F o o T B A L L 68 Foo tball Bisons Experience a Season of Battles The 1983 Bison football season ended with a 3-6-1 overall record. Despite the disappointing end, it was a season of exciting accomplishments by many of the "Black and Gold" players. Beginning with spring training and continuing into their hot August workouts, the Bisons aimed for a chance at an Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference championship. The battle was hard with many setbacks along the way for the Bisons yet the season was highlighted with many dynamic plays despite the losses. September 10 marked the start of the battle as the Bisons faced the Lane College Dragons. The Dragons dominated the first half of play and handed the Bisons their fi rst loss ever to them, 35-16. The Bisons scored a pair of second half touchdowns by Bobby Lee Jones and Durwood Dry. The Bisons had two weeks to recover from the physically tough game with Lane College before tackling Southeastern Oklahoma at home. Before a large crowd of parents, students, faculty and die-hard fans, Steve Hunter kicked an 18 yard field goal with nine seconds left in the game to give the Bisons a thrilling 17-14 win. The score came after the Bison defense held Southeastern Oklahoma at bay. Z.C.O. Uhatafe had his grea test game, rushing for 170 yards on 33 carries. While Uhatafe and Hunter were the offensive heroes the defensive hero was back Byron Walls, who accounted for 