Harding Game Notes

Today's Game
The 16th-ranked Harding football team will play its final home game of the regular season Saturday as it takes on Arkansas Tech at 2 p.m. at First Security Stadium.

Harding will honor 21 seniors playing their final regular season home game in a pre-game ceremony.

Harding enters the game ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Division II Super Region 3 rankings. Six teams in the super region advance to the NCAA II Championship tournament. Super Region 3 is made of teams from the Great American Conference, Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, MIAA, and Great Northwest Conference.

The NCAA will announce the six teams from Super Region 3 on Sunday at 4 p.m. on NCAA.com.

Super Region 3 Rankings with this week's opponents:
    1. Minnesota State vs. Upper Iowa, 1 p.m.
    2. Ouachita Baptist at Henderson State, 2 p.m.
    3. Minnesota Duluth at Minot State, 1:30 p.m.
    4. Pittsburg State at Central Oklahoma, 1 p.m.
    5. Northwest Missouri at Washburn, 2 p.m.
    6. Harding vs. Arkansas Tech, 2 p.m.
    7. Sioux Falls vs. Wayne State (Neb.), 12 p.m.
    8. Azusa Pacific vs. Menlo, 6 p.m.
    9. Henderson State at Ouachita Baptist, 2 p.m.
    10. Central Oklahoma vs. Pittsburg State, 1 p.m.

The Bisons will be playing their eighth straight game as a nationally-ranked team. Harding entered the AFCA poll on Sept. 15 at No. 20 and is currently ranked No. 16. Harding's highest ranking was No. 12 on Nov. 12, 2012. The Bisons have been as high as No. 13 this season.

Harding is currently on a school record nine-game road winning streak. The Bisons broke the record with a 28-24 victory over Henderson State on Oct. 25. Harding's streak began with a 28-14 victory over Southern Arkansas on Oct. 3, 2013.

Harding and Arkansas Tech are meeting for the 52nd time with the Wonder Boys leading the series 30-21. The Bisons have won the last three meetings overall and have won four of the last five meetings in Searcy.

Saturday's game will be the 622nd game in program history. Harding enters the game with a record of 305-298-18. The Bisons earned their 300th victory at Southern Nazarene on Sept. 27.

Harding has overwhelmingly outscored its opponents in every quarter this season, but the greatest difference comes in the second half where the Bisons have outscored opponents 195-25.

Harding has scored touchdowns on 35 of its 47 trips to the Red Zone (74 percent), while allowing opponents to score only 10 touchdowns on 22 Red Zone trips (45 percent).

Through seven games, Harding has 46 plays from scrimmage of 20 yards or more (32 rushing, 14 passing). Harding's opponents have 27 plays of 20 yards or more (6 rushing, 21 passing).

Winning Tradition
Harding has won 25 games in the last two-plus seasons. Harding won 18 games over the last two seasons, breaking the previous record of 17 wins in 1972-73.

Harding has broken the school record for wins in three seasons. The Bisons from 1971-73 won 23 games.

Harding has played in the postseason in each of the last two years, a first for the Bison program. In 2012, Harding reached the NCAA II Super Region 3 Playoffs, meeting Northwest Missouri State, and last season the Bisons won the inaugural Live United Texarkana Bowl 44-3 over Texas A&M-Commerce.

Head Coach Ronnie Huckeba
Harding is in its eighth season under head coach Ronnie Huckeba. Now in his 29th season as a coach at Harding, Huckeba has a 48-34 overall record as head coach.

The Series vs. Arkansas Tech - Highlights
1967 - Ken Glass became the only Harding player ever to return two fumbles for touchdowns in the same game. His returns were 66 yards and 77 yards in a 31-28 loss.
1975 - Robert Akins became the first Harding player with three interceptions in a game. HU won 20-9 in Russellville.
1987 - Mickey Adkison intercepted three passes in Harding's 19-7 victory.
1996 - Jermaine Cuffie returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown, then the longest interception return in program history.
2005 - Robert Towns became the third Harding player with three interceptions in a game against Arkansas Tech in HU's 27-10 victory.
2007 - David Knighton set school records with 46 completions, 529 passing yards, and seven touchdowns in Harding's 62-55 victory.
2010 - Kale Gelles rushed for 257 yards and tied a school record with four touchdowns in a 42-7 Harding victory. Gelles had an 81-yard touchdown run in the game.
2012 - Romo Westbrook rushed for 181 yards on only six carries in Harding's 76-23 victory. Westbrook had a 90-yard touchdown run in the game. John Gay set a school record with 10 extra points and added two field goals.
2013 - Philip Mion returned a fumble 94 yards for a touchdown in HU's 28-17 victory. It was the second-longest fumble return by a Bison.

