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Harding University Athletics

2023 Football vs. Central Missouri.jpg
34
Central Mo. UCM 11-2 , 9-1
35
Winner Harding HAR 12-0 , 11-0
Central Mo. UCM
11-2 , 9-1
34
Final
35
Harding HAR
12-0 , 11-0
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
UCM Central Mo. 7 7 7 13 34
HAR Harding 7 14 7 7 35

Game Recap: Football | | Scott Goode (11/25/23)

Block! Party! No. 3 Harding Advances in NCAA Playoffs with 35-34 Win over Central Missouri

SEARCY – Harding fifth-year senior Gage Price blocked the potential game-tying extra point and lit the fuse on a delirious celebration among Bison fans at First Security Stadium following a 35-34 victory over Central Missouri on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

Harding, the No. 1 team in Super Region 3 and the No. 3 team in the latest AFCA poll, advances to the quarterfinal round and will host Grand Valley State of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference next Saturday. Kickoff time will be announced Monday and tickets will go on sale Tuesday.

Harding led 35-21 with 6:52 left in the game, but Central Missouri scored on an 87-yard TD pass from Zach Zebrowski to Arkell Smith and forced the Bisons' only punt of the game. The Mules took over at the Harding 31-yard line and scored on a 6-yard Zebrowski pass to Smith with 22 second remaining.

Central Missouri elected to kick the extra point. Mule kicker Luke Dobson had made all 67 of his attempts this season. Price, who had already blocked three kicks this season and earned All-Great American Conference as a special teams player, pushed up the middle and blocked number 68 with his left hand to send the Bisons to the next round.

Harding, the top-ranked rushing offense in the NCAA, ran up 384 yards and five TD. Blake Delacruz, HU's junior fullback, carried 34 times for 154 yards and two TD. Junior Chauncey Martin also scored two rushing TD on either side of halftime. He had a 38-yard TD run late in the second quarter and an 89-yard TD run midway through the third. Martin had 123 yards on only four carries.

Zebrowski, the nation's leading passer and frontrunner for the Harlon Hill Award, completed 34-of-44 passes for 425 yards and five TD. Smith had 11 catches for 150 yards and three TD.

Harding's defense limited Central Missouri to only 109 rushing yards and their lowest point total of the season, and the offense held the ball for more than 35 minutes and wracked up 418 yards. The Bisons were 8 of 13 on third down and converted 3 of 4 fourth downs, including a fake punt that helped continue a 95-yard scoring drive that spanned almost 10 minutes of the first and second quarters.

TEAM NOTES
  • Harding is making its eight playoff appearance ... this was its seventh Division II Playoffs victory.
  • Harding's current 16-game winning streak is the longest in school history and the longest current streak in Division II ... the Bisons have won eight straight home games.
  • Harding's 384 rushing yards gave the Bisons 5,023 rushing yards for the season, the fourth 5,000-yard rushing season in program history and the first since 2021 team rushed for 5,071 yards.
  • Harding has a school-record 67 rushing TD, the most in the NCAA.
INDIVIDUAL NOTES
  • Blake Delacruz had a career-high 34 carries, ninth-most in a single season and the most since Cole Chancey had a school-record 41 carries vs. Washburn in 2021 ... Delacruz had 154 rushing yards, his fourth 100-yard game of the season and sixth of his career ... he surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark for the season and has 1,071 rushing yards, good for 11th on HU's single-season list ... his two TD gave him 19 for the season, tied for third on HU's single-season list and the most since Cole Chancey's school-record 24 in 2021.
  • Chauncey Martin had a career-high 123 rushing yards, his first career 100-yard rushing game ... his 89-yard TD run was the fifth-longest run in program history and the longest since Michael Latu tied the HU record with a 92-yard run vs. Northwestern Oklahoma in 2015.
  • Harding defensive lineman Austin Bailey set a career high with 2.0 TFL and had his third career sack.
SERIES NOTES
  • Harding now leads the series with Central Missouri 3-1 with NCAA Playoff victories in 2016 and 2023 ... Harding also won at home in 1967.






 
Gallery: (11-25-2023) 2023 Football vs. Central Mo. - NCAA

 
 
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