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Harding University Athletics

Harding vs. East Central
Jeff Montgomery
20
East Central ECU 5-3 , 5-3
62
Winner Harding HU 6-2 , 6-2
East Central ECU
5-3 , 5-3
20
Final
62
Harding HU
6-2 , 6-2
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
ECU East Central 7 7 0 6 20
HU Harding 13 21 14 14 62

Game Recap: Football | | by Scott Goode (10/24/15)

Harding Football Rushes Past East Central in 62-20 Homecoming Victory

SEARCY – For the second straight game and the third time this season, Harding rushed for nine touchdowns and defeated East Central 62-20 on Homecoming Saturday at First Security Stadium. The Bisons did not complete a pass but rushed for 557 yards, including 392 in the first half, against a Tiger defense that had allowed only 149.3 rushing yards per game.
Harding has now scored 44 rushing touchdowns in eight games this season and allowed only 10.

Junior defensive end Trevon Biglow received the John Prock Award as Harding's Homecoming MVP.

Records
Harding improved to 6-2 overall and in the Great American Conference. The Bisons are tied with Arkansas Tech for second place in the GAC, one game behind leader Henderson State. East Central dropped to 5-3 overall. The Tigers' other two losses were both by one touchdown.

Harding improved to 37-17-2 all-time on Homecoming.

Harding extended its series lead over East Central to 11-3 overall. The Bisons are 8-0 against the Tigers in Searcy.

Harding improved to 33-9 all-time in GAC games, including 19-2 against Oklahoma teams. Harding has won 13 straight games over Oklahoma schools.

Scoring Plays
Harding 6, East Central 0 – 6:24, 1st Quarter – Michael Latu 52-yard run. Extra point missed. 4 plays, 80 yards, 1:54 (Key play: Defensive pass interference on the play prior to the touchdown).

East Central 7, Harding 6 – 1:57, 1st Quarter – Dezmon Jackson 12-yard pass from Rocky Moore. 11 plays, 85 yards, 4:20 (Key play: Rocky Moore completed a 19-yard pass to Nathan Pickett on 3rd-and-11 at the ECU 26 to keep the drive alive).

Harding 13, East Central 7 – 0:53, 1st Quarter – Park Parish 48-yard run. 2 plays, 70 yards, 0:51 (Key play: Dwayne Carter's 22-yard run and Parish's touchdown run were the only two plays in the drive).

Harding 20, East Central 7 – 12:06, 2nd Quarter – Zach Shelley 59-yard run. 4 plays, 78 yards, 2:02 (Key play: Dwayne Carter had a 17-yard run on the second play of the drive).

Harding 27, East Central 7 – 9:01, 2nd Quarter – Larry Hill 11-yard run. 4 plays, 67 yards, 1:46 (Key plays: Eric Kelly had a 19-yard rush on 2nd-and-14, followed by a 41-yard rush on the next play).

Harding 34, East Central 7 – 5:14, 2nd Quarter – Dwayne Carter 83-yard run. 1 play, 83 yards, 0:13 (Key play: Carter's run was the only play of the drive).

Harding 34, East Central 14 – 0:30, 2nd Quarter – Randall Case 5-yard pass from Rocky Moore. 7 plays, 46 yards, 0:55 (Key play: Rocky Moore completed a 15-yard pass to Randall Case on 3rd-and-10 at the HU 20).

Harding 41, East Central 14 – 5:50, 3rd Quarter – Dwayne Carter 10-yard run. 6 plays, 31 yards, 3:03 (Key play: Eric Simmons rush for 13 yards on the second play of the drive).

Harding 48, East Central 14 – 4:59, 3rd Quarter – Park Parish 1-yard. 2 plays, 1 yard, 0:36 (Key play: Harding took over at the 1-yard line following a forced fumble and fumble recovery by nose guard Jensen Jackson).

Harding 55, East Central 14 – 11:11, 4th Quarter – Terrence Dingle 1-yard. 4 plays, 27 yards, 1:32 (Key play: Harding took over following Tony Becton's 37-yard interception return).

Harding 55, East Central 20 – 6:29, 4th Quarter – David Moore 3-yard pass from Rocky Moore. Extra point missed. 10 plays, 78 yards, 4:34 (Key play: Tre'von Jackson opened the drive with a 40-yard run).

Harding 62, East Central 20 – Terrence Dingle 12-yard run. 6 plays, 53 yards, 3:10 (Key play: Brandon Gates had a 32-yard run on 4th-and-2 down to the ECU 13.

Team Stats
Harding rushed for 557 yards, the second-highest total in program history and most ever in a home game. The Bisons rushed six times for 135 yards in the first quarter and rushed 13 times for 257 yards in the second quarter to total 392 at halftime.

Harding has rushed for nine touchdowns in a game three times this season, reaching that total at Southern Arkansas, at Southeastern Oklahoma and Saturday against East Central.

Harding was 0-for-2 passing in the game. It was the fifth time in program history that Harding did not complete a pass and the first in 30 years. Harding's last game without a pass completion was a 21-14 victory over Lane College on Sept. 14, 1985.

The longest of Harding's nine scoring drives was 3 minutes, 10 seconds. Six of the nine drives took less than two minutes. Harding scored touchdowns on its first five drives of the game and punted only twice.

Harding's defense led East Central's GAC-leading passing offense to 278 yards, almost 42 yards below their season average of 319.6 yards.

Harding's defense held East Central to 375 yards of total offense, the first time this season the Tigers had less than 400 yards.

East Central entered the game a GAC-best +13 in turnover margin, but Harding forced four turnovers and only committed one turnover.

Individual Stats
Park Parish scored two rushing touchdowns to push his season total to 17 and tie the Harding school record set by Alan "Snake" Dixon in 1972. He has scored at least one rushing touchdown in all eight games. Dixon holds the school record by scoring in 10 straight in 1972.

Trendall Stevenson, a senior cornerback from Cedar Hill, Texas, played in his 32nd victory as a Bison. No Harding player in program history has ever played in more wins.

Juniors Michael Latu and Dwayne Carter both rushed for 138 yards, a career high and the first 100-yard rushing game for both. Harding has had two 100-yard rushers in a game three times this season.

Senior DeAndre Baines and redshirt freshman Tony Becton both recorded their team-leading third interceptions of the season. Junior Trevon Biglow had two sacks and a forced fumble.

Next Week
Harding makes its last trip of the season to Oklahoma, taking on Southwestern Oklahoma in Weatherford on Saturday at 2 p.m.



 

by Sterling McMichael

Posted by Harding Sports on Saturday, October 24, 2015



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