Eli Dean/ Photo by Edgar Cardiel
“Teach us to be humble in victory and gracious in defeat.”
Those words were said during the opening prayer that kicked off one of the toughest, grittiest and quite possibly the most difficult games the Harding Bisons football team has played in years.
When the Bisons won two playoff games last season by a combined two points, it’s easy to forget the moments of desperation. A blocked extra point and an incredible drive to take the lead late can lead the mind of a fan to believe that their team is unstoppable. But Oct. 20, 2024, by the time senior quarterback Cole Keylon hurled the last pass of the game in his own moment of desperation, it was once again a reminder that the teams people root for aren’t unstoppable after all.
The Harding Bisons lost 17-13 against the Ouachita Baptist Tigers in a game that will be remembered for a long time, and not just because everyone who walked into Cliff Harris Stadium got a physical ticket. It is the night the Bisons took a bus ride back to Searcy with a record of 6-1, and began the process of being “gracious in defeat.”
With the loss, the Bisons’ NCAA-leading 25-game win streak was brought to a sudden stop. Despite the disappointing result, head coach Paul Simmons said he is extremely confident about the team’s ability to bounce back.
“For 25 straight games it was us, and tonight it wasn’t, but I promise the best practice of our season will be happening on Tuesday,” Simmons said. “We got to look back and look at things we didn’t do well and correct the mistakes, but we’ll be back stronger than ever I promise.”
Harding’s offense was 1-12 on third-down conversions and had two crucial lost fumbles, which allowed the Tigers to control the game at their own pace, even as they trailed the time of possession. Beyond a 42-yard run up the middle by Keylon on the opening offensive snap for the Bisons, Harding could only muster 176 additional rushing yards the rest of game, a stark contrast to their 461 yards they had averaged during the first six games of the year. When it mattered most, the Bisons failed to gain any momentum on their second-to-last drive that started in Tigers territory, only managing to get six yards before turning the ball over after an incomplete pass. After a tough offensive performance, Simmons stood firm on his belief in his team’s ability to be resilient, saying that it will all be done “in the right way.”
“Winning is easy, it’s when you lose, that’s when you learn who you really are, and what you’re made of,” Simmons said. “I can promise you that we will respond in the right way, we’ll handle adversity in the right way.”
Playing their most fierce competitor of the year and being on the wrong side of the result is always painful, but positives can still be strung together. Sophomore defensive back Luke Martin said this moment was a learning opportunity for himself and the rest of the team.
“It’s been a really long time since we’ve been in a real slobber-knocker like this, so having this experience and this feeling I think is going to be an advantage going into the playoffs,” Martin said. “Next week we’ll bounce back, we’re going to come in and try our hardest to win.”
Senior defensive lineman Dre Hall echoed a lot of his teammates and his head coach by saying the team will continue to have the confidence needed to succeed the rest of the season.
“We’ve been through plenty of games like this over the years, this is nothing new,” Hall said. “We just got to make more plays, we left a few out there but we’ll make them next time.”
The road to back-to-back national championships is now tougher than it was before the weekend started. Harding will likely have to play on the road in several, if not all of their potential playoff games. For now, the Bisons will look to carry on and focus their attention on their homecoming game against Southern Arkansas University tomorrow at 3 p.m. All streaks come to an end, but the season has just begun for these Bisons. Their first practice of the week on Tuesday marked two years since their historic streak began in a win against the University of Arkansas-Monticello during the tail end of the 2022 season. The next four weeks of the regular season bring a new opportunity to show just how strong The Brotherhood of Harding truly is. Humble in victory. Gracious in defeat.
