Harding University rushed for 492 yards and 7 touchdowns Saturday in Shawnee, Okla., but the Bisons needed a blocked extra point and two-point return to regain control in a 50-33 Great American Conference victory over Oklahoma Baptist.
Harding (5-1, 5-1 GAC) led 34-27 after Oklahoma Baptist quarterback Preston Haire scored on an 8-yard touchdown run with 10:04 to play in the fourth quarter.
But Luke Wendl's extra-point attempt was blocked by V'onte Williams and picked up by Cory Batie, who returned it 98 yards for two points to give the Bisons a 36-27 lead.
Harding scored moments later on Cole Chancey's 75-yard run with 9:54 to play, and the Bisons were up 43-27 after Grant Ennis' extra point.
It was Ennis' missed extra point after Harding's second touchdown that put the Bisons in a precarious position as the teams traded touchdowns.
"In that kind of game ... we were talking about how to get that point back," Harding Coach Paul Simmons said. "It was essentially a two-point conversion for us."
Chancey (19-233 rushing), quarterback Preston Paden (14-119 rushing; 2-2 passing, 58 yards) and Taylor Bissell (9-50) each rushed for two touchdowns, but the Bisons' defense struggled with Haire, the GAC's leading passer.
Harding came into the game ranked No. 1 in NCAA Division II in scoring defense (6.4 ppg) and total defense (197.4 ypg), but those numbers took a hit as Haire (23-33 passing, 282, 4 TDs; 10-41 rushing, 1 TD) accounted for 5 touchdowns, all of them coming after Harding built a 14-0 lead with 12:51 to go in the first half.
"That quarterback, I think he's best player in the league," Simmons said.
Two of Haire's touchdown passes went to leading receiver Josh Cornell (8-150).
Harding's offense lost 2 fumbles (11 for the season), but found its footing against an Oklahoma Baptist defense that has struggled to stop the run.
"If we don't give the ball away, we score 65 points," Simmons said. "We've had days when the defense has carried the offense, and we've told them there was going to be a day when the offense needs to carry the defense. They did that."
Harding led 20-14 at halftime when Simmons called for the Bisons to attempt an onside kick to start the third quarter. Oklahoma Baptist (3-3, 3-3) recovered then drove 50 yards to take its only lead at 21-20 on a 13-yard pass from Haire to Eli Paul.
Oklahoma Baptist (3-2, 3-2) held the lead for 3:12, until Paden scored from 4 yards out with 8:02 to play in third.
ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 9, SE OKLAHOMA STATE 7
Arkansas-Monticello senior kicker Josh Marini dropped six punts inside the Southeastern Oklahoma State 20-yard line, including a fourth-quarter kick that led to the Boll Weevils' game-winning safety in Durant, Okla.
UAM scored its safety on Southeastern Oklahoma State's first play after Marini pinned the Savage Storm at the 10.
Quarterback Daulton Hatley went back to pass on first down, but was brought down in the end zone.
UAM (4-2, 4-2 GAC) was held to 202 yards of total offense, 159 yards on the ground, but the Boll Weevils recovered four Savage Storm fumbles.
Southeastern Oklahoma State (1-5, 1-5) gained 307 yards, scoring on Rashod Polk's 1-run touchdown run with 2:50 to play in the third quarter.
Polk (17-95) was the game's leading rusher.
True freshman quarterback Demilon Brown (6-17 passing, 27 yards, 1 interception; 14-87 rushing) made his second consecutive start, but Caleb Canady (2-3, 16, 1 interception) helped the Boll Weevils run out the clock in the fourth quarter after the Savage Storm lost its third fumble with 7:39 to play.
Canady threw an interception on his second series, but the Savage Storm fumbled again after a Marini punt pinned them at the 3. Canady's 13-yard pass to Juwan Davis helped UAM run the final 2:42 off the clock.
Davontae Dean (11-50 rushing, 1 TD) scored UAM's touchdown on a 31-yard run with 5:05 to play in first half.
OUACHITA BAPTIST 31,
EAST CENTRAL (OKLA.) 3
Ouachita Baptist's defense held GAC leading rusher Ontario Douglas to 46 yards on 18 carries, and the Tigers outgained East Central (Okla.) 407-173 en route to victory in Ada, Okla.
