The Bisons were looking for redemption from last season’s loss, but it was not to be as the Reddies defeated the Bisons 35–21 in a game riddled with turnovers.
Luck was clearly not on the Bisons’ sideline last Saturday when Harding (1-1, 1-1) played the Henderson State Reddies (1-1, 1-0) in a Great American Conference game at First Security Stadium.
Harding took a 7-0 lead early with a 54-yard scoring drive led by quarterback, Chaz Rogers.
The second quarter of the game is one that the Bisons would like to rewind and replay.The first Bison fumble at the Harding 41 was recovered by Henderson State’s Benny Anderson and returned for a touchdown to tie the game 7–7.Rogers came back with confidence and threw a 63-yard touchdown pass to Jeremy Holt to take a 14–7 lead with 7:21 remaining in the first half.
The second Harding fumble was coughed up on the Bison 31-yard line and recovered by the Reddies.Turell Williams scored five plays later and the extra point kick was missed resulting in a Bison lead of 14–13 with 5:40 left to play in the first half.
The turnover bug continued with a fumbled punt fielded by Harding.Henderson State’s Keaton Stigger picked up the fumbled ball and returned it 16 yards for a Reddie touchdown as the clocked ticked down to 0 in the first half. The Reddies went to the locker room at halftime with a stunning 20–14 lead.
Harding senior running back Kale Gelles, who had another outstanding effort with 159 yards on the ground, scored the first touchdown of the third quarter and the Bisons took a 21–20 lead. But with 6:37 left in the third quarter Harding lost its fourth fumble at their own 26-yard line. Henderson State took advantage yet again and scored on a 21-yard pass play from Nathan Nall to Nick Johnson. The Reddies took a 28–21 lead after a successful two-point conversion.
Henderson State put the nail in the coffin with a scoring drive going 85 yards and scoring a touchdown in the fourth quarter. Harding answered with a 73-yard drive but was unable to sustain the drive into a score.
Statistically, the Bisons were the winners of this match with 357 total yards compared to Henderson State’s 189 total yards.Both the offense and the defense played very well, but the four turnovers were too much to overcome.
When asked about the loss, Gelles said, “Yes, it was a tough loss, but we have really focused on the little things this week. We are just focused on each week at a time and we really have to move on.”
Harding hosted Shepherd Technical College last night at First Security Stadium. Earlier this week, Gelles said, “with this being the first time meeting between the two schools we don’t know much about Shepherd Tech, but all we can do is go about it like a normal week and that’s what we have been doing. We are ready to get back on the field after that tough loss last week.”
