This Saturday afternoon the Harding Bisons (5-1) take on the undefeated Henderson State University Reddies (6-0), to see who will take control of the GAC conference standings. Harding will look for their sixth straight victory and the number one spot in the GAC at Saturday’s Homecoming game.
The Bisons’ defense comes into Saturday’s contest after giving up a huge amount of yardage through the air last week against Ouachita Baptist University in their tight 36-33 win. The job for defensive backs coach Luke Tribble’s secondary does not get any easier this week, as they face Henderson State University and their pass-happy offense averaging more than 400 yards passing per game this season.
“We really need to focus and emphasize our fundamentals and execution,” Tribble said. “We can’t try to do anything outside of ourselves; each person just has to do their job out there.”
The Bisons did give up their fair share of yardage last week, but came through big when it mattered and created turnovers that helped them edge the Tigers. The Bisons will look for more of the same this week from their secondary.
“As a secondary we need to line up and play our techniques right in order to be in the right position to defend,” senior safety Ashtun Williams said.
The Henderson State Reddies’ quarterback Kevin Rodgers has had a tremendous season thus far, throwing for 23 touchdowns in seven games for the Reddies, while averaging 56.6 points a game as a team. The Bisons will have to slow down if they wish to keep up with the Reddies.
Williams said the Bisons need to play a sound football game defensively, which means pursuing the football and mixing up the looks to keep the quarterback guessing.
Harding might need another big performance by senior safety Philip Mion, who was named GAC defensive player of the week coming off his two interception day against the Ouachita Baptist University Tigers.
The Bisons’ offense turned the ball over two times last week, and look to work on that this week during practice.
“We’ve got to take care of the football this week,” junior quarterback Keenan Kellett said. “As always, we will work on ball security and execution of our offense, but we also want to work on the opportunities given to us by the defense and not try forcing our way through something.”
Harding leads the GAC with 403 yards a game and will have to use that to their advantage to keep Henderson’s high scoring offense off the field.
The last time these two met, Henderson came to First Security Stadium and handed Harding their first and only loss of the regular season.
“I think there is a grudge from last year just because that was our only loss at home and we played terrible,” Kellett said. “This year we look to execute at a higher level and come out with a greater intensity.”
Williams said this is a pretty big game because of the implications it has on the conference, and deciding who take the title.
“This game is a great opportunity for us because it does give us a chance at winning conference, but it’s just another game,” Kellett said. “It’s the biggest game because it’s the next one.”
