Bulls claim league championship Coming up with big wins when they were needed to stay alive in the conference race, the Bison gridders grabbed a share of the 1976 Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference title for the second time in Harding football history. When Harding defeated 1975 AIC co-champions Henderson State University 20-15 and Ouachita Baptist University 17-0 in back-to-back victories early in the season, the state's media declared, "Harding is for real!" Observers then seemed to temper their earlier predictions after a nonconference loss to Mississippi College and a 24-0 shutout defeat at the hands of Southern Arkansas University on a sunny October afternoon in Magnolia. The AIC race was drawn down to a literal showdown November 20 in the final regular season game for both schools involved - Harding and the 224 - FOOTBALL University of Central Arkansas. The stage was set as Harding fought for its existence in the AIC contest, while from UCA's viewpoint a Harding win would bar the Bears from an outright conference championship. Harding's passing attack blitzed the Bears' nationally-ranked defense while the Bison defense held its own against UCA's offense. The three-point difference in the 16-13 score turned out to come from placekicker David Skelton's toe on his second quarter field goal. NAIA District 17 chairman, Duke Wells of Henderson State University announced a week later that Harding's John Prock had been named the District's Coach of the Year. For Prock, who at 13 years holds the longest tenure of any AIC football coach, the announcement marked the third time he had received the honor.
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