Quarterback Brayden Brazeal (14-207 passing, 1 TD) threw a 6-yard touchdown pass to Hunter Swoboda, and fullback Brockton Brown (9-85 rushing) scored on runs of 11, 1 and 32 yards, the third touchdown giving OBU (6-0, 6-0 GAC) a 31-0 lead 5:31 to play in the third quarter.
East Central (1-5, 1-5) scored on Jack Preston's 31-yard field goal with 8:30 to play in the fourth quarter.
Freshman Gabe Goodman put OBU up 3-0 on a 26-yard field goal with 8:31 to play in the first quarter.
Brown's 11-yard run capped an 11-play, 84-yard drive that consumed 5:11 and ended with 17 seconds to play in the first quarter.
Swoboda (2-51) caught a 6-yard touchdown pass from Brazeal to give OBU a 17-0 lead with 4:13 to play in the first half. Swoboda caught a 45-yard pass earlier on the 6-play, 66-yard drive.
Brown's 1-yard run with 1:30 to go in the first half made it 24-0, capping a 5-play, 56-yard drive.
HENDERSON STATE 35,
SW OKLAHOMA STATE 7
Richard Stammetti threw touchdowns passes to three different receivers, and the Reddies (5-1, 5-1 GAC) scored three times in the second quarter to build a 28-0 halftime lead in Weatherford, Okla.
Logan Moragne (3-69 rushing, 1 TD) scored on a 56-yard run to complete a 5-play, 75-yard opening drive with 12:42 to play in the first quarter.
The Reddies built their halftime lead on Doug Johnson's 4-yard catch with 14:55 to play in the half, Darius Austin's 4-yard run a minute later and on Lodre's 45-touchdown reception less than two minutes after that.
Austin's run came after the Reddies recovered a fumble on the kickoff after Johnson's touchdown and took over at the 9.
Lodre's reception came on the first play after Kane Bowen's punt put the Reddies at the Bulldogs 45.
Southwestern Oklahoma State (2-4, 2-4) scored on a 5-yard pass from Tyler Marr (22-39 passing, 198, 1 TD, 1 interception) in the third quarter.
Stammetti (14-29, 151) completed the scoring with a 21-pass to leading receiver L'liott Curry (6-59).
Querale Hall (19-99) was the Reddies' leading rusher.
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 40, NW OKLAHOMA STATE 7
Austin Wilkerson kicked 4 field goals, and redshirt freshman Kor'davion Washington accounted for 190 yards to lead Southern Arkansas in Alva, Okla.
Washington (15-123 rushing; 3-67 receiving, 1 TD) and senior SirCharles Perkins (22-107, 1 TD) led the Muleriders offense (488 yards, 333 rushing).
Quarterback Hayden Mallory (12-14 passing, 143 yards) threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jaidon Parrish in the third quarter and a 32-yard pass to Washington with 10:30 to play in the game.
Wilkerson (9 of 10 for the season) made field goals from 37, 27, 23 and 29 yards.
Freshman OB Jones scored on a 13-yard to start the scoring with 10:31 to play in the first quarter.
SAU (5-1, 5-1 GAC) led 16-0 at halftime, but the Rangers (2-4, 2-4) made it 16-7 on a 34-yard pass from Trent Easley to Gavin Garner with 11:31 to go in the third quarter.
The Muleriders countered with as 3-play, 64-yard drive in 1:04 to go up 23-7 on Perkins' run at the 10:25 mark of the third quarter.
SOUTHERN NAZARENE 41, ARKANSAS TECH 24
Quarterback Gage Porter rushed for 270 yards and 2 touchdowns and added 112 yards passing as Southern Nazarene (2-4, 2-4 GAC) capitalized on 4 Arkansas Tech interceptions to beat the Wonder Boys (0-6, 0-6) in Bethany, Okla.
Arkansas Tech rushed for 264 yards, led by Caleb Batie's 145 yards and 2 touchdowns, but trailed 28-0 midway through the second quarter.
The Wonder Boys pulled within 28-17 on transfer quarterback Mason's Cunningham's 2-yard run with 2:54 to go in the third.
But Jason Gulley returned a Cunningham interception 81 yards for a score with 12:15 to play in the game.
Arkansas Tech, which hosts Northwestern Oklahoma State next week, ending the scoring with a 1-yard Batie run with 4:22 to play.
Cunningham (12-29, 92 yards, 4 interceptions) had two interceptions returned for touchdowns, the first returned 44 yards by Noah Campbell, which put Southern Nazarene up 28-0 with 5:03 to play in the first half.
Sports on 10/13/2019