#22 Harding Bisons (0-0, 0-0) vs. East Central Tigers (0-0, 0-0)
Sept. 4, 2021 • 6 p.m. • Searcy, Ark. • First Security Stadium

Game Stories
Harding Football opens its 70th season of intercollegiate competition Saturday at 6 p.m. against East Central at First Security Stadium in Searcy, Arkansas. The Bisons and Tigers will open the season against each other for the first time since 2003 (in Ada) and for the first time ever in Searcy. Harding won 22-19 in 2003.

With 91 rushing yards, Harding's Cole Chancey will pass Kris Oliver of Ouachita Baptist (3,763, 2015-18) as the GAC's career rushing leader.

Harding is seeking its fifth straight trip to the NCAA Division II Playoffs. Only four other Division II teams have qualified for the last four tournaments.

Harding has a 15-3 series lead over East Central and has won the last eight meetings and all 10 games played in Searcy.

Harding is ranked No. 22 in the AFCA Preseason Top 25 Coaches Poll. It is the fifth time Harding has been ranked in the preseason poll. The others: 2015 (#21), 2017 (#15), 2018 (#7) and 2019 (#18). Harding is No. 14 in the D2Football.com poll.

Harding enters the game with an eight-game home winning streak, dating to a 7-3 loss to Ouachita Baptist on Oct. 6, 2018. Harding also enters on a 10-game GAC winning streak, dating to a 16-14 loss to Ouachita Baptist on Sept. 5, 2019.

Harding is 43-23-3 (.645) in its previous 69 season openers. The Bisons have won 14 of their last 18 and eight of their last 11 openers. Harding lost 16-14 at Ouachita to open the 2019 season then won 10 straight.

Harding was picked second in the Great American Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll. East Central is sixth. The coaches selected Ouachita Baptist first in the 12-team conference.

Harding named its six captains last week. The 2021 captains are OL Sam Wilson, LB Dylan Hendricks, WR Michael Cendrick, DB Cory Batie, QB Preston Paden and OL Mason Hutto.

Up Next
Harding will play its first of six road games, traveling to Durant to take on Southeastern Oklahoma. The Bisons have won the last nine meetings between the teams. It is the first of two straight road games with the next coming at Southern Arkansas.

The Coaches
Paul Simmons begins his fourth season as head coach at Harding. He has a 30-9 overall record and led Harding to the NCAA II Playoffs in each of his first three seasons, including a spot in the national semifinals in 2017. He is in his 15th season at Harding and had been Harding's defensive coordinator for the previous seven seasons. Simmons was a three-time All-American defensive end and linebacker at Harding from 1992-94.

Al Johnson (Southern N.H. '04) has an 8-16 (.333) record in three seasons at East Central, including a 2-0 record in two games played in 2020.

Series History
Harding and East Central are meeting for the 19th time with the Bisons leading 15-3. Harding has won eight straight and 14 of the last 15 meetings with East Central's lone win coming 16-13 in overtime in 2011. Harding has won all 10 meetings in Searcy and averaged 41.5 points scored in those games. Paul Simmons led teams are 3-0 vs. East Central.

Home/Road Records
Harding was 5-0 at home in 2019, 12-4 at home under Simmons and 34-8 at home since 2012. East Central was 1-5 on the road in 2019 and 4-13 on the road in the last three full seasons.

Last Meeting
No. 18 Harding rushed for 558 yards and seven touchdowns and had four interceptions defensively in a 56-20 Great American Conference victory on Nov. 2, 2019, at First Security Stadium.

The victory was Harding's eighth straight, tying the fourth-longest winning streak in program history, and moved the Bisons to 8-1 overall and in the GAC. It was also Harding's eighth straight home win and eighth straight victory over East Central, who fell to 1-8 overall and in the GAC.

Harding had 341 rushing yards and five rushing TD in the first half. Junior quarterback Preston Paden rushed for a career-high 135 yards on 10 carries and scored on an 83-yard run, the longest run ever by a Harding quarterback.

Junior Cole Chancey rushed for 116 yards and two TD. Chancey went over 1,000 rushing yards for the season for the second time in his career becoming only the fifth Harding player with two 1,000-yard seasons.

Streaks, Trends and Records
In 2019, Harding led NCAA Division II in rushing offense (373.6), team passing efficiency (224.68), scoring defense (12.3), 4th down conversion pct. (75%), 4th down conversion pct. defense (0%) and net punting (41.92) and was second in time of possession (34:45).

Senior linebacker Shedrick Robinson, senior cornerback Cory Batie and senior fullback Cole Chancey will all be playing in their 40th game at Harding. Chancey leads the team with 36 career starts, followed by senior quarterback Preston Paden (25).

Senior fullback Cole Chancey has 3,673 career rushing yards, good for second at HU. He needs 542 yards to pass Alan Dixon (4,214, 1970-73) for the Harding record.  Chancey has 42 career rushing TD and needs four to pass Park Parish (45, 2012-16) for the Harding record.

Over the last seven seasons, Harding has 364 rushing TD and allowed only 68. During that time, Harding has rushed for 30,865 yards and allowed only 7,402.

Harding has outscored its opponents 347-99 in the first quarter of games over the last three seasons.

A Quick Look at East Central
East Central played two games in 2020, defeating Southern Nazarene 35-28 and Tarleton State 21-14, both on the road.

East Central's top returnee is senior running back Ontario Douglas, a 2017 and 2019 First Team All-GAC honoree and the 2017 Freshman of the Year. He has rushed for 2,566 yards and 31 TD in his 24-game career. In two games against Harding, Douglas has rushed for 147 yards on 25 carries (5.88 ypc) and 2 TD.