SEARCY, Ark. – Despite 329 yards of offense, the Oklahoma Baptist football team fell 38-23 to No. 8/16 Harding (4-1, 4-1 GAC) inside First Security Stadium on Saturday evening.
The Bison drop to 1-4 (1-4 GAC) on the year, having put forth their best offensive performance against the Bison in seven all-time meetings. Coming into Saturday, the most recorded by OBU was 282 yards (2019).
As they're known to do, Harding possessed the ball for 33:58. On the other side, the OBU defense did their due diligence to allow for the offense to hold possession for 26:02.
Sophomore
Keilahn Harris became the third OBU receiver to record 2,000 career receiving yards. He joins the company of
Josh Cornell and Cagney Roberson in the program record books. Today, Harris torched the highly-touted HU defense for 134 yards, 10 catches, and a touchdown.
Aidan Thompson took over the signal-calling duties to post a season-high 197 yards and a touchdown. Thompson added a team-best 49 rushing yards on 12 carries, including a 22-yard scamper for a touchdown.
Buddy Bizzell added 47 yards on the ground and a touchdown.
About midway through the first quarter from the OBU 13 yard-line, Harding's Grant Ennis secured a 23-yard field-goal attempt, breaking the scoreless tie.
A couple of possessions later, OBU was forced into a punt that landed on the 43-yard line. That left Harding in great field position. Five rush plays later, a Cole
Keylon 23-yard scamper helped move the tally to 10-0.
Needing a response, Oklahoma Baptist got one. On the ensuing drive, a 59-yard pass play from Thompson was hauled in by Harris over the middle. That highlighted the nine-play drive that ended with a Guillermo Garcia-Rodriguez 26-yard field-goal with 12:34 on the clock.
Following the kickoff, Harding gained 62 yards on the ground and extended its lead to 17-3.
Again, Thompson and company responded. Thanks to four passes by the quarterback and a pass interference call on Harding, the green and gold ended up in HU's end zone with an eight-yard touchdown to Harris. This brought the scoreboard to 17-10 following a Garcia-Rodriguez field goal with 2:22 on the clock.
Harding wouldn't let the score stick, though. On its next possession, Keylon connected with Roland Wallace for a 49-yard pass to put the ball at the two-yard line. Harding would punch in it the next play to push their lead to 24-10.
After the break, OBU's second drive of the half helped the team inch closer to Harding. On the tenth play of the drive, and facing fourth down, Bizzell ran 35 yards to the house and brought the game to 24-16.
Hoping to respond once more, the Bison's next drive proved fatal. With 31 ticks until the fourth, a 29-yard interception return for a touchdown by Harding's junior Zach Strickland extended the game's score to 38-16.
The Bison would add one more score the rest of the way, a 22-yard score by Thompson with about five minutes left. That rushing TD was a part of a 13-play drive.
Defensively, Nick Boone led with nine tackles, while Elijah Tomlin posted eight. Additionally, safeties Kaleb Peters and KJ Price Jr. turned in seven apiece.
Next on the schedule for the Bison is a home contest versus Arkansas Tech next Saturday at 6 p.m.
