[October 20, 2007]

Contact: Houston Taylor

MAGNOLIA, Ark. – Calvin Roberts scored from one yard out and Ryan Ferrell’s kick was good as Harding, spoiling Southern Arkansas’ homecoming, scored on their first possession to slip past the Muleriders, 31-24, in overtime Saturday at Wilkins Stadium.

The Muleriders made it to the 14-yard line on runs of eight yards from fullback Tony McDonald and three from quarterback Josh SanFilippo on their ensuing possession, but a false start pushed them back to the 19, and SAU went backwards from there, losing any chance to tie in the extra frame.

The Bisons (4-3, 3-2 GSC) got the winning score on their third attempt from the one-yard line as Southern Arkansas made them fight for it. The Muleriders (2-6, 1-5 GSC) had no such luck, when after the false start penalty, managed two yards to the 17, Steven Ashley was thrown for a loss of six, SanFilippo was sacked for four more, and then threw over the head of Mario Coleman in the end zone to end the game.

SAU held leads of 7-3 and 10-3 at the end of the first quarter and halftime, respectively, before the game was knotted at 17 at the end of three and at 24 in regulation.

The Muleriders held Harding to just 67 yards of offense in the opening half while forcing two fumbles. SAU’s first score, a one-yard plunge from SanFilippo at 8:36, came after defensive tackle Quentin Taylor recovered a Roberts’ fumble at the Southern Arkansas eight. It took only two plays for SanFilippo to find the end zone. Noe΄ Cuevas added a 31-yard field goal at 9:15 in the second to finish the Muleriders’ first half scoring. Sandwiched in between was a 32-yard field goal from Ferrell at 7:04 in the first quarter for HU’s only points in the opening half.

Things changed in the second stanza as Harding, after attempting 16 passes and just 11 rushes in the first half, reversed trend and went to the running game and it paid off. Using 12 running plays and four of five passing in the third quarter alone, the Bisons put up two quick scores when quarterback David Knighton, on two of those passes, connected with Roberts for a two-yard score and Alan Webster for a 24-yard touchdown. Connecting at 12:13 and 3:50, respectively, allowed HU to take a 17-10 lead. SAU didn’t take long though, moving 80 yards in only four plays to tie it up on Chris Metcalf’s 26-yard touchdown run with 2:56 left.

Ardell Briggs pushed Harding back on top early in the fourth, scoring from 42 yards out at 13:45. Southern Arkansas then used a five-play, 64-yard drive to force overtime when SanFilippo hit Mario Coleman for a 17-yard touchdown with 2:46 left in regulation.

The Muleriders won the overtime toss and elected to defend, but the Bisons scored in six plays, all on the ground.

Astonishingly, of the eight scoring drives in regulation, only one took longer than three minutes, SAU’s second quarter field goal, which covered 33 yards in 14 plays in 6:13. Robert’s two-yard touchdown catch at the beginning of the third came after a drive of 2:47, and the rest were all under two minutes, with two taking less than a minute.

HU finished with 370 yards of total offense, 208 on the ground and 162 through the air, while Southern Arkansas had 325, 217 rushing and 108 passing. The Muleriders held turnovers to a minimum, losing one fumble, while recovering three from Harding.

Webster piled up 119 yards rushing on 16 carries, while Ashley was SAU’s leading ground-gainer with 66 on nine totes.

Knighton completed 19 of 28 passes for 162 yards, and SanFilippo connected on seven of 22, with a lot of dropped balls, for 108 yards. Neither threw a pick.

Zac Ross had four receptions for 53 yards for the Bisons, while Johnny Fields and Coleman each caught two for 31 yards for Southern Arkansas.

Jermaine Blanchard led HU’s defense with nine tackles, four solo, including an assisted sack. Mulerider linebacker Steven Dauenhauer finished with a game-high 12 tackles, five solo, including one sack, and forced a fumble.

SAU plays its last road game of the season next week, traveling to Russellville to take on Arkansas Tech in a 1 p.m. kickoff on Saturday.