ALVA, Okla. – No. 5 Harding captured its first Great American Conference championship with a 24-7 victory over Northwestern Oklahoma on Saturday at Ranger Field. It was also the first outright conference championship for a Harding football program that began in 1959.

Harding improved to 10-0, collecting its second 10-win season of all-time and its first since 1972. Northwestern dropped to 4-6 overall and in the GAC.

The Bisons scored two rushing touchdowns in the second half, a 35-yard scoring run from Zach Shelley and an 8-yard run from Dwayne Carter with 1:47 left in the third to pull away from the Rangers.

Harding, who averaged a Division II-best 384 rushing yards entering the game, rushed for 393 yards on 73 carries Saturday. Carter led the Bisons with 89 yards on 11 carries, senior quarterback Park Parish added 83 yards on 17 carries, and senior Michael Latu had 80 yards on 19 carries.

Harding controlled the football for almost 22 minutes of the first half and led 10-7 at halftime.

The Bisons came away with a 21-yard field goal by Tristan Parsley on their first possession and led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter.

Harding made it 10-0 with a 14-play, 52-yard drive that resulted in a 1-yard touchdown run by Latu, his 12th rushing touchdown this season.

Northwestern's only points came following a fumbled punt return. The Rangers went 25 yards on six plays with Jacob Peyton scoring from 2 yards out with 57 seconds left in the half.

Harding had 184 total yards before halftime to only 86 for Northwestern.

Northwestern entered the game with the GAC's top passing offense, averaging 319 yards per game. The Bisons limited the Rangers to only 159 passing yards and 221 total yards. Harding gained 422 total yards.

Harding had almost 42 minutes of possession and converted 10 of 15 third downs and both of its fourth downs. The Bisons had 27 first downs and limited the Rangers to only 12.

Harding will conclude its regular season next Saturday at First Security Stadium when it hosts Arkansas Tech at 2 p.m.