Harding's individual best games against Arkansas Tech: RUSHING - Kale Gelles (20 rushes, 257 yards in 2010); PASSING - David Knighton (46-of-62, 529 yards, 7TD in 2007); RECEIVING - Santiago Collins (8 receptions, 151 yards in 2000); TACKLES - Said Perez (14 tackles in 2000).

Harding vs. Arkansas Tech - Last Meeting
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Harding senior safety Philip Mion had a game-changing fumble return and a key late interception to lead the Bisons to a 28-17 victory over Arkansas Tech on Saturday in Great American Conference action at Thone Stadium.

Harding improved to 8-2 overall and in the GAC, winning eight or more games in consecutive seasons for the first time in program history. Arkansas Tech dropped to 5-6 overall and 5-5 in the GAC.

Saturday's game turned on the next-to-last play of the first half with the game tied at 7-7.

With 30 seconds remaining before halftime, Arkansas Tech had the ball at the Harding 4-yard line and a chance to take its first lead of the game. Following a timeout, quarterback Justin Owens headed right on 4th-and-1, but sophomore Daylan Skidmore knocked the ball loose and Mion scooped it at the 6-yard line and took it 94 yards for the second-longest fumble return in program history.

In 1960, Harding's Jerry Mote, now the team's color commentator on the radio broadcasts, returned a fumble 99 yards against the University of the Ozarks.

Current Bisons vs. Arkansas Tech
RUSHING
NAME    G    ATT.    YARDS    TD
Kellett    2    19    89    2
Kelly    1    2    10    0
Oller    2    8    43    0
Pletta    2    2    23    0
Scott    2    10    84    2
Westbrook    2    26    272    2

PASSING
NAME    G    A-C    YARDS    I-TD
Kellett    2    4-9    45    0-0

RECEIVING
NAME    G    REC    YARDS    TD
Oller    2    2    80    1

DEFENSE
NAME    G    T    TFL    SCK    INT
Bassett    1    1    0.0    0.0    0
Bracken    2    2    2.0    0.0    0
Britt    2    7    0.0    0.0    0
Buckner    1    10    2.0    0.0    0
Cantrell    2    10    0.0    0.0    0
Garrett    1    1    0.0    0.0    0
Lane    1    3    0.0    0.0    0
Roberson    2    2    0.0    0.0    0
Sarkissian    2    3    0.0    0.0    0
Skidmore    1    2    0.0    0.0    0
Stevenson    2    5    0.0    0.0    0
Zalenski    1    4    0.0    0.0    0

Offensive Notes
Harding's offense enters the game ranked No. 2 in Division II in rushing offense (394.3 yards per game). Lenoir-Rhyne leads Division II with 421.0 rushing yards per game.

The Bisons rank No. 5 in NCAA II in scoring offense with 44.9 points per game. Harding, who leads the GAC in the category, has scored more than 40 points seven times this season.

Harding ranks No. 5 in NCAA II in time-of-possession. The Bisons average 34:57 and have won the TOP battle in eight of its nine games.

Harding senior running back Romo Westbrook is second in career rushing yards with 2,841 yards. He needs 1,271 yards to pass Alan Dixon (1970-73) for first.

Westbrook rushed for 102 yards vs. East Central and eclipsed the 1,000-yard mark for the season. He is at 1,004 yards, ninth most in a Harding season.

Westbrook is one of only four Harding players to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season twice. The other three are Alan Dixon (1972 & 1973), Chris Pierson (1996 & 1997), and Kale Gelles (2010 & 2011).

Westbrook scored his 27th career touchdown vs. Southeastern Oklahoma and is third on Harding's career touchdowns list. He needs two more touchdowns to tie Kurt Adams (2006-10) for second.

Westbrook leads the GAC and ranks 34th in NCAA Division II with 111.6 rushing yards per game. He is second in the conference with 6.56 yards per rush.

Westbrook ranks 20th among active players in NCAA Division II with 2,943 career rushing yards. He is 10th with 6.4 yards per carry and 34th with 26 rushing touchdowns.

With his 102-yard effort vs. East Central, Westbrook has 12 career 100-yard rushing games. He moved ahead of Kale Gelles (2008-11) for second. Alan Dixon is Harding's career leader with 21 100-yard games.

Westbrook has six 100-yard rushing games this season, tied for second in an HU single season. He exceded his total from last season and is tied with Alan Dixon (6, 1973) and Chris Pierson (6, 1997) and trails only Alan Dixon (8, 1972).

