The Harding Bisons won a nail-bitter on Saturday in Arkadelphia 36-33 against Ouachita Baptist University for their fifth straight victory in conference play.
Harding arrived at A.U. Williams Field on Saturday to face the undefeated and untested Ouachita Baptist University Tigers. The Bisons played it close, even falling behind by as many as 13 points due to turnovers and miscues on offense, but found themselves in the game all the way to the end.
Harding started the game flat, as they gave up an opening drive touchdown to Ouachita Baptist, followed by an interception on their first drive of the game that put the Tigers in great field position to take an early 10-0 lead over the Bisons.
From there, the teams traded points back and fourth, both capitalizing on turnovers forced throughout the game. A key difference for the Bisons was their ability to be stingy around the redzone, giving up only two touchdowns in seven trips inside their own 20-yard line.
Senior safety Philip Mion helped by snatching two interceptions, one being a big touchdown saving play, to keep the Bisons close.
“Our coaches made the best calls to put us in the best possible positions to make plays and we took advantage of that,” Mion said.
Outside of Mion’s two INTS, the Bisons made Ouachita quarterback Benson Jordan pay by picking him off three times on Saturday, overshadowing his 422 yards and three touchdown day.
Mion said Jordan threw some pretty bad balls, and they made him pay for them.
The Bisons were picked apart through the air, but when it mattered most, they created turnovers and held the Tigers out of the end zone.
Offensively, the Bisons seemed to wait for the last second to make the biggest plays. Both Jason Oller and Donatella Luckett made two clutch touchdown plays to help the Bisons overcome the undefeated Tigers.
Oller dove for the pylon, scoring on a 15-yard touchdown run with a little over nine minutes left, giving the Bisons a late game lead 30-26.
“Personally, that may have been the most exciting play of my career so far,” Oller said. “The whole drive I was telling my brothers ‘AVO’ (Love Conquers All) and we got it done.”
The Ouachita Tigers scored with just 1:56 left in the game, giving them momentum and a 33-30 lead. That momentum quickly changed sides as junior quarterback Keenan Kellett threw a strike to Luckett for a 74-yard touchdown pass with 1:12 left on the clock. Luckett seemed too fast for the defenders to keep him out of the end zone.
“I’m not saying I’m Usain Bolt, but I am confident enough to say they had no chance catching me,” Luckett said.
Luckett’s touchdown gave the Bisons the lead and their fifth straight win. The game ended on a interception by senior safety Ashtun Williams, sealing the Ouachita Tigers fate and giving them their first loss of the season.
The Bisons next game is this coming Saturday, where they will host nationally-raked Henderson State University on omecoming. Henderson State will most likely be the biggest test for the Bisons this season. Harding will be looking to keep their win streak alive and improve (6-1).
