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Harding Football Wins Eighth Straight, Downs Tech 24-17

Started by Seminole Indian, November 12, 2017, 01:21:18 pm

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Seminole Indian




RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – In the fourth quarter, Harding needed one drive and one stop to complete a magical regular season that started with three losses and could end with its second straight trip to the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

Harding quarterback Terrence Dingle engineered a seven-play, 71-yard drive and did the hard part himself by scoring on a 30-yard TD run, and defensive back Dra Smith made sure of the stop with an interception on Arkansas Tech's final drive to give the Bisons a 24-17 victory over the Wonder Boys Saturday in Great American Conference play at Thone Stadium.

With the victory, Harding improved to 8-3 overall and finished tied for second place in the GAC standings. The Bisons will find out their postseason fate Sunday at 4 p.m. when the NCAA selection committee announces its 28-team playoff field.

Harding entered the game at No. 8 in the Super Region 3 rankings with Tech at No. 7. The top seven teams in the Super Region advance to the playoffs. If Harding is selected for the playoffs, the Bisons will likely travel for their first-round game. Tech will likely be the GAC representative in the Agent Barry Live United Bowl.

With the game tied at 17-17, Tech started the fourth quarter with the ball after a disputed interception on the Harding sideline on the last play of the third quarter. The Wonder Boys drove to the Harding 29, but Tech kicker Eric Perez missed a 46-yard field goal, only his second miss of the season. He had made his last eight attempts.

Harding took over with 10:39 left, and the Bisons gave the Wonder Boys a steady dose of Cole Chancey. The Bisons' fullback rushed four straight times to reach the Tech 49. Dingle carried on the next play and gained 14 yards to the Tech 35. Chancey plowed ahead for 5 more yards before Dingle got loose around the right end, cut back about the 10-yard line and rolled into the end zone for the game-winning score with 7:17 left.

Tech's next drive ended on fourth down when Devyn Comer forced a fumble that Sam Blankenship recovered. Harding took over at the Tech 46 but was forced to punt. Harding downed Tristan Parsley's punt at the Tech 3. The Wonder Boys ran four plays and gained 13 yards. On 2-and-18 from the Tech 16, Wonder Boy quarterback Ty Reasner threw a long pass down the sidelines that Smith intercepted to seal the victory for the Bisons. It was his second interception of the season.

Arkansas Tech scored on its opening possession, going 84 yards on four plays. The big play was a 52-yard pass from Ty Reasnor to Drew Wade. Three plays later Reasnor hit J.V. Davis on a 16-yard TD pass with 13:19 left in the first quarter.

Tech opponents had only scored 14 TD in 32 trips to the red zone, and Harding was forced to attempt a 31-yard field goal on its first trip. Parsley's kick hit the left upright and bounced back for only his third miss of the season.

Harding forced a turnover on downs on Tech's second possession. The Wonder Boys failed to pick up a first down on a fake punt and Harding took over at the Tech 19. Five plays later, Harding fullback Cole Chancey fumbled from the 1-yard line into the end zone where senior offensive tackle Gavin De Los Santos recovered for a TD.

It was the first TD by a Harding offensive lineman since 2006 when Jared Wilson recovered a fumble in the end zone against Southwest Baptist.

Harding took over twice on fumble recoveries deep in Tech territory but missed a field goal on the first drive and lost a fumble on the second. Tech had lost two fumbles all season, but Harding linebacker Sam Blankenship forced fumbles on consecutive plays.

Harding rushed for 152 yards on 36 carries in the first half. Tech had 124 total yards, 52 on one long pass play.

Harding had its first drive of the second half extended by a Tech penalty for running into the kicker. The Bisons drove 66 yards on 13 plays and took the lead on a 5-yard run by Terrence Dingle on third-and-goal.

Tech answered with a 52-yard drive that ended with a game-tying 35-yard Eric Perez field goal with 1:38 left in the third.

Harding gained 311 yards in the game all on the ground with Chancey leading the way with 97 yards on 23 carries. Dingle rushed for 74 yards on 14 carries. Tech had only 248 total yards, including just 85 on the ground.

http://www.hardingsports.com/news/2017/11/11/harding-football-wins-eighth-straight-downs-tech-24-17.aspx
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