BIG RAPIDS, Mich. – Tristan Parsley had been here before. Last season, he made the game-winning field goal in the playoffs against Sioux Falls. Saturday, Parsley kicked the game-winning field goal from 20 yards out with no time left to give Harding a 16-14 victory over No. 10 Ferris State and send the Bisons into the national semifinals for the first time in program history.

After losing its first three games, Harding, the No. 7 seed in Super Region 3, has won 11 straight. The Bisons (11-3) have won four straight on the road in the last four weeks, the last three coming against teams ranked in the top 10 nationally. Harding will find out who its semifinal opponent is later Saturday. Ferris (11-2) had won nine straight entering Saturday’s game.

Harding trailed 14-13 when it took over at its own 35-yard line with 6:59 left. The Bisons converted two third downs and a fourth down early in the drive. A 4-yard run by Cole Chancey down to the Ferris 6 set up first-and-goal. Quarterback Terrence Dingle reached the 2-yard line on the next play, and Chancey pounded down to the 1 with 6 seconds left.

Harding called two timeouts before Dingle took a snap and moved four yards to his right before taking a knee and calling timeout with 3 seconds remaining. Parsley, who had missed from 39 yards out earlier in the fourth quarter, did not miss again and set off jubilation on the Harding sideline.

Harding had one very long and one very short scoring drive in the first half to take a 10-7 lead into halftime. The Bisons took the opening kickoff and marched 79 yards on 17 plays and took more than 10 minutes off the clock before Parsley kicked a 22-yard field goal.

Ferris State answered with a four-play drive highlighted by a 57-yard run by Jahaan Brown down to the Harding 2. Two plays later Davontae Harrington scored on a 4-yard run.

Harding’s only touchdown came after junior linebacker Sam Blankenship intercepted a pass at the Ferris 30 and returned it to the 18. Chancey scored his 14th touchdown of the season from 1 yard out to give Harding a 10-7 lead with 14:19 left in the first half. The next six possessions from both teams resulted in punts.

Harding took advantage of another Ferris State miscue to take a 13-7 lead in the third quarter.

Harding’s Christian Witt recovered a muffed punt at the Ferris 25 early in the quarter. Parsley’s line-drive punt hit off the hands of returner Jajuan Pollock, and Parsley converted the turnover into a 37-yard field goal that gave Harding a six-point lead with 9:08 left.

Ferris took its first lead of the game with 5:04 left in the third. The Bulldogs had a 10-play, 86-yard drive that ended with a 10-yard touchdown run by Harrington.

Harding rushed for 303 yards and did not complete a pass for the third time in the last four games. Chancey led Harding with 86 yards on 26 carries and moved into third place on the Bisons’ single-season rushing chart with 1,239 yards. Grant Kimberlin rushed for 77 yards, Dingle had 60 and Shelley carried for 55.

Ferris’s offense averaged 441 yards per game but was held to only 221 by Harding. The Bulldogs gained only 97 rushing yards and 132 passing yards on 12-of-21 attempts.

Harding held the ball for more than 41 minutes, the 14th time the Bisons have won the time-of-possession battle this season.

Blankenship led the Harding defense. In addition to his interception, he added 3.0 tackles for loss, including a half sack. Harding had 10 tackles for losses of 35 yards, including four sacks for 23 yards. Nick Huckabay led Ferris with 20 tackles.

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SEARCY – Southern Nazarene scored two touchdowns in the final 49 seconds Saturday to erase a 13-point Harding lead and defeat the Bisons, 28-27, in Great American Conference action at First Security Stadium.

Harding dropped to 0-3 overall and in the GAC. Southern Nazarene is 2-1 overall and in the GAC.

A pair of Tristan Parsley fourth-quarter field goals, the second coming from 22 yards out with 3:57 left in the game gave Harding a 27-14 lead.

Junior quarterback Jackson Hopking entered the game for Southern Nazarene on its next drive, filling in for injured starter Jacob Spady. Hopking directed an 11-play, 83-yard drive and connected with sophomore wide receiver Zach Walker on a 16-yard touchdown pass to cut Harding’s lead to 27-21 with 49 seconds left.

Southern Nazarene recovered kicker Carlos Anguiano’s ensuing on-side kick, a slow roller covered by Reid Roelofs just after it reached the required 10 yards.

Southern Nazarene took over at their own 46 with 46 seconds left. Following a pass interference penalty, Hopking threw a pass to the near sideline that was deflected by wide receiver Reese Carlson into the hands of Roelofs, who raced 39 yards for the game-winning touchdown with 29 seconds remaining. Anguiano made the extra point to set the final margin.

Harding led 14-0 at halftime on an 18-yard first-quarter touchdown run from freshman fullback Cole Chancey and a 1-yard touchdown run by junior quarterback Terrence Dinglein the second quarter.

Southern Nazarene scored on its opening drive of the second half. Spady capped a 65-yard drive with a 15-yard scoring run.

