Muleriders, Bisons face off in battle atop the GAC
There’s good news and bad news for Southern Arkansas today as it gears up for what’s seemingly become its annual trek to El Dorado for a Great American Conference game.
The good news is there’s a monster of an opportunity in front of the Muleriders as they try to inch closer to its first GAC title. The bad news is that they’ve got to get past the current beast of the league to do so.
No matter the perspective, the clash between SAU (6-1, 6-1) and Harding (7-0, 7-0), ranked No. 6 in NCAA Division II, is about as intriguing as it gets, and that’s saying a lot considering what happened a week ago.
The Muleriders stormed back from a double-digit, second-half deficit to stun then-No. 18 Henderson State 35-34 while the Bisons dominated the final 19 minutes of the second half to beat No. 14 Ouachita Baptist. The victories prolonged impressive runs for both SAU and Harding, but it also set up a matchup that’ll go a long way in determining this year’s GAC champion.
“Man, those guys are really good,” SAU Coach Brad Smiley said of Harding. “This is a great opportunity for us, without question. We know what kind of challenge will be in front of us. We’ve just got to go out and meet it head on.”
Smiley and his team met, then aced last week’s test against the Reddies.
Henderson State led by as many as 14 points in the first half and 10 points in the second half but wasn’t able to hold on to either cushion. SAU finally caught up with 4:24 left in the game when O.B. Jones connected with Kamden Perry for a 31-yard touchdown pass. Hayden Nitz’s extra point gave the Muleriders the lead, and they made it stand in pulling off the win.
“It was awesome,” Smiley said. “The kids played great, showed tons of heart and tons of fight because they never flinched. It’s part of the plan to win, but it’s another thing to go out there and the kids do it. They keep finding ways to get it done.
“You know it’s always a feather in your cap for your offensive staff because this is four consecutive weeks that the opposing defense has come out with something completely different than what they show on film. You know you’re having a good year when people are changing things for you.”
In SAU’s case, it stuck with what has worked all year to beat Henderson State, and that’s leaning on the arm and legs of Jones. The senior quarterback completed 50% (9 of 18) of his passes for 132 yards, including the score to Perry, and ran 13 times for a team-high 112 yards with 2 touchdowns. It was his 80yard scoring run with 1:30 left in the third quarter that allowed the Muleriders to cut a 31-21 deficit down to three going into the fourth. That touchdown also came just 29 seconds after Henderson State had opened up that 10-point margin.
The Muleriders’ defense did give up more than 500 yards, yet had enough juice left to keep the Reddies from stealing the victory late. Henderson State drove to SAU’s 38 on its final possession, but a fourth-down pass fell incomplete with 1:51 to go. The Muleriders were able to pick up a first down on the following drive and eventually run out the clock to extend their winning streak to four games.
“It was a heavyweight championship fight,” Smiley said. “We came out throwing haymakers, and we hit them. [Henderson State] came back and hit us with a couple of them and had us kind of reeling. But once our kids settled down, we were like ‘alright let’s go’.
“Defense came up big for us again in the second half, just like they’ve done all year long.”
But while Smiley noted that Henderson State switched things up to combat what his team does, he doesn’t expect that to happen with Harding.
“They’re going to come out and do what they do,” Smiley explained. “That’s just who they are, and it’s who they’ve been for a long time. But that’s one of the things that makes them as good as they are.
“They’re going to run it right at you, they’re going to be physical. It’s just who they are.”
Harding hasn’t deviated from that established identity one bit. Its ground attack is the best in the nation at nearly 388 yards per game, but a facet that Smiley said has been even more impressive is the way Harding plays on the defensive side of the ball.
The Bisons allow 206.3 yards, which is the third best in the country. The 10.7 points per game that they give up also ranks third.
“I was kind of hoping that all of their good defensive linemen had graduated and moved on, but they haven’t,” Smiley said. “It starts with their front four because they’ve got some dudes. And really, it’s their front eight guys, too, because they freely roll. But man, they’re really good.”
Harding Coach Paul Simmons has talked about depth being a big difference on his team’s defense this season as opposed to what they’ve had in year’s past, and that held true in the win over the Tigers when they used 20 defensive reserves.
That deep lineup could play a factor today when they hook up in the Murphy USA Classic. But Smiley is excited about the chance to potentially be sitting tied for first place in the GAC by the time the game is over.
“Last weekend, we had a chance to go beat the No. 18 team in the country, and this week we’ve got a chance to go beat the No. 6 team in the country, “he said. “As you’re growing and building a program and you’re in Year 2, and you plan on being a program that’s a perennial favorite and talked about in the league as a conference champion, a playoff participant. … that’s how Paul’s team is built. Those are the guys when you cut on the film and watch playoff football with the Ferris States, the Grand Valleys, the Northwest Missouris, Pitt States of the world, those teams have strong defense and are very good up front on both sides of the ball.
“That’s what Harding has. They do what they do offensively, and they know they’re good at it. They’re not going to trick you at all. They’re going to make you have to play discipline football, and that’s what we have to do in this one.”