Box Score (html)
SEARCY, Ark. – The SWOSU football team entered Saturday's game with Harding looking for back-to-back season-opening wins but it was not to be as the Bisons exacted revenge from a year ago with a 42-6 victory at First Security Stadium.
The Bulldogs turned the ball over seven times, including a snap over the head of first-time starting quarterback
Ryley Claborn on the third play of the game that setup Harding's initial score less than two minutes into the game. Following a three-and-out on the ensuing drive, Harding marched 65 yards in three plays to take a 14-0 lead with 10:14 to play in the first and they would not look back.
SWOSU finally got some offense rolling late in the first quarter, but a 15-play drive that spanned the first and second quarters came to an end on downs less than a minute into the second period. Another extended drive finally got the Bulldogs on the board as an 11-play, 62-yard drive was capped off with a 3-yard touchdown run from
Karl Hodge that was setup following a 31-yard pass from Claborn to
Brian Robinson on 3rd and 10.
Dalton Jackson was unable to convert the extra point attempt, leaving SWOSU behind 21-6.
Harding took the opening drive of the second half 66 yards in five plays and added a 43-yard touchdown pass to go up 28-6 and they added two scores in the fourth quarter for the final margin.
Defensively, SWOSU battled the vaunted triple option offense of the Bisons admirably. The Bulldogs stopped Harding on downs twice in the first half after being put in tough situations, including sniffing out a fake field goal attempt in the first quarter. Leading the way on defense were
Steven Townsley with 12 tackles while
Kale Sawatzky and
Devin Benton had 10 apiece. Benton added 2.5 tackles for loss as SWOSU totaled 10 tackles behind the line of scrimmage for the game.
Harding finished with 485 yards of total offense, including 324 on the ground while holding SWOSU below 200 yards of total offense. The Dawgs passed for 157 yards while rushing for just 39 in the game, averaging just 2.8 yards per play.
Claborn had glimpses of success in his first start, finishing with 157 yards passing after completing 22-of-42 attempts, but he was intercepted three times.
Brad Smithey had six receptions for 34 yards to lead the Dawgs, with
Jared Rayburn chipping in four in his collegiate debut and
X'zavious Harrison had three for 21 yards.
The biggest struggles for the SWOSU offense came on the ground, where they were limited to just 39 yards on 28 attempts. Hodge and
Matt Farris, the Bulldogs main running backs, each toted the rock ten times but combined for just 26 yards, the same total as Claborn who finished as the leading rusher for SWOSU.
SWOSU looks to get on the right track next week when they host Arkansas Tech for the Fast Lane Kickoff Classic next Saturday (Sept. 13) at Fast Lane Field in Weatherford.
