The Great American Conference championship doesn't reside in Arkadelphia for the first time after Harding (10-0) wrested the title away from U.S. 67 neighbors Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist, which had combined for five championships since the league's inaugural season in 2011.
So championship hardware is all that will be missing when Henderson hosts Ouachita in the 90th "Battle of the Ravine" at 1 p.m. Saturday at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium.
Henderson (8-2) was GAC champion in 2012, 2013 and 2015. Ouachita (6-4) won the title in 2011 and 2014.
Ouachita has clinched a ninth consecutive winning season -- the longest active streak of any Arkansas collegiate program -- but Henderson enters the final week of the regular season with postseason hopes, whether it's the NCAA Division II playoffs or a bowl game.
Henderson is ranked No. 9 in NCAA Super Region Three. The top seven teams in each of the four regions nationally advance to the playoffs.
"There's a lot of different scenarios out there," Reddies Coach Scott Maxfield said. "I promise you that there's a lot of teams that would like to be 8-2 right now. We're playing for a 9-2 season. It's a rivalry game. It's big for everybody associated with this game."
Henderson leads the overall series 43-40-6 after the "shortest road trip in college football" resulted in a 21-17 victory last year at Cliff Harris Stadium.
Henderson, 48-6 in GAC play under Maxfield, has rebounded with two blowout victories following a 50-24 loss to Southern Arkansas on Oct. 22.
Henderson was beaten 35-3 by Harding on Oct. 8.
The Reddies were minus-10 in turnover margin in the two losses.
"That's the story right there," Maxfield said. "Not saying that we would have won those games if we don't turn it over, but it makes it a lot closer."
Saturday's game matches the second-best rushing offense in the GAC in Ouachita (267.4 yards per game) against the league's second-best rushing defense. Henderson allows 115.8 yards per game.
Ouachita true freshman tailback Shun'cee Thomas has rushed for 582 yards since standout sophomore Kris Oliver suffered a lower-leg injury Oct. 15.
"They do a great job of running the football," Maxfield said. "They have an outstanding offensive line. I think that's probably the strength of their team. They do a very good of scheming you up and finding a couple of plays that work well."
Ouachita completed its best regular season in history (10-0) with a 41-20 victory in 2014 at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium.
ARKANSAS TECH
Final exam
A week after clinching its second consecutive winning season, Arkansas Tech (6-4) can spoil Harding's perfect season Saturday in Searcy.
Harding, which hasn't lost since the 2015 regular-season finale, 27-24 at Arkansas Tech, is No. 5 in the American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division II Top 25 poll.
The Bisons (10-0) can secure their first perfect regular season and a likely Nov. 19 home game in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs with a victory.
Harding, which has already clinched an outright GAC title, is No. 3 in NCAA Super Region Three and will host a first-round game with a No. 2, No. 3 or No. 4 ranking (the top seed receives a bye).
Harding tops NCAA Division II in rushing (384.8 yards per game) from an option-based Double-Slot scheme similar to Navy and Georgia Tech.
"I think they run the triple option as good, or better, than anybody in the country, at any level," Arkansas Tech Coach Raymond Monica said. "They do that good of a job with it. They have answers for what you're doing. They understand what they're doing, inside out. If one team lines up a certain way, they know how to attack it."
Arkansas Tech limited Harding to 269 rushing yards in last year's victory, but the Wonder Boys trailed 24-10 early in the fourth quarter.
Arkansas Tech finished 9-3 last season, beating Eastern New Mexico 51-35 in the Heart of Texas Bowl in Copperas Cove, Texas.
Arkansas Tech clinched consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 2005-2006 with last week's 24-20 victory at Southwestern Oklahoma.
The Wonder Boys' four losses this fall have been by a combined 23 points.
"You've got to find a way to make one more play somewhere along the way," Monica said. "We would have liked to have had a couple more wins, but we've got back-to-back winning seasons for the first time in a little while. Now, we've got to build on that."
Kickoff on Saturday at First Security Stadium is 2:05 p.m.
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS
A lot to play for
Southern Arkansas can clinch at least a tie for second in the GAC with a victory Saturday at Arkansas-Monticello.
But there's much more at stake for the Muleriders (8-2) entering the final week of the regular season.
"Very big game," SAU Coach Bill Keopple said. "Got a lot to play for."
SAU is No. 8 in the latest NCAA Super Region Three rankings, with the top seven teams in each of the four regions nationally advancing to the postseason.
Even if SAU misses the NCAA Division II playoffs, a victory Saturday would give the Muleriders their highest GAC finish since the league was formed in 2011, first nine-victory season since 2003 and a postseason date in the fourth annual Live United Bowl on Dec. 3 in Texarkana, Keopple said.
"If we win Saturday, we'll definitely play one more game somewhere," said Keopple, 41-41 at SAU since 2009. "I don't know if that necessarily means in the NCAA playoffs, but it would definitely mean the Live United Bowl -- if we win. If we don't win, there's no guarantee to play anything after that."
SAU has won three consecutive games since a 40-37 four-overtime loss Oct. 15 at Ouachita Baptist.
SAU beat defending GAC champion Henderson State (50-24), Southeastern Oklahoma (38-24) and East Central Oklahoma (37-24) last week on the road.
"We played very well, obviously, against Henderson and Southeastern, back to back," Keopple said. "Last week over at East Central, there was a lot of good."
The Muleriders haven't played in the postseason since 2012, when they finished 8-3 overall and advanced to the Heart of Texas Bowl.
SAU reached the NCAA Division II playoffs in 1997 and 2003, finishing with nine victories each season.
"There's things out there for us to play for," Keopple said.
Kickoff for Saturday's "Battle of the Timberlands" is 3 p.m. at Cotton Boll Stadium.
Extra points
Ouachita Baptist sophomore place-kicker Cole Antley equaled the GAC single-season record for field goals in last week's 51-28 victory at Oklahoma Baptist. Antley's 27-yard field goal with 13:25 remaining in the first half was his 17th this fall, tying the record shared by Houston Ray of Henderson State and Jamie McGee of Arkansas-Monticello. Antley (17 of 21 this season) is third nationally in NCAA Division II in field goals and can break the single-season GAC record Saturday at Henderson. Antley is third in the GAC in scoring this fall with 95 points: 17 field goals and 44 of 45 on extra-point attempts. ... Oklahoma Baptist quarterback Dezmond Stegall, a junior from Searcy, set two single-season school records in the loss to Ouachita. Stegall has thrown for 2,063 yards and 19 touchdowns, surpassing the previous marks of 1,872 and 18, respectively, set in 2014 by Blake Woodard. Stegall threw for a school-record 332 yards in a 37-35 loss to Southwestern Oklahoma on Oct. 20 and for 300 yards and three touchdowns against Ouachita. ... Ouachita Coach Todd Knight said last month that standout senior wide receiver/kick returner Ke'Vontae Pope of Jonesboro had a "good shot" to receive a medical redshirt. Pope (torn ACL) had 15 receptions for 328 yards and 2 touchdowns in four games this season. ... Arkansas-Monticello (4-6) can equal its most victories in a season since 2008 by beating Southern Arkansas on Saturday at home.
Sports on 11/11/2016