BETHANY, Okla.—It was a tall task for Southern Nazarene as they went up against the No. 11 team in the nation, Harding. The Bisons proved their ranking and took care of business on Saturday, defeating the Crimson Storm 56-28 in Bethany.
Southern Nazarene (1-5, 1-5 GAC) struck first with a quick score on their first possession, but Harding (5-1, 5-1 GAC) scored the game's next 28 points to build a 28-7 second quarter lead.
SNU cut back into the deficit after Gage Porter busted off a 68 yard touchdown run that brought the score to 28-14. Coming into Saturday, Porter ranked third in all of DII in rushing yards. He added another 128 yards in Saturday's game.
It did not take long for Harding to answer as a six play, 64 yard drive in just over one minute pushed the Harding lead back to 21 points at halftime. That lead would swell as high as 35 points in the second half as the Harding offense proved nearly impossible to stop. The Bison offense converted nearly every opportunity they had, finishing the game 8-for-9 on third down chances.
Turnovers were once again an issue for the Storm. After two costly fumbles last week, SNU coughed it up three more times on Saturday, leading to 14 Harding points.
Outside of the turnovers, Southern Nazarene's offense played well, surpassing 400 total yards for the fourth straight game. Coming into the game, SNU had the seventh best rushing offense in the nation and finished just under their season average of 262 yards per game with 244 on Saturday. They also added 170 through the air, including fourth quarter touchdown passes of 28 yards to Kolbe Branch and 46 yards to Donald May.
Harding, one of the few teams to outrush SNU to this point in the season, ran for 308 yards on Saturday. 13 different Bisons had carries in the game as the team averaged over 6 yards per attempt.
For the Crimson Storm, they will try to bounce back on the road next week as they travel to Weatherford to take on Southwestern Oklahoma State. Last season, SNU picked up their lone win against SWOSU in a 30-22 victory in Bethany. The Bulldogs sit at 3-3 for the season but are coming off a 63-24 defeat at the hands of Ouachita Baptist on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 5:30 p.m. in Weatherford next Saturday, October 15.
