SEARCY – No. 16 Harding rolled up 402 total yards and held Arkansas Tech scoreless on five trips inside the red zone in a 41-7 victory Saturday in its regular-season finale at First Security Stadium.
Harding improved to 9-1 overall and in the Great American Conference. The Bisons, who entered the game ranked No. 6 in the NCAA Division II, will find out Sunday at 4 p.m. if their season will continue in the Division II playoffs. The announcement will be made on NCAA.com.
Arkansas Tech lost its sixth straight and failed to score in double figures for the fifth straight game. The Wonder Boys finished the season 3-8 overall and 3-7 in the GAC.
Harding led 21-0 at halftime. Ahmad Scott scored two long triple-option pitch plays. The first on a 24-yard run in the first quarter and the second on a 55-yard run with 13:51 left in the first half. Harding's third touchdown of the half also came on a pitch to Eric Kelly, who scored from 10 yards out.
Arkansas Tech managed only 187 total yards in the game and had just 37 at halftime.
A 50-yard touchdown pass from Harding quarterback Keenan Kellett to slot back Zach Shelley with 2:58 left in the third quarter put the game away for the Bisons. Shelley caught the pass in traffic and made five Wonder Boy defenders miss before breaking away down the visitor sideline.
Harding tacked on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter. Kellett connected with Kelly on a 21-yard scoring pass, and backup quarterback Park Parish scored on a 34-yard run with 2:34 left.
Arkansas Tech's only points came on a 34-yard touchdown pass from Justin Owens to DeRon Brown.
The Wonder Boys reached the red zone twice in the second quarter but missed a field goal and had another drive end on downs. Three more drives ended on downs in the third quarter.
Scott led Harding's rushing attack with 80 yards on three carries. Senior Romo Westbrook rushed for 55 yards on 14 carries and pushed his career rushing total to 2,998 yards. Parish also had 55 rushing yards on four carries.
Arkansas Tech had only 11 rushing yards in the game. Harding's defense recorded 15 tackles for loss, including seven sacks. Three Tech quarterback combined to complete 20-of-44 passes for 174 yards.
Harding junior defensive lineman Matt McKeown led the Bisons with 3.0 tackles for loss, including 2.0 sacks. Sophomore Arthur Akers, who made his first career start, also had 2.0 sacks.
