma State.

The Bisons have completed 3 of 8 passes for 52 yards in 2 games.

"I know our secondary is excited to go and tackle somebody," McCarty said.

The Muleriders scrimmaged Mississippi College, a triple-option team, last spring with Harding in mind.

"These types of games are first-down oriented," McCarty said. "If you win first down, it makes it harder for them to do what they do. The biggest reality is, if you can win first down, you've got a chance."

Simmons' Bisons beat the Muleriders 31-0 on their last trip to Magnolia in September 2019.

SAU quarterback Hayden Mallory (45-65 passing, 521 yards, 7 TDs, 1 interception) completed 8 of 20 passes for 80 yards with 3 interceptions in 2019.

"I expect he'll be a lot better than he was that night," Simmons said.

A fresh start

Freshman players -- three different classifications of freshmen -- are making names for themselves after two weeks of conference play.

Southern Arkansas' Jariq Scales (268 yards, 2 TDs), Ouachita Baptist's Kendel Givens (188, 6) and Henderson State's Kris Morris (139, 2) are among the top 10 in rushing yards in the Great American Conference.

Scales, from Osceola, and Morris, from Houston's Dobie High School, are third-year freshmen. They redshirted in 2019 and received an extra year of eligibility last season because of covid-19.

Givens, from Little Rock Christian, is what OBU Coach Todd Knight refers to as a "covid freshman" after signing with the Tigers in 2020.

There are also true freshmen like Southern Arkansas kick returner DeMarcus Williams.

Williams, from Marshall, Texas, totaled 124 return yards on four attempts, including a 62-yard return to start the second half last week against Southwestern Oklahoma State, and was named the GAC Special Teams Player of the Week.

Williams' teammate, third-year freshman linebacker Gavin Roe, was named GAC Defensive Player of the Week after making 10 tackles and intercepting a pass in the fourth quarter of SAU's 42-27 victory over SWOSU last week.

Interstate to intrastate

Arkansas teams in the Great American Conference are 8-4 vs. GAC Oklahoma teams after two weeks of interstate action. Arkansas schools went 5-1 in Week 1 and 3-3 last week, with Harding, the University of Arkansas-Monticello and Arkansas Tech losing to Oklahoma opponents.

This week, the GAC begins the first of two consecutive weeks of intrastate play, with Arkansas Tech visiting Ouachita Baptist, Henderson State at UAM and Harding at Southern Arkansas.

Next week, it is OBU at Harding, UAM at Arkansas Tech and SAU at Henderson.

Tech's tall task

Arkansas Tech is 0-2 after losing to Southeastern Oklahoma State (38-20) and East Central Oklahoma (13-10).

Things don't get any easier for Coach Kyle Shipp's Wonder Boys.

ATU travels to play 2-0 Ouachita Baptist on Saturday, and it will face a Tigers team that has won 29 consecutive GAC games and is ranked in the top 10 of the NCAA Division II AFCA coaches poll (No. 9), d2football.com poll (No. 8) and the NCAA Power 10 rankings (No. 9).

"Our kids will be excited and ready to play," Shipp said. "They know if we can come out and compete and play good football, we can make it a game."

The Wonder Boys have struggled on both sides of the ball, but Tech had 170 yards of offense called back on three penalties in the first half, Shipp said.

Tech's best drive was its last drive against East Central, with Arkansas transfer quarterback Jack Lindsey directing a 16-play, 94-yard drive that brought the Wonder Boys within three points with 5:23 to play.

Shipp was asked what it would mean for Tech if it could pull the upset over OBU.

"If we were able to win that game, it would be a massive win for us as a program and give us a ton of confidence going into the rest of the season," Shipp said.

One thing Shipp said he knows about Coach Todd Knight's Tigers is that they won't be caught looking ahead to their matchup at Harding the following week.

"Our guys know how important every game is," Knight said.

Tigers tighten up

Ouachita Baptist gave up 35 yards in its 41-3 victory over Southern Nazarenelat week after yielding 481 yards and 31 points in the opener against Oklahoma Baptist.

"They played lights out," Knight said of the Tigers' defense. "They really made a statement."

OBU's offense has gained 606 of its 750 yards on the ground with third-year sophomore Grant Allen easing into the passing game.

Allen (12-24 passing, 162, 1 TD) has also rushed 8 times for 45 yards.

"We pretty much do what we've got to do to win," Knight said, who attributed the windy conditions last week in Bethany, Okla., as another reason the Tigers stuck with the run. "Our goal is to be balanced, but we're going to do what we need to do."

Reddies vs. Boll Weevils

Saturday's game between Henderson State and the University of Arkansas-Monticello matches the Reddies' opportunistic defense (7 turnovers created) against Demilon Brown, UAM's dynamic sophomore quarterback from Rivercrest High School.

Brown leads the Great American Conference and NCAA Division II in total offense (384.5 ypg) and ranks fifth nationally in passing (341.5 ypg).

"He's an outstanding player," Reddies Coach Scott Maxfield said. "He can turn a bad play into a good play. Strong arm. They're a solid offense."

Maxfield said it's always difficult to win on the road, and it will be especially true this week against a Boll Weevils team that trailed 35-0 at halftime before losing 45-20 at Oklahoma Baptist.

"We're expecting a dogfight, a battle," Maxfield said. "They'll be ready for us."

UAM Coach Hud Jackson said the Boll Weevils have yet to play a complete game.

"Two games and we've played two halves," Jackson said of the Boll Weevils, who outscored Southern Nazarene 30-7 in the first half of their 30-23 victory in Week 1 and outscored Oklahoma Baptist 20-10 in the second half Saturday night.

The Boll Weevils trailed 21-0 with 2:23 to play in first quarter, with the Bison defense stopping UAM on downs at the 12, intercepting a tipped pass to end another UAM drive, and then turning a fumble into a scoop-and-score touchdown.

"Honestly, I've never been around anything like that," Jackson said. "Never."

Jackson said stopping a Henderson offense that is putting up 43 points and more than 500 yards per game will require a top effort from coaches and players.

"There's no ifs, ands or buts about it," Jackson said. "We've got to be better to give us a chance to compete."