Harding went ahead 21-7 on Dingle’s second rushing touchdown, a 4-yard run with 5:39 left in the third.

A Harding miscue, a high snap on a punt that resulted in a 41-yard loss, set up Southern Nazarene’s next score. Roelofs caught a 12-yard touchdown pass from Spady for his first of two touchdowns with 22 seconds left in the third quarter. Harding led 21-14 entering the fourth quarter.

Terrence Dingle rushed for 121 yards on 12 carries with two touchdowns. It was his first career 100-yard rushing game.

Freshman Cole Chancey started a fullback and rushed for 95 yards on 16 carries with a touchdown.

Harding rushed for 338 yards on 58 carries. It was the 50th time in Harding’s last 51 games that the Bisons have rushed for more than 200 yards in a game.

Sophomore Jacory Nichols started a safety and led Harding with six tackles.

Senior slot back Zach Shelley rushed for 66 yards and became the seventh Bison to rush for more than 2,000 yards in a career.

The loss was the first for Harding in six meetings with Southern Nazarene. Southern Nazarene won on the road in Arkansas for the first time in its last 15 games.

Harding will go on the road for the second time this season, taking on Oklahoma Baptist Saturday at noon in Shawnee, Oklahoma.

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SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – Harding junior Tristan Parsley kicked a 47-yard game-tying field goal with six seconds left in regulation and booted a 35-yard game winner in overtime to lift the fifth-ranked Bisons over the No. 4-ranked Sioux Falls Cougars on Saturday in the second round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs.

Harding improved to 13-0 and will take on Division II’s top-ranked team, Northwest Missouri State, next Saturday in Maryville, Missouri, in the national quarterfinals. Sioux Falls, who was also playing in the second round of the Division II Playoffs for the first time, ended its season 12-1. Northwest Missouri defeated No. 9 Emporia State 44-13 to advance to the quarterfinals.

Sioux Falls had the ball first in overtime, but Harding senior linebacker Benjamin Shields intercepted a pass from Cougar quarterback Luke Papilion on the third play of the drive.

Harding took over and moved the ball 7 yards on three plays and turned the game over to Parsley, who drilled the 35-yarder down the middle, setting off tremendous Bison celebration at midfield.

Harding led 14-10 at halftime, but Papilion put Sioux Falls ahead with a 12-yard touchdown pass to Brady Rose in the third quarter and gave the Cougars a 24-14 lead with 10:10 left in the game with a 28-yard touchdown pass to Kyle Groeneweg.

Harding pulled within 24-21 with a 13-play, 75-yard drive that took almost six minutes. The Bisons converted a 4th-and-3 at their own 32 with a 17-yard run by Zach Shelley. Backup quarterback Terrence Dingle also completed a 22-yard pass to Andrew Dather to get Harding down to the USF 20. Senior starting quarterback Park Parish came back into the game and scored on a 1-yard run.

Sioux Falls took possession with just over four minutes remaining and tried to run out the clock. The Bisons held the Cougars to only one first down and forced a punt, taking over at their own 13-yard line with no timeouts and only 57 seconds left on the clock.

Parish completed a 14-yard pass to Dather on the first play. After a 14-yard pass interference penalty, Parish rushed for 17 yards to the USF 42. Two short gains later, Parsley came on and hit a high, wobbly kick that just cleared the cross bar. It was the longest field goal of his career by 11 yards and sent the game into overtime.

Harding scored on two long drives in the first half and led 14-10 at halftime. Sioux Falls scored on a 29-yard Brett Garner field goal on its first possession of the game.

Harding took its first lead on its first drive of second quarter. The Bisons drove 92 yards on 11 plays with Parish scoring his school-record 20th rushing touchdown of the season. It was Harding’s 60th rushing touchdown. Dwayne Carter had two key runs during the drive, including a 35-yard sprint to the right side that moved the ball into Sioux Falls territory.

Field position keyed Sioux Falls’ second scoring drive. Cougar punter Stuart Vanden Heuvel pinned the Bisons deep at the 1-yard line. Harding did not get a first down on their drive and punted to the HU 43. Sioux Falls needed seven plays to cover the 43 yards and scored on a 3-yard Luke Papilion run.

Harding answered with its second long scoring drive of the half. The Bisons went 73 yards on seven plays in only 2:45 with Parish connecting with tight end Luke Bowser for Harding’s fifth passing touchdown of the season. Another pass, a 27-yard hook up with Dather, moved Harding down to the Sioux Falls 10. The Bisons scored three plays later.

Harding, Division II’s top rushing offense, ran for 332 yards and pulled within 40 yards of 5,000 for the season. Parish led the Bisons with 121 yards on 25 carries, and Shelley had 73 on nine rushes. Parish completed 4-of-9 passes for 49 yards and a touchdown, and Dather caught three passes for 63 yards.

Sioux Falls came into the game averaging 528 yards of total offense, but the Bisons held the Cougars to only 306. Sioux Falls averaged 322 rushing yards, but had only 132 on Saturday.

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