Harding Football Game Notes
SEARCY - Harding plays its final road game of the season Saturday against Henderson State in Arkadelphia, Ark. Kickoff on Homecoming at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium is at 3 p.m. The Bisons will close the season with three straight home games.
HOW TO FOLLOW THE GAME
COACHING MATCHUP
HARDING HEAD COACH RONNIE HUCKEBA
- Alma Mater: Harding, 1978
- 4th Season at Harding: 15-21 (.417)
HENDERSON STATE HEAD COACH SCOTT MAXFIELD
- Alma Mater: Louisiana Tech, 1984
- 5th Season at Henderson State: 30-28 (.517)
HARDING QUICK HITTERS
Harding plays its final road game of the season Saturday against Henderson State in Arkadelphia, Ark. Kickoff on Homecoming at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium is at 3 p.m. The Bisons will close the season with three straight home games.
Harding enters the game 3-3 overall and 1-3 in the GSC and is coming off one of its biggest wins since moving to the NCAA with a 38-35 victory over 12th-ranked Delta State on Saturday. The Bisons are looking for back-to-back wins for the first time this season.
Henderson State enters game 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the GSC. A loss to Harding would likely end any postseason hopes for the Reddies. Henderson State comes in as the top-ranked passing offense in the conference and sixth-ranked in Division II at 359.1 yards per game.
The Harding-Henderson State game is a battle of two very unique offensive philosophies. Harding, with its option attack, employs the run on 79% of its plays from scrimmage. The Bisons lead the GSC and rank 10th in Division II with 234.8 rushing yards per game.
Henderson State, conversely, runs a one-back, spread offense, and passes 62% of the time. The Reddies lead the GSC and rank sixth in Division II with 359.1 passing yards per game.
Henderson State leads the all-time series with Harding 27-17-1. The Reddies have won four straight meetings in Arkadelphia. The Bisons last won at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium by a 26-10 score in 2001.
The teams have played every season since Harding joined the GSC in 2000, and the Bisons hold a 6-4 advantage in those games. Harding won 27-22 last season in Searcy.
Harding returns to First Security Stadium next Saturday for the first of three consecutive home games to end the season. The Bisons open the stretch of home games with Arkansas-Monticello for a 2 p.m. kickoff.
Harding collected its first road victory of the season at Delta State. It was the Bisons second straight road win over a nationally-ranked team. Harding defeated 20th-ranked Ouachita Baptist on the road last season.
Harding continues to lead the GSC in rushing offense, averaging 234.8 yards per game. That ranks 10th in NCAA Division II. The Bisons have rushed for 1,409 yards through six games, which is more than Harding rushed in an entire season since 2005.
Harding averages 4.3 yards per rush, second only to Delta State in the GSC. The Statesmen average 4.9 yards per carry.
The last time a Harding team averaged over 200 rushing yards per game was 1997, when the Bisons averaged 249.0 yards per game on the ground.
Harding has rushed for over 200 yards in a game in five of its six games this season. The only game it fell short was against West Alabama, when the Bisons rushed for “only” 198 yards.
Harding has already had three different players rush for more than 100 yards in a game. Kale Gelles had 103 vs. Southern Arkansas, 181 vs. West Georgia, 115 vs. West Alabama, and 133 at Delta State. Chaz Rogers had 102 vs. Southern Arkansas, and Jeremy Holt had 102 vs. Ouachita Baptist.
Only two other times in program history has Harding had three different players rush for over 100 yards in a given year. In 2002, Dondtray Thomas, Robert Lolohea and DeJuan Patton each hit the 100-yard mark. It also happened in 1990 with Darrell Biggers, Richard Holmes, and Michael Gibbs. Harding has never had 100-yard games by four different players in the same season.
Junior Kale Gelles had his fourth 100-yard rushing game of the season at Delta State and leads the GSC and ranks 16th nationally with 113.2 rushing yards per game. Chris Pierson was the last Bison to average over 100 rushing yards per game for an entire season. He averaged 130.6 in 1997.
Pierson was also the last Harding player to rush for over 100 yards four times in a season, accomplishing the feat five times in 1997.
Gelles averages 5.46 yards per carry, the second-highest average per carry among GSC backs with 10 or more carries per game. UAM's Nakita Myles averages 5.55 per carry. Each of Harding's top three rushers average more than 5.0 yards per carry.
Gelles had a 75-yard run that set up a field goal vs. West Alabama. The run was the longest play from scrimmage this season by the Bisons and tied for the ninth-longest run in team history. It was the longest run by a Bison since Chris Pierson went 80 yards at Tarleton State in 1997.
Harding's offense averages 34 minutes, 23 seconds of possession per game, 1st in the GSC and 3rd in Division II. Three times this season, the Bisons have had a time-of-possession margin of 14 minutes or more.
Harding has passed for the fewest yards in the GSC this season (742 yards), but has one of the most efficient passing offenses in the conference. The Bisons have an efficiency rating of 154.92, second in the conference and 17th in Division II. Harding's 8.4 yards per pass attempt is second in the GSC behind West Alabama (9.3).
