286· Football Tough Schedule Brings Hard·Luck Year (cont'd) · ed the top of the mythodical poll. Reddie quarterback Mike Mazarenko led the Henderson charge but the Bisons helped out by turning the ball over five times. Blickenstaff became the fourth passer in Harding history to surpass 1,000 yards in a season as he completed 12 of 31 aerials for 229 yards. Probably the single best individual performance against the Reddies was by defensive tackle John Tom Thompson. It was, in fact, so good that he was selected as the NAIA District 17 defensive player of the week. But on the ride back to Searcy, Thompson became very sick and was immediately taken to the hospital upon the team's ar· rival back home. He was operated on the next day for appendicitis, thus putting a damper on the best game of his career. Homecoming. with it's tradition and festivities, brought conference foe Univeristy of Arkansas·Monticelio to Alumni Field. The Boll Weevils were just another of the many ranked learns that the Bisons played throughqut the year. In front of a crowd filled with past, pre. sent, and future students, the Weevils squeaked out an exciting 31 ·29 win to blemish the crowning of lisa Bartee as the 1981 Bison football queen. The second close game in as many weeks occured for the Bisons in Magnolia when they took on Southern Arkansas University. Also ranked among the twenty best teams in the country. the Muleriders experienced a scare when they found themselves behind 10·7 midway through the fourth quarter. They managed to put together a time consuming drive that resulted in a touchdown to move ahead 14·10. But the Bisons were not to be denied. Scratching and clawing down the field with little lime on the clock, the drive eventually reached the seven yard line. Blickenstaff tried a pass in the endzone from the seven with only a few ticks on the clock, but a Mulerlder intercepted and ended the.comeback attempt. "SAU is a tough team but we gave them the fight of their lives," Coach Prock said. "Our kids played a tremendous game and it's a shame we didn't come away with the win. We deserved it." The last home game of the season was next on the Harding schedule and the opponent was the Tigers of Ouachita Baptist University. The Tigers were in the cellar of the AIC with a 1·6 overall record and an 0·4 conference mark. That matched the Bisons' AIC record and the loser would more than likely sit on the bottom of the conference heap. The Bisons broke to an early 14·0 lead in the first quarter but Ouachita responded with five straight scores enroute to a commanding 31·14 lead. The Bisons managed to add another touchdown, but it was a little late as the Tigers overcame the Bisons, 31·22. The final game of the season turned into perhaps the best performance by the Bisons. Travelling to Conway, the Black and Gold went up against the University of Central Arkansas Bears, ranked seventh in the nation. Much clout rested on the outcome of the ballgame. UCA had to finish among the top eight teams in the country to receive a bid for the national championship playoffs. With a loss, that bid would be out of the question as the Bears would more than likely drop out of the top ten. UCA jumped out to a 14·0 lead on two touchdown passes by quarterback Randy Huffstickler and it appeared as if the game might be a long one for the Bisons. But in the second quarter, Hunter performed what seemed to be a miracle when he connected on a Harding and AIC distance record 52 yard field goal. The Bisons had two golden oppor· tunities to score late in the fourth quarter. Twice, with a first down and goal situation, the Bisons had to turn the pigskin over on downs when Bear all. conference safety Charles Strong made game saving tackles on Bison tailback McCoX. One of the drives w~s stopped at the one yard line; the other died at the four. Records seemed to fall like shot quail as one mark would be broken almost every contest. Hunter probably had the most successful year as far as individual records were concerned. In addition to establishing the Id.istal)ce ! record, he brok~ the single season and career marks for field goals with 15 on the year. That total also erased the AIC single season mark of 13, set by Henderson's Bo Adkisson in 1977. Baldwin set the
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