SEARCY – Senior quarterback Park Parish rushed for 118 yards and two touchdowns and passed for 173 yards and another touchdown to lead No. 5 Harding to a 48-31 victory over No. 20 Central Missouri in the first round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs on Saturday at First Security Stadium.

The victory was Harding’s first in three NCAA playoff games and gave the Bisons a 12-0 record. Harding also reached the playoffs in 2012 and 2014. Harding, the No. 3 seed in Super Region 3, advances to play No. 2 seed Sioux Falls next Saturday in South Dakota.

Central Missouri, the No. 6 seed in Super Region 3, made its first playoff appearance since 2010 and finished its season 9-3.

Parish scored his first rushing touchdown with 2:09 left in the second quarter to give Harding a 21-17 lead, its first of the game. The score culminated a 12-play, 78-yard drive that took seven minutes.

Harding’s defense forced Central Missouri’s first punt of the game on its next possession, but a fumbled punt return gave the Mules the ball at Harding’s 26. Central Missouri scored two plays later on a 23-yard pass from quarterback Garrett Fugate to Jaylen Zachery, and the Mules led 24-21 with only 42 seconds remaining in the half.

Senior Corey Bassett caught the ensuing kickoff at the Harding 7, cut to the left and outran the Central Missouri coverage for a 93-yard touchdown that gave the Bisons a 28-24 lead at halftime. He became the first Bison ever to return two kickoffs for touchdowns in the same season.

Central Missouri took its last lead early in the second half on Kyle Echols 25-yard touchdown reception from Fugate, but the Mules did not score again.

Harding took the lead for good on Eric Simmons’ 18-yard touchdown run with 6:40 left in the third quarter. The big play of the drive came on a 39-yard pass from Parish to Andrew Dather over the middle.

After a Central Missouri 3-and-out, Parish struck again on a 41-yard touchdown run that gave Harding a 41-31 lead with 1:35 left in the third. Parish sealed the victory with an 81-yard touchdown pass to Dather with 10:16 left in the game.

Harding had 530 total yards, including 355 on the ground and a season-high 173 in the air. Central Missouri had 381 total yards, 327 of them coming in the passing game. The Mules had only 91 yards in the second half.

Parish’s 118 rushing yards came on 21 carries. He was 6-of-7 passing, and Dather had a career-high 149 receiving yards on four catches.

Simmons, a senior slot back, had seven carries for a career-high 91 yards and his second career two-touchdown game.

Fugate was Central Missouri’s leading rusher with 29 yards on 12 carries and a 13-yard touchdown run. He completed 22-of-28 passes for 314 yards and three touchdowns before exiting with 9:39 left in the game with an injury.

Harding controlled the ball for almost 39 minutes and did not punt for the second time this season.

Senior linebacker Daylan Skidmore led Harding’s defensive attack with eight tackles, including two sacks and a fumble recovery.

Sioux Falls, the No. 2 seed and now undefeated at 12-0, won 34-21 on Saturday over No. 7 seed Azusa Pacific.

Notes: Harding now has three postseason victories in program history. The others came at the 1972 Cowboy Bowl, a 30-27 victory over Langston, and at the 2013 Live United Texarkana Bowl, a 44-3 victory over Texas A&M-Commerce … Bassett’s 93-yard kickoff return was the fifth-longest in program history … Bassett also blocked a field goal attempt … Parish’s 81-yard pass to Dather was tied for the sixth-longest in program history.

The post No. 5 Harding claims NCAA playoff victory over No. 20 Central Missouri appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.

SEARCY – The second quarter was kind to the No. 8 Harding football team for the second straight week, as the Bisons scored 35 points in the period and defeated Southeastern Oklahoma 63-17 on Saturday in Great American Conference action at First Security Stadium.

Harding scored 28 points in the second quarter of its 35-3 win over Henderson State last week in Arkadelphia.

With the victory over Southeastern, Harding improved to 7-0 overall and in conference for the first time in program history. Southeastern (4-3) lost to Harding for the sixth consecutive time and seventh straight in Searcy.

The Savage Storm gained 204 of its 377 total yards in the first quarter and led the Bisons 17-14. Everything changed in the second quarter-Harding scored five times before halftime, and Southeastern never scored again.

On the first play after the quarter break, Harding quarterback Park Parish hit Andrew Dather in the corner of the end zone for a 16-yard touchdown. Dather made a juggling catch to give Harding a 21-17 lead.

Following a touchback on a Southeastern punt, Harding scored again on a three-play drive that ended in a 74-yard touchdown run on a reverse to slot back Grant Kimberlin. Harding led 28-17 with 11:24 left in the half.

Harding forced a three-and-out and took over at the 50-yard line. Two plays later, Harding fullback Michael Latu scored on a 42-yard run to put the Bisons up 35-17.

Harding’s defense recorded interceptions by linebacker Benjamin Shields and defensive end Dylan Hampton on the next two Southeastern possessions.

Hampton returned his interception to the Southeastern 13. A 9-yard run by Latu on the second play of the drive gave Harding a 42-17 lead with 52 seconds left in the half.

Southeastern did not pick up a first down on its next drive and was forced to punt. Harding senior Corey Bassett caught the punt at the Harding 31 and returned it 69 yards for a touchdown as time ran out in the half. Harding led 49-17.

Bassett, who also had a 56-yard kickoff return in the game, became only the second Harding player, and the first since Harry Lisle in 1966, to return a kickoff and a punt for a touchdown in the same season. He had a 100-yard kickoff return earlier in the season against Southern Nazarene.

Harding’s defense continued its outstanding play in the second half, holding Southeastern to only 41 total yards. The Storm’s longest drive after halftime was 16 yards and resulted in a punt.

Senior defensive end Trevon Biglow recorded his third sack of the season during the second half. He joined Josh Aldridge (2009-12) as only the second Harding player in the NCAA era to record 20 career sacks.

Harding tacked on two touchdowns in the second half. Parish scored his second of the game and school-record 36th of his career on a 16-yard run in the third quarter. Freshman Romar Reades added a 4-yard touchdown with 8:44 left to complete the scoring.

Latu led Harding in rushing with 96 yards on 13 carries and scored three touchdowns for the third time in his career. Parish rushed 10 times for 85 yards and two touchdowns and completed two passes for 61 yards and another touchdown.

Southeastern’s Ronnie Green became the first player with more than 100 rushing yards against Harding this season. He carried 17 times for 116 yards and a touchdown.

CB Cantwell, the Storm’s starting quarterback, completed 16-of-28 for 174 yards with two interceptions and one touchdown, a 44-yard scoring pass to Anterric Maxey in the first quarter.

Southeastern had 132 rushing yards in the first quarter but only 70 for the rest of the game. Harding rushed for 431 yards and seven touchdowns and had 492 total yards.

The post No. 8 Harding scores 35 second quarter points in huge win over Southeastern appeared first on ArkansasSports.Net.