Bisons open season with shutout

SEARCY — Cole Chancey rushed for 102 yards and three touchdowns to lead Harding to a 28-0 win over East Central in both teams’ season opener Saturday night at First Security Stadium.

The 102 yards allowed Chancey to become the Great American Conference’s leading rusher. His 3,775 yards surpassed Ouachita Baptist’s Kris Oliver, who rushed for 3,763 yards from 2015-18.

Harding (1-0) bolted out to a 21-0 first-quarter advantage, which the Bisons held through halftime, before Chancey’s 24-yard touchdown run with 4:06 left in the third quarter concluded the scoring. Chancey scored his first touchdown on a 6-yard run with 13:02 left in the opening quarter.

After the Harding defense forced the Tigers (0-1) to punt after a three-and-out on their first possession, Omar Sinclair broke free on the initial play of the Bisons’ ensuing drive for a 72-yard touchdown run to give the Bisons a 14-0 lead with 12:02 remaining.

The Bisons outgained the Tigers 374146 in total offense, including 333-48 on the ground. Harding also had a 15-minute advantage in time of possession.

The Bisons got 92 yards on 4 carries by Sinclair, and another 65 yards on 5 rushes by Zach Smith.

Dylan Hendricks led the Harding defense with 6 tackles, including 1.5 for loss. Ahmad Butler, J’Varius Wood, Shedrick Robinson and Cooper Carroll all intercepted East Central quarterback Kenny Hrncir, who was 11 of 25 passing for 98 yards.

HSU 31, SW OKLA. STATE 13

WEATHERFORD, Okla. — Senior Adam Morse tossed three touchdown passes, and the Reddies (1-0) turned three interceptions into 17 points as Henderson State won its season opener over the Southwestern Oklahoma State (0-1) at ASAP Energy Field Thursday.

Morse completed 17 of 26 passes for 183 yards. Two of his touchdowns went to junior Chris Hatzis, who scored on receptions of 11 and 13 yards in the first half as the Reddies jumped out to a 14-0 halftime lead.

The Bulldogs had pulled to within 2113 early in the fourth quarter and had the ball near midfield when HSU’s Andrew Croker picked off a tipped ball to set the Reddies on their own 39. Four plays later, senior Duce Sproles ran in from the 1 with 10:41 remaining to give the Reddies a 28-13 advantage.

L’Liott Curry led HSU in receiving, catching seven passes for 61 yards, including a 10-yard scoring pass with 5:38 left in the third quarter that gave the Reddies a 21-7 lead.

Kris Morris rushed 18 times for 91 yards to lead Henderson.

Temo Martinez capped the scoring with a 23-yard field goal with 1:54 left. Jacob Greenfield set up Henderson’s second touchdown with a 32-yard interception return and Ketric Sledge also intercepted a pass.

SE OKLA. STATE 43, ARKANSAS TECH 20

RUSSELLVILLE — Southeastern Oklahoma State quarterback Daulton Hatley completed 15 of 25 passes for 290 yards and 3 touchdowns as the Savage Storm (1-0) rolled to a victory over the Wonder Boys (0-1).

Trailing 7-6 after one quarter, SEOSU scored the next 24 points to take control of the contest.

Senior Jack Lindsey completed 15 of 34 passes for 137 yards for Arkansas Tech. He tossed a 36-yard scoring pass to freshman Adam Cousins with 3:03 left in the first quarter and a 3-yard TD pass to Caleb Batie with 14:55 remaining to cut the Savage Storm’s lead to 30-20. SEOSU, however, scored twice in the game’s final 6:43 to put the game away.

Cousins led the Wonder Boys in receiving with two receptions for 45 yards. Ron Thompson led Tech in rushing with 59 yards on six carries. Jordan Edington scored on an 8-yard run for Tech.

SAU 32, NW OKLA. STATE 13

ALVA, Okla. — Hayden Mallory threw touchdown passes of 20 and 3 yards to Micah Small as the Muleriders (1-0) pulled away from Northwestern Oklahoma State (0-1) in the two teams’ season opener at Ranger Field.

Mallory also tossed a 45yard touchdown pass to Dekendrick Bender.

SAU’s Austin Wilkerson kicked field goals of 39 and 28 yards in the first quarter to give the Muleriders a 6-0 lead. Southern Arkansas led 12-3 at the half.

UAM 30, SOUTHERN NAZARENE 23

MONTICELLO — Demilon Brown connnected on 19 of 32 passes for 334 yards and three touchdowns, including two to Deandre Washington, as the Boll Weevils (1-0) held off a late push by the Crimson Storm (0-1).

The Weevils’ offense was rolling early as it cruised to a 30-7 halftime lead. Brown found LaCedric Smith deep on the right side for a 39-yard touchdown before Brown ran in for the second.

Southern Nazarene responded with quarterback Gage Porter running it in on the next drive, but UAM scored on three consecutive drives to close out the half.

With under four minutes remaining, the Crimson Storm drove down before three straight incompletions, including a clutch breakup by Kaytron Allen at the 5 on fourth-and-9 to secure the win.