Nationally ranked at No. 19 in Division II, the Bisons are preparing to kick off their 2012 Homecoming game against the Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys on Saturday.
The Wonder Boys are coming off of a hard fought 24-21 win against University of Arkansas at Monticello last Saturday.
The Bisons, after their loss to Henderson State in the last home game, beat 10th-ranked Ouachita Baptist Tigers 34-14 on the road. It was Harding’s first road victory against a top-10 team since the Bisons joined the NCAA in 1997.
Sophomore defensive lineman Ty Powell had a sack and the Bisons shut down Ouachita Baptist’s rushing attack holding Ouachita Baptist to 39 rushing yards. Before the game, Huckeba looked for what advantages the Bisons could have.
“I think our difficult schedule gives us an advantage in the OBU game Saturday,” head coach Ronnie Huckeba said. “I’m not saying it will determine the game, but I think our schedule helps us with persistence.”
The Harding offense rushed for 250-yards against the OBU defense. Senior quarterback Kelvin Martin led the way with 81-yards rushing and a passing touchdown.
“We had a huge challenge last week and our goal has been not to look ahead,” Martin said. “So OBU is all that I was thinking about. Once we took care of business on Saturday I quickly shifted my attention to Homecoming.”
Harding has averaged short of 300-yards rushing per game with one of the deepest running back groups in the country. Arkansas Tech defense has given up an average of 32-points per game.
The Tech offense, however, throws for an average 280-yards per game and the Harding pass defense is one of the top in the country.
The players are confident going in to this game off of last weekend’s win.
“We’re definitely excited coming off the win at OBU,” junior running back Colton Kamper said. “We are just looking to ride that momentum into Homecoming.”
This weekend’s game will bring a lot of excitement to First Security Stadium for the Bison fans as Harding is now 19th-ranked team. The highest the team has ever been ranked was 18th in 2002.
Kamper said that it is also exciting because this game is Homecoming weekend.
“Homecoming definitely adds to the excitement with all our parents here, and old Bison players,” Kamper said. “Everyone is really excited about how we’re playing and we just can’t wait to show how good we are in front of the home crowd.”
The game has an early start, with tailgating beginning between 10 a.m. and noon and kickoff at 2 p.m.