Harding has completed 43 passes this season, 10 of them for touchdowns. The Bisons have 15 completions for more than 20 yards, and eight of them for more than 30 yards. Harding is averaging 17.3 yards per completion.
Harding is one of only four teams in Division II that have thrown only one interception this season. The other three are Abilene Christian, Minnesota-Duluth and North Greenville.
Senior quarterback Josh Powell made his 14th career start for the Bisons against Delta State. He completed 5-of-13 passes for 123 yards and a career-high four touchdowns. His 219.5 passer rating at Delta State was the 10th-best single game in team history. Powell's passing efficiency of 164.33 would lead the GSC if he had enough passes to qualify. Harding is 7-7 in games Powell starts.
Harding starts two of its most prolific wide receivers in school history. Kurt Adams, who missed all but two games last season with a knee injury, has 2,144 career receiving yards and a school-record 27 touchdown receptions. Jordan Watson has 1,855 career receiving yards and 16 touchdowns.
Adams has five of Harding's 10 receiving touchdowns this season.
Adams is tied for seventh in career receiving touchdowns in GSC history. He needs two more to reach Ellis Debrow of Delta State (2002-04) for sixth.
Adams is the only Harding receiver with over 2,000 receiving yards and more than 20 receiving touchdowns.
Jordan Watson recorded his third career 100-yard receiving game with 129 yards on four receptions vs. Ouachita Baptist. With that effort, he moved into fifth in career receiving yards at Harding. He needs 145 more receiving yards to reach 2,000.
Harding is the top-ranked team in the GSC and eighth-ranked in Division II in fourth-down conversions. The Bisons have converted 11-of-14 (78.6%) fourth-down attempts this season and converted 4-of-5 at Delta State, including one on the game-winning touchdown.
Through six games, Harding's top offensive lineman is sophomore L.J. Tarrant. He leads the team with an average film grade of 78.8 and has a team-high 199 knock-out blocks. Tory Day is second in both categories at 77% and 180 KOs.
Day led the offensive linemen in the Delta State game. He had an 88% film grade and a team-high 33 knockout blocks.
Harding boasts one of the top defensive units in the Gulf South Conference. The Bisons rank fourth in total defense, fourth in rushing defense and third in scoring defense.
Harding ranks 27th nationally in total defense, yielding only 292.3 yards per game. The Bisons have allowed only 14 touchdowns, third fewest in the conference. The last time a Harding team allowed fewer than 300 yards per game was 1992 (299.5).
The Bisons' rushing defense is ranked 11th nationally, allowing just 81.3 yards per game. Harding's opponents average only 2.9 yards per carry and have scored just five rushing touchdowns. No Harding team has ever allowed fewer than 100 rushing yards per game over an entire season.
Harding's defense is allowing 20.3 points per game, third in the GSC. The last time Harding allowed fewer than 20 points per game was in 1993 (17.8).
The Harding defense leads the GSC and ranks fifth in NCAA Division II with 3.67 sacks per game. The Bisons have 22 sacks on the season and have had at least two in each game. Opposing teams have lost 122 yards due to Harding sacks.
Harding has allowed just 14.0 first downs per game to lead the GSC in the category. The Bisons rank ninth in Division II in the category. Harding has yielded only five first downs by penalty all season.
Harding senior linebacker Jason Thomasson has a team-high 50 tackles this season and ranks fifth in the GSC with 8.3 tackles per game. He now has 233 tackles in his career and is only the sixth Bison since the NCAA standardized tackle stats in 2000 with more than 200 career tackles.
The combination of Harding defensive ends Jermaine Blanchard and Marcus Jones has led the Bisons' sack attack this season. Blanchard is tied for second in the conference and ranks seventh nationally with 6.0 sacks (1.0 sack per game) and fourth with 9.5 tackles for loss (1.58 TFL per game).
Jones is fourth with 5.5 sacks (0.92 sacks per game) and seventh with 8.5 tackles for loss (1.42 TFL per game).
Eddie Russ had one pass breakup against Delta State to run his total to 10 passes defended in six games this season. He has eight breakups and two interceptions and is tied for second in the GSC with 1.67 passes defended per game.
Kickoffs have been good to the Bisons this season. Harding is fourth in the GSC in both kickoff returns and kickoff return defense. Harding averages 21.0 yards per return, while Bison opponents average only 16.5 yards per return.
Harding junior Jeremy Holt leads the GSC and ranks 31st nationally with 25.17 yards per return. He has four kickoff returns of 30 yards or more.
Senior Micah Canterbury has been a weapon for the Bisons, averaging 38.6 yards per punt. Eight of his 30 punts have landed inside the 20.
Jason Thomasson, Jermaine Blanchard, James Feher and Marquale Pierson lead the Harding special teams units with five tackles each. All five of Thomasson's tackles have been on punt returns, and each of Feher's tackles have been on kickoffs.
Through six games, Harding has outscored its opponents 124-58 in the first three quarters but has been outscored 64-33 in the fourth quarter. Harding has allowed only 10 points in the third quarter this season.
Harding has suffered the fewest penalty yards per game by any GSC team this season at 56.5 yards per game.
