No. 7 Harding drops first regular season game in over a year, falls at No. 9 Ouachita Baptist

After breaking a huge run on its second play from scrimmage, seventh-ranked Harding found the end zone only one more time and fell 21-13 to No. 9 Ouachita Baptist on Saturday in Great American Conference play at Cliff Harris Stadium.

With the loss, Harding fell to 3-1 overall and in conference play. Ouachita remained undefeated at 4-0. Harding returns to First Security Stadium next Saturday to host Oklahoma Baptist.

After a short run on Harding’s first play, sophomore Jhalen Spicer took a pitch to the right and went untouched 77 yards on a diagonal run down the field for his third touchdown of the season. Harding missed the extra point and led 6-0.

Ouachita Baptist took a 7-6 lead with 13:50 left in the first half on a 5-yard TD run.

Harding retook the lead on a 10-play, 65-yard drive that ended with Will Fitzhugh scoring on a dive play from 1 yard out. The key play of the drive was a 35-yard pass from Cole Keylon to Kage Citty on fourth-and-5 that went down to the OBU 2. Fitzhugh scored two plays later.

Ouachita completed a 50-yard TD pass to pull back ahead 14-13 with 5:35 left in the first half. The Tigers had a chance to increase their lead but Harding’s Cade Pugh intercepted a pass for the Bisons’ first turnover of the season.

Harding took the turnover down to the OBU 5, but the Bisons’ field goal attempt with 1.7 seconds remaining before halftime missed wide right.

Harding rushed for 214 yards on 35 carries in the first half and controlled the ball for more than 18 minutes.

Ouachita moved ahead 21-13 with a 7-yard TD run with 1:31 left in the third quarter. The Tigers had good field position at the HU 48 after a short Harding punt.

Harding had four possessions in the second half with its longest drive covering 31 yards.

The Bisons finished with 272 rushing yards led by Spicer’s 128 yards on 10 carries.

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