Box Score
BOLIVAR, MO. – It took one quarter, but once the Harding University offense got untracked, it rolled over Southwest Baptist on Thursday at Plaster Stadium. The Bisons set a school record for total yardage and won their fifth straight season opener 42-30 over the Bearcats. It was the third straight season that Harding opened the campaign with a victory over Southwest Baptist.
Harding gobbled up 632 total yards, shattering the old record of 572 against Ouachita Baptist in 1996. The offense worked so well, even the Bisons’ center Jared Wilson scored a touchdown.
The Bisons had a punt blocked and threw an interception in the first quarter that led to a 13-0 lead for the Bearcats.
As soon as the teams switched ends for the second quarter, Harding’s offense was nearly impossible to stop. Bison starting quarterback David Knighton completed 20-of-31 passes for 416 yards and tied the school record with four touchdown passes. Two of the touchdown passes came sandwiched around an Ardell Briggs six-yard touchdown run in the Bisons’ 21-point second quarter.
Senior tailback Kyle Wess caught the first touchdown pass on a 29-yard screen play. Sophomore Julian Firman later scored his first touchdown on a 34-yard completion.
Harding’s other top offensive threat in the first half was junior wide receiver Devin Link who had 128 of his 177 receiving yards before the break.
The Bisons led 21-13 at the break. The offensive onslaught continued in the third quarter when Knighton hit Heath Adams for a 13-yard score to give Harding a 28-13 lead. Wess then took over out of the Bison backfield. The senior rushed for a career-high 180 yards on 17 carries. He had 157 of his yards in the second half.
Southwest Baptist (0-1) scored 10 straight points within a four minute stretch of the third quarter to cut the lead to 28-23 at the end of the period.
Harding’s first drive of the fourth resulted in an odd touchdown. Knighton hit Link on a screen pass. Link fumbled at the 3-yard line and Wilson, Harding’s center, recovered the ball in the end zone to give the Bisons a 35-23 advantage. SBU answered with a score, but Wess put the game away with a 61-yard touchdown run with 6:53 left in the game.
The game marked the first time in Harding history that the Bisons had a 300-yard passer, a 100-yard rusher, and a 100-yard receiver in the same game.
Knighton’s 416 passing yards ranked second in single-game history, trailing only Luke Cullins’ 502 yards against Central Oklahoma in 1999. Wess’ 180 rushing yards were the most by a Bison since Robert Lolohea compiled 209 vs. West Alabama in 2001. Link’s 177 receiving yards were tied for fifth all-time by a Bison.
Harding will look for its second straight win Saturday, Sept. 9, in its home opener against Missouri Southern.