Westbrook and teammate Donatella Luckett could become just the second set of Harding teammates to have over 3,000 career all-purpose yards at the same time. Westbrook has 3,074 yards, with Luckett at 2,931. The other duo: Jeremy Holt (3,944 in 2008-11) and Kale Gelles (3,038 in 2008-11).

Harding rushed for 318 yards against East Central and have now rushed for over 300 yards 29 times in the last 41 games since 2011. The Bisons have rushed for over 400 yards 14 times since 2011.

Harding currently ranks second in NCAA II in rushing offense with 394.3 rushing yards per game. Harding ranked No. 3 in NCAA II in rushing offense last season with 359.7 yards per game. The Bisons rushed for over 300 yards eight times, over 400 yards four times, and over 500 yards once (505 vs. Southern Nazarene).

Harding has finished in the top five in rushing offense in each of the last four seasons.

HARDING'S NCAA RUSHING OFFENSE RANKINGS (SINCE 2009)
    2013 - No. 3 (359.70)
    2012 - No. 4 (320.55)
    2011 - No. 1 (360.91)
    2010 - No. 5 (272.20)
    2009 - No. 124 (94.55) - HU's last season in the spread offense

Harding has scored 44.9 points per game in its first nine games and ranks No. 5 in NCAA II. Harding ranked No. 7 in NCAA II last season in scoring offense with 43.5 points per game. It broke the previous school record of 35.5 points per game in 2011.

Harding wide receiver Donatella Luckett scored on a 3-yard reverse against Henderson State, only the second of his 20 career touchdowns that came inside the Red Zone. He still averages 48.1 yards per touchdown.

Senior Mike Thompson, a 1st Team All-GAC offensive lineman last season, anchors the Bison line. Thompson has started 30 consecutive games, including all 11 last season at left guard.

Senior Keenan Kellett is Harding's starting quarterback. He will make his 19th career start, and the Bisons have a 16-2 record in his previous 18 starts. Kellett has 17 career rushing touchdowns and 16 touchdown passes.

Defensive Notes
Harding's defense has allowed only three rushing touchdowns this season. The school record for fewest rushing touchdowns allowed is six, set by the 1962 team.

Harding ranks No. 4 in NCAA II in Turnovers Gained (32) and No. 3 in Fumbles Recovered (15).

Harding leads the GAC and ranks No. 7 in NCAA II in total defense, allowing just 277.8 yards per game.  The Bisons have held five opponents to 300 yards or fewer.

Harding's rush defense leads the GAC and ranks No. 4 in NCAA II at 76.9 yards per game. The Bisons have held seven of their nine opponents to fewer than 100 rushing yards.

Harding leads the GAC and is No. 2 in NCAA II in turnover margin. The Bisons have forced 32 turnovers, including 15 fumbles, and 17 interceptions. Harding has only 15 turnovers, 10 fumbles and five interceptions.

Harding's defense has allowed opponents only 22 trips to the Red Zone in nine games, the fewest among GAC teams. Harding's offense has made 47 trips to the Red Zone, tied for second-most in the GAC.

Harding has three defensive players in the top 50 in the GAC in tackles per game -- LB Daylan Skidmore (24th, 5.8 tackles per game), DB Devonte Britt (38th, 5.1), and LB Jordan Cantrell (43rd, 4.7).

Special Teams Notes
Senior kicker John Gay made a 40-yard field goal and 5-of-6 extra points vs. Southeastern Oklahoma.  Gay is Harding's record holder with 156 career extra points, ranks third in career scoring with 228 points (needs 14 to pass Jeremy Thompson for second and 16 to pass Coy Nance for first). Gay has made 24-of-31 field attempts in his career, including 8-of-9 from 40 yards or more.

Harding kicker John Gay ranks fifth in the GAC and third among kickers in scoring with 7.1 points per game. Gay has made 52-of-54 extra points this season.

Harding has only punted 20 times this season, fewest in the GAC. Henderson State is second with 36 punts. The Bisons have allowed only 46 punt return yards, the fewest in the GAC.

Harding ranks fifth in the GAC with 21.8 yards per kickoff return and are one of only three teams with a kickoff return touchdown.

The Bisons rank fourth in the GAC with 8.2 yards per punt return and are one of five teams with a punt return touchdown.

Harding kickoff returner Donatella Luckett has 918 career kickoff return yards to rank ninth in program history.

Sophomore linebacker Benjamin Shields is Harding's leading tackler on special teams with 10 tackles on kickoff returns. Junior Frank Herbert is second with eight tackles, all on kickoffs.