The Harding Bisons pulled away late to beat Southern Arkansas University 28-14 in font of a national audience at Wilkins Stadium in Magnolia, Ark. on Thursday night.
The Bisons eighth straight win over Southern Arkansas was aired on CBS sports for the Division II game of the week. This victory also makes Coach Huckeba 6-0 as a head coach against SAU.
Harding scored first with two long touchdown runs by senior D’Nico Jackson-Best and junior Romo Westbrook.
The Bisons struggled through the first half, turning the ball over three times. Southern Arkansas brought the game to 14-14 at halftime.
“Nothing changed in our game plan going into the second half,” senior offensive lineman Mike Thompson said. “We just continued to play hard by grinding, and we found our stride.”
Westbrook said he found his stride along with his line as he ripped off 171 yards on 21 carries and a touchdown.
The Bisons rushed for a total of 425 yards on 63 rushing attempts.
“In the second half you could definitely see a difference in their demeanor,” Thompson said. “The triple option is not the funniest offense to defend all 60 minutes.”
On the other side of the ball, Harding was able to hold SAU’s high-powered offense to 340 yards of total offense, and a mere 44 yards on the ground.
Senior defensive lineman Daniel Riley said Harding played good team-defense Thursday night.
Riley had five tackles; two for loss, followed up with a third down sack.
“They played with great passion all night, and it was fun to watch,” defensive line assistant Andrew Sugg said. “We won the hitting battle and made big plays when we needed them.”
The Bisons’ defense made all their big plays in the second half with three interceptions.
The biggest play came from safety Philip Mion in the fourth quarter. Mion deflected a fourth down pass in the end zone to give the ball back to the offensive, which eventually led to a late touchdown drive by Harding to give the Bisons a fourteen point lead with four minutes on the clock.
The Bisons capped of the night with one last interception by junior Darious Lane to end the game and seal the victory.
The Bisons move from fifth to third place in the conference behind front-runners Henderson State University and Ouachita Baptist University.
The Bisons’ next game will be at First Security Stadium Oct. 12 against University of Arkansas at Monticello. Kickoff is at 2 p.m.
