Box Score
SEARCY – Harding’s defense forced five turnovers and held Henderson State scoreless after halftime, as the Bisons defeated the Reddies 34-28 in overtime at First Security Stadium in front of a packed Homecoming crowd of 6,432 on Saturday afternoon. It was Harding’s fifth straight home win over Henderson State and the Bisons’ 16th victory in their last 17 Homecoming games.
Spearheading the defensive attack were senior Justin Currie, who set a career high with 13 tackles, including 4.0 tackles for loss, and junior Sevohn Greer, who forced two fumbles, including one that led to Harding’s game-winning touchdown.
With the win, Harding moves to 6-2 overall and 5-1 in Gulf South Conference play. The victory also marks just the second time the Bisons have secured a winning GSC record since joining the conference in 2000; the Bisons’ last winning season in the GSC came in 2002 with a 7-2 mark. Harding has now wrapped up three consecutive winning seasons for the first time since 1992-94.
Regulation play ended with the score tied at 28-28. On the fourth play of Henderson State’s overtime drive, Greer stripped Bernard Palmer and recovered the loose ball to give Harding the ball with a chance to win.
Harding wasted no time in scoring as junior quarterback David Knighton threw a screen pass to junior receiver Devin Link for a 25-yard touchdown on Harding’s first play to win the game.
Knighton finished with three touchdown passes in a game for a fifth time this season and now has 20 touchdown passes during the campaigh, two short of Harding record-holder Luke Cullins in 1999. Link caught a career-high 10 passes for 116 yards, marking the second time this season that Link has collected more than 100 yards receiving.
The Bisons kicked off a high-scoring first half when Knighton completed a 57-yard touchdown pass to sophomore receiver Julian Firman to give Harding a 7-0 lead with 9:33 remaining in the first quarter.
Henderson tied the game 7-7 on its next drive when quarterback Garett Manning completed to Marques Clark for a 10-yard touchdown.
Senior cornerback Robert Towns intercepted a Manning pass on the following possession at Harding’s 45-yard line. Harding then retook the lead 14-7 with a 1-yard quarterback sneak by Knighton. Towns has eight interceptions on the year and 18 for his career, moving him into sole possession of second on Harding’s all-time interception list.
Harding junior Sevohn Greer forced a fumble and defensive end Ray Hatfield scooped up the loose ball and ran for a 5-yard touchdown on the first play of the second quarter to give the Bisons a 21-7.
Henderson State was not ready to throw in the towel just yet, however. Palmer scored on a 2-yard run to cut Harding’s lead to 21-14 with 8:17 remaining in the second quarter. Minutes later, the Reddies handed the ball off to Palmer again, who scored on a 15-yard run to tie the game 21-21.
The Reddies took a 28-21 lead with less than a minute remaining in the first half when Manning found Clark again for a 23-yard touchdown.
Harding scored the only touchdown of the second half when Knighton connected with Firman for a 31-yard touchdown pass to tie the game 28-28. It was Firman’s first career two-touchdown game.
