Game Notes: No. 5 Harding Travels to No. 4 Sioux Falls in NCAA Playoffs

No. 5 Harding Bisons (12-0) vs. No. 4 Sioux Falls Cougars (12-0)
Nov. 26, 2016 • 12 p.m. • Sioux Falls, S.D. • Bob Young Field

Game Story
Coming off its first NCAA Division II Playoff win, a 48-31 victory over Central Missouri, Harding travels to Sioux Falls, South Dakota, to take on Sioux Falls. Kickoff at Bob Young Field is at 12 p.m. CT. Sioux Falls won the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference and is also 12-0.

Harding had 528 total yards in its victory over Central Missouri and had almost 39 minutes of possession. Sioux Falls defeated Azusa Pacific 34-21 and had 489 total yards.

Harding claimed its first outright football conference championship in program history in 2016. The Bisons tied for conference championships in 1972, 1976 and 1989, all in the NAIA Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference.

Harding leads NCAA Division II in rushing offense with 385.7 yards per game. The Bisons have rushed for more than 400 yards five times. Sioux Falls ranks third in Division II in rushing with 322.8 yards per game.

Harding's defense leads Division II in total defense (240.6), rushing defense (68.4) and scoring defense (12.8) and ranks 11th in passing efficiency defense (100.70). The Bisons have limited five opponents to fewer than 200 total yards.

Harding's offense has 27 touchdown drives this season of five plays or more and 50 yards or more. Harding's opponents have six.

In the latest AFCA poll, Harding remained at No. 5. It is the sixth straight poll that has the Bisons in the AFCA Top 10. Harding is ranked ninth in the D2football.com poll, second on MasseyRatings.com and ninth on HeroSports.com. Sioux Falls rankings: fourth (AFCA), fifth (D2), fifth (Massey) and third (Hero).

Harding is 12-0 for the first time and is one of only three teams in Division II with 12 wins (Sioux Falls and LIU Post).

Up Next
The winner of the No. 3 Harding-No. 2 Sioux Falls will play the winner of No. 1 Northwest Missouri St.-No. 4 Emporia St. The higher-seeded team will host.

The Coaches
Harding's Ronnie Huckeba is in his 10th season as head coach and 31st on the Bison staff. He has a 68-39 career record, including 45-11 in GAC games. Huckeba has announded that 2016 will be his final season. Defensive coordinator Paul Simmons will be the head coach beginning in 2017.

Jed Stugart has a 52-15 record in Sioux Falls' six seasons in Division II.

Home/Road Records
Saturday's game against Sioux Falls is Harding's sixth road game. The Bisons are 28-24 on the road under coach Ronnie Huckeba and have won 22 of their last 28 road games. Harding has outscored its opponents 214-31 in road games. The Bisons are averaging 384.4 rushing yards and allowing only 43.6.

Previous Meetings
Harding and Sioux Falls have never met in football. In fact, Harding has never played a team in the Northern Sun. The game will be the farthest Harding has ever traveled for a road game -- 728 miles. The previous record was 715 miles to Kingsville, Texas (Texas A&M-Kingsville) and Valdosta, Georgia (Valdosta State).

Streaks, Trends and Records
Harding has a school-record 59 rushing TD, 12 more than any other team in Division II. Harding also leads Division II with a school-record 4,628 rushing yards.

Harding has 50 rushes of 20 yards or longer this season and has allowed only three. Zach Shelley leads Harding with 12 rushes of 20 yards or more, and Park Parish has nine.

Harding has outscored its opponents 205-54 in the second quarter, 108-21 in the fourth quarter, and 121-56 off turnovers.

Park Parish ranks fifth in career rushing yards with 2,317. He has a school-record 43 rushing TD. Parish is the first HU quarterback to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season (1,028).

Park Parish (19) and Michael Latu (14) have combined for 33 rushing touchdowns.

Corey Bassett leads Division II in kickoff return average at 35.2 yards per return. He is only the second Harding player with two kickoff returns for touchdowns in the same season (Donatella Luckett, 2011). The current Harding record is 28.2 by Aaron Evans in 1996.

Zach Shelley is HU's career leader with 9.72 yards per rush, and Andrew Dather is the career leader with 28.37 yards per reception. Dather needs seven receiving yards to become the 22nd Bison with 1,000 career receiving yards.

A Quick Look at Sioux Falls
Sioux Falls ranks third in Division II with 528.4 total yards per game. The Cougar defense led the Northern Sun with 19 interceptions.

Junior running back Max Mickey leads Division II with 8.93 yards per rush. Quarterback Luke Papilion is second at 7.77 per rush.

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Players Mentioned

#12 Corey Bassett: DB; 5' 8"; Senior

#18 Andrew Dather: WR; 6' 1"; Junior

#9 Michael Latu: RB; 5' 10"; Senior

#15 Park Parish: QB; 5' 10"; Senior

#28 Zach Shelley: RB; 5' 7"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#12 Corey Bassett
: 5' 8"; Senior
: DB

#18 Andrew Dather
: 6' 1"; Junior
: WR

#9 Michael Latu
: 5' 10"; Senior
: RB

#15 Park Parish
: 5' 10"; Senior
: QB

#28 Zach Shelley
: 5' 7"; Junior
: RB