Surging Bisons clip OBU, 31-28 WALK ON BY
ARKADELPHIA — Harding’s dramatic turnaround under first-year coach Paul Simmons continued against Oucahita Baptist Saturday at Cliff Harris Stadium.
Though outgained 438-386, Harding edged OBU 31-28 as Terrence Dingle rushed for two touchdowns and Cole Chancey and Zach Shelley each had one.
After three straight losses, the defending Great American Conference champion Bisons have now won three straight games to re-emerge as a contender.
“When we started the year off, we were playing a lot of young kids and honestly it felt like if something could go wrong, it went wrong,” Simmons said. “We had guys get hurt and had every kind of issue, but the biggest thing is we had guys that held the rope and wouldn’t give in. When you’re 0-3, it’s hard to get out there and practice, but we’ve got a special group.”
The Tigers were left wondering what might have been if not for seven penalties and a missed field goal with 8:18 remaining in the fourth quarter.
“You’ve got to give Harding a lot of credit, but when you look at it overall, we feel like we had a lot of self-inflicted wounds,” OBU coach Todd Knight said. “When you look at special teams and those major penalties, we just didn’t do a good enough job. We didn’t get them ready and we didn’t do a good enough job coaching against penalties this week.”
After a three-yard touchdown run by Dingle, Kris Oliver’s five-yard scamper late in the third quarter pulled OBU within 24-21.
Harding extended its lead on Chancey’s four-yard plunge early in the fourth, but the Tigers made a late rally. OBU marched into Harding territory on its ensuing drive and Cole Antley lined up for a 34-yard field goal attempt to trim the lead to one possession.
Antley, a member of the 2016 Associated Press Little All-America Third Team, sent the kick wide left in what proved to be the scoreboard difference. Despite the miss, Knight remained confident in his third-year kicker after the game.
“You don’t have to worry about him shouldering the loss; he’ll be fine,” said Knight. “He’s just got to come back out to practice and get out there and kick some more. You’ve got to forget what lies behind and look forward to what lies ahead. Cole’s a great player; we just didn’t have our best day.”
Forcing the Bisons to punt, the Tigers gave themselves a chance when Drew Harris, capping an 88-yard drive, ran six yards with 2:12 left in the game. OBU’s ensuing onside kick was recovered by Harding, allowing the Bisons to run out the clock.
“I told the guys before the game that I needed Bison brotherhood and what we say we’re about to be on full display today, and it was,” Simmons said. “This was about character and it was about attitude. Obviously, OBU does a great job and they run a great program, so this was a big win for us.”
Breaking loose for a 30-yard touchdown, Dingle gave the Bisons an early lead on their first possession. OBU knotted the score on Oliver’s two-yard run in the second quarter, setting the stage for a back-and-forth game.
After a two-yard scoring run by Shelley and a one-yard touchdown pass from OBU’s Austin Warford to Allie Freeman, Harding kicker Tristan Parsley drilled a 50-yard field goal to give the Bisons a 17-14 halftime advantage.
Grant Kimberlin paced Harding with 101 rushing yards while Chancey finished with 97, Dingle had 76 and Shelley added 61. The Bisons averaged more than six yards per carry.
Warford completed 17 of 27 passes for 243 yards, adding 65 yards on the ground. Oliver carried 14 times for a team-high 72 yards and Freeman hauled in six passes for 114 yards.
Both teams are on the road next week, Harding (3-3) at Northwestern Oklahoma State and OBU (4-2) at Southern Nazarene.
“It’s a gut check, but you cannot let this game lose another game,” said Knight. “Tomorrow we’ve got to forget this, move on and see if we can get better. We’ve got to remember the things that got us beat, but once we get back out on the practice field, our guys are pretty resilient.”