Blsons fall to ACU in Sflrlne Bowl Representing the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference in the San Jacinto Shrine Bowl, the Bisons journeyed to Pasadena, Tex. to take on Lone Star Conference runner-up, Abilene Christian University. In the battle between the only two Christian schools that field football teams, Harding came out on the bottom end of the 22-12 score. The Bison secondary succumbed to Abilene's awesome passing attack in the first half, when the Wildcats put all 22 of their points on the board. ACU's Jim Reese to Johnny Perkins combination accounted for much of Abilene's passing yardage. Although the Bison offense was held to 14 first downs - compared to ACU's 24 - Harding's defense stood firm in the second half. In the fourth quarter Abilene drove twice to fourthand-goal situations, but the Bison defense held. Pass rushing Harding linemen sacked Reese eight times for losses during the game. Safety Robert Akins was named the outstanding defensive performer in the game. Akins intercepted an ACU pass, returned a kickoff 22 yards and made a number of key tackles, including two touchdown-saving stops. FOOTBALL - 22:J
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