The Harding Bisons had another huge day on offense, crushing University of Arkansas at Monticello 63-30 on Saturday afternoon at First Security Stadium.
The Bisons scored seven touchdowns and gained a total of 445 yards on offense in the first half. The team finished with just under 600 total yards of offense, gaining 582, giving them their eighth highest total in team history.
Junior quarterback Keenan Kellett scored four of the team’s seven touchdowns Saturday afternoon behind the NCAA‘s leading rushing attack.
“My teammates did a great job getting us down into the redzone,” Kellett said. “Then it was just the matter of getting the play into the end zone, and luckily I was the guy who got his number called.”
Out of their 582 yards of total offense, the Bisons gained 474 of those yards on the ground, out-gaining their previous NCAA leading average of 404 yards rushing per game for the season.
Kellett said his team simply was clicking on all cylinders, making all the small details needed to run this offense efficiently in the first half.
Reigning GAC offensive player of the week, junior Romo Westbrook, carried the ball six times for 106 yards in just the first half, averaging 17.6 yards per carry.
“As an individual, I have really begun to respect the speed and balance of Romo Westbrook,” Kellett said. “But none of that gets done without our experience up front on the offensive line.”
Daylan Skidmore and Jordan Cantrell are helping to fill the void of injured linebackers senior Erik Ragsdale and junior Andrew Brackins.
Defensive linebackers coach Jason Thomasson said losing those upperclassmen linebackers was a big loss, but Skidmore and Cantrell have done a great job in their absence.
“I think we played extremely hard and with a lot of passion, which is vital to our defensive success,” Skidmore said.
Skidmore finished with 15 tackles on Saturday, leading Harding’s defense.
Harding’s defense stayed stingy Saturday, as they gave up 350 yards of total offense, and allowed 208 yards through the air.
“I thought our team pursuit on Saturday was a huge factor for us on defense,” Thomasson said.
The Bisons gave up only 2.8 yards per carry on the ground and stifled all three quarterbacks Arkansas-Monticello put in on Saturday.
The Bisons (4-1) will travel to Arkadelphia, Ark. to face unbeaten Ouachita Baptist University (5-0) on Oct. 19.
