Bisons eliminated
Pittsburg (Kan.) State turned a 21-0 second-quarter deficit into a 38-21 lead after three quarters as it defeated Harding 59-42 Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs. The Gorillas outscored Harding 38-7 in the middle two quarters.
Pittsburg State outscored Harding 38-7 over the middle two quarters on its way to defeating the Bisons 59-42 Saturday in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs at Carnie Smith Stadium in Pittsburg, Kan.
The Gorillas (11-1) turned a 21-0 second-quarter deficit into a 38-21 lead after three quarters. They did it by scoring touchdowns on five consecutive possessions and a field goal on their next drive. The Bisons (9-2) broke through with a 50-yard touchdown from Keenan Kellett to Donatella Luckett to get within 38-28 with 14:11 left in the fourth quarter.
The Gorillas then went 75 yards in 11 plays and scored on their seventh consecutive possession on Michael Rose’s 14-yard run with 9:32 left to give them a 45-28 lead. An 82yard touchdown pass from Kellett to Luckett two plays into their ensuing possession got the Bisons to within 45-35 with 9:07 left
Pitt State capped a 12-play, 48-yard drive with a 9-yard touchdown pass with 2:37 remaining from Anthony Abenoja to Kyle Swartz before Heath Wilson scored on a 28-yard fumble recovery to extend the Gorillas’ advantage to 59-35 just 13 seconds later.
“There was some question when we began the playoffs whether or not we belonged in the national playoffs — I think we answered that today,” Harding Coach Ronnie Huckeba said. “We felt like we represented our conference well.”
Harding lost four of six fumbles in the game and uncharacteristically lost the time of possession battle, 34:02- 25:48. Including Saturday, the Bisons averaged 33:45 in time of possession to their opponents’ 26:15 in 2014.
The Bisons opened a 21-0 lead on long touchdown runs of 70 and 81 yards by Romo Westbrook and a 25-yard touchdown run by Alapeti Magalei.
Pittsburg State matched Westbrook’s second touchdown with one of its own to make it 21-7 then took advantage of the first Harding fumble with a 9-yard touchdown pass from Abenoja to Austin Panko to cut the deficit to 21- 14 with 2:06 left in the second quarter.
The Gorillas scored again with 25 seconds left in the second quarter on a 19-yard TD pass from Abenoja to Gavin Lutman to tie the score at 21-21 at halftime.
Pittsburg State picked up in the third quarter where it left off in the second by scoring touchdowns on three consecutive possessions after two Harding fumbles and another after a 11-play, 78-yard play following a Bison punt.
“We got off to a tremendous start,” Huckeba said. “In the second half, [we had] way too many turnovers. We put our defense out there with a short field and Pitt State took advantage of that. [That] was probably the difference in the ballgame.”
Harding had more yards passing (307) than rushing (229) for the first time since it started using the Flexbone offense in 2010.
Kellett completed 9-of-17 passes for 307 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. Luckett had four receptions for 201 yards and 2 touchdowns, while Westbrook had 156 yards and 2 touchdowns on 11 attempts.
Abenoja completed 25-of45 attempts for 279 yards and 4 touchdowns for the Gorillas.