From Harding University
Harding scored 24 unanswered points in the second half and completely shut down
East Central's offense en route to a 31-14 victory over the Tigers on Family
Weekend at First Security Stadium.
Harding improved to 4-0 for the first
time since 2002 and remained undefeated at 2-0 in Great American Conference
play. East Central dropped to 2-3 overall and 1-2 in conference action and lost
for the sixth straight time to Harding in Searcy.
Harding entered the
game ranked first in Division II in rushing offense and piled up 381 rushing
yards against East Central. Senior quarterback Kelvin Martin carried 24 times for
117 yards and a career-high three touchdowns. It was his third career 100-yard
rushing game. Sophomore Romo Westbrook had 18 carries for
92 yards, and junior Ty Finley carried five times for a
career-high 84 yards.
Harding had 454 total yards and 28 first downs, 23
of them on the ground.
Defensively, Harding held East Central to only 84
yards of total offense. The Tigers rushed 31 times for just 64 yards and
completed four passes for 20 yards. Harding, who had the top pass defense in
Division II entering the game, held East Central to only six first downs and did
not allow a passing first down until late in the fourth quarter.
The 84
yards allowed by Harding's defense was the fewest given up by the Bisons in a
conference game since surrendering just 52 yards to Henderson State in an
Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference matchup in 1986. It was the sixth-best
defensive performance in program history.
Trailing 14-7 at halftime,
Harding cut the East Central lead to one point in the third quarter with a pair
of John Gay field goals, the first
from 33 yards and the second from 20 yards. The first field goal came on
Harding's first possession of the second half, a drive that continued after
defensive end Ty Powell rushed for a first down
on a fake punt.
In the third quarter, Harding had almost 11 minutes of
possession, rushed for 87 yards and completed 4-of-5 passes for 72 yards. East
Central ran only six offensive plays in the third quarter for -14
yards.
Harding completed its comeback with two touchdowns from Martin and
another 33-yard field goal from Gay.
Martin had a five-yard touchdown
with 14:38 left in the game to give Harding its first lead. After a personal
foul penalty that resulted in an ejection of East Central defensive end Jason
Catchings, Harding went for two with Martin diving in to give the Bisons a 21-14
lead.
Gay's field goal on the next possession made it 24-14. Powell then
forced and recovered a fumble on a sack of East Central quarterback Spencer Bond
at the Tiger 18-yard line, and three plays later, Martin scored on a 15-yard run
with 6:42 left.
East Central had only 28 yards of offense in the fourth
quarter.
East Central's two touchdowns came in first half. The first was
on a 35-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Qumain Black on the last play of
the first quarter. Following Martin's first 5-yard touchdown run at the 8:51
mark of the second quarter, East Central's Brad Davis returned the ensuing
kickoff 75 yards to the Harding 20. Bond scored six plays later on a one-yard
run.
Powell had 3.5 tackles for loss, including 2.5 sacks, to go along
with the forced fumble and fumble recovery. Harding had a season-high 12 tackles
for loss and had four sacks for the third time this season. Senior Daniel Riley and redshirt freshman
Trendall Stevenson tied for the
team lead with five tackles.
Harding will play its only neutral site game
of the season next week against Southern Arkansas. The game has been dubbed the
"Boomtown Classic" and will be played at Memorial Field in El Dorado, Ark., with
a 1:30 p.m. kickoff. Both teams enter the game undefeated at 4-0.
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