The Bisons football team expected a battle heading into their game with Southeastern Oklahoma State University (SEOSU) on Oct. 17, but not even they could have anticipated the war that ensued.
After four hours, 123 combined points and more than 1,000 yards of offense, the Bisons captured a 63-60 quadruple-overtime victory over the Savage Storm in the longest game in Great American Conference (GAC) history.
“Absolutely the craziest me I have ever been a part of,” junior quarterback Park Parish said. “It is definitely a game I will remember for my whole life.”
The Bisons were in control for most of the game, holding a 21-point lead going into the fourth quarter. But back-to-back Harding fumbles set SEOSU up for two quick scores to cut the lead to seven. After back-to-back drives stalled for the Bisons, the Savage Storm was able to punch it into the end zone a third time to send the game into overtime.
“We made a lot of mistakes on Saturday to allow the game to even go to overtime in the first place,” Parish said. “We had a lot of opportunities to put them away early in the game and in the fourth quarter, and we made too many mistakes.”
Despite squandering the lead in the fourth quarter, the Bisons continued to scrap and got a defensive stop at the beginning of the fourth overtime period, holding SEOSU to a field goal. Head coach Ronnie Huckaba said at that moment he knew his team would find a way to win it.
“When our defense got a stop and forced them to kick a field goal, at that point, I felt great,” Huckeba said. “They really hadn’t been able to stop our offense all game.”
The Bisons moved the ball down inside the SEOSU 10-yard line for a first-and-goal, but when the next three plays left them sitting with fourth-and-goal from the 1, Huckeba said there was no hesitation that they were going to go for the win.
“It was fourth down and about an inch,” Huckeba said. “If you can’t make an inch, then you need to go home.”
And the Bisons did go home, with a victory in hand, after Parish broke the plane on a quarterback sneak to end the game. Parish, echoing Huckeba, said he was not nervous on the final play, but instead ready to finish the game off.
“Honestly, I was excited because I knew we were about to get in,” Parish said. “I knew the guys in front of me would get a good push and that is exactly what they did.”
The Bisons are now in a four-way tie for second-place in the GAC standings with four games left in the season. Another second place team, East Central University (ECU), visits First Security Stadium tomorrow for Homecoming. Huckeba said that right now, the team is where they need to be mentally heading into the season’s final stretch.
“We’re getting great feedback from our guys,” Huckeba said. “(Saturday) they were going to play until they won, I got that feeling from them. They were very confident and that’s what you want. You want a team full of kids who know they are going to get it done.”
The Bisons kick off Homecoming tomorrow against ECU at 2 p.m. at First Security Stadium.
