One play was the difference between a four-way tie for the Great American Conference lead and Henderson State retaining sole possession of first place.
Dallas did it in Arkadelphia.
Junior quarterback Dallas Hardison directed a 15-play, 94-yard drive in the final 1:40, scoring on a 6-yard scramble as time expired, to give Henderson a 29-28 homecoming victory Saturday over Southern Arkansas.
Hardison won a Class 7A state championship as a junior in 2010 at Bentonville, where he was one of the most accurate passers in Arkansas high school history.
"He's a winner," Reddies Coach Scott Maxfield said. "He never got frustrated or panicked on the last drive. He had great composure."
Trailing 28-23 and out of timeouts, Hardison completed 7 of 12 passes for 75 yards and ran 3 times for 18 yards on the final drive.
Hardison had a 6-yard sneak on fourth-and-1 from the Henderson 28 and completions of 28 yards to senior wide receiver JaVante Mack and 20 yards to senior wide receiver Joseph Snapp before the game-winning score.
"We practice it every week," Maxfield said of a two-minute drill. "We had a couple of plays that weren't exactly like you draw them up on paper that worked out. Guys did a good job when he scrambled, coming back to the ball."
Hardison nearly engineered another touchdown drive in the closing seconds of a 35-28 loss Sept. 10 at home against East Central Oklahoma.
A holding penalty negated a 15-yard touchdown pass to senior wide receiver Corey Chappell with 53 seconds remaining, and the game ended when Hardison was sacked on second-and-goal from the 4.
Henderson (7-1, 7-1 GAC) hasn't lost since, winning six consecutive games and climbing to No. 11 in NCAA Division II in the American Football Coaches Association Top 25 poll.
Henderson would have dropped into a four-way tie for the GAC lead with a loss to SAU.
Instead, the finish represented a first for Maxfield in his 15-year head coaching career.
"I've won some in the last minute, but not on the very last play," Maxfield said.
HARDING
Power of the Panthers
Harding Coach Ronnie Huckeba said it's no coincidence that his run-heavy program features six former Cabot players along the offensive line.
Cabot has been one of the most run-heavy Arkansas high school programs for decades.
Harding went to an option-oriented Double-Slot scheme in 2010 -- two years after it signed L.J. Tarrant, a member of the Arkansas Democrat-Gazette All-Arkansas team as a senior at Cabot.
Tarrant developed into an All-Gulf South Conference offensive guard and helped Harding establish a recruiting pipeline to Cabot (25 miles away), Huckeba said.
"We've just continued to have really good success with those guys," Huckeba said. "It makes sense. They play with their back flat. That's not how you play offensive line in today's world, for the most part. Those guys play with their backs flat, and we do, too."
Three former Panthers started Harding's 62-20 homecoming victory Saturday over East Central (Okla.) -- senior left guard Nathan Cash, 6-1, 280 pounds; senior right guard Cole Lockwood, 6-2, 275; and senior tight end Riley Hawkins, 6-1, 230.
Redshirt freshmen Keith Pledger, 6-0, 280, and Heath Pledger, 6-1, 305, are backups at left and right guard, respectively.
The twin brothers -- Heath also was an All-Arkansas selection -- helped Cabot finish 12-1 and reach the Class 7A state championship game as seniors in 2013.
Another Cabot graduate, junior Cameron Boatright, 6-2, 330, is an offensive lineman at Harding.
"They are a great fit us," Huckeba said. "We could just about put a whole O-line out there from Cabot."
The Cabot connection helped Harding rush for 557 yards -- the second-highest total in school history -- against East Central.
Harding ran for a school-record 566 yards in a 70-42 victory Sept. 19 at Southern Arkansas.
The Bisons (6-2, 6-2 GAC) rank second in NCAA Division II in average rushing yards per game (395.4).
Extra points
Harding cornerback Trendall Stevenson, a senior from powerhouse Dallas Cedar Hill, played in a school-record 32nd career victory Saturday (62-20 over East Central Okla.). Stevenson, a three-year starter, has played in 40 games. ... Harding rushed for 557 yards against East Central, but failed to complete a pass in a game for the first time since Sept. 14, 1985. The Bisons attempted two passes Saturday. "But we had one pass interference, so we'll take that," Harding Coach Ronnie Huckeba said. ... Henderson State is 37-4 in GAC games since the league was formed in 2011. The Reddies won outright GAC titles in 2012 and 2013.
Sports on 10/30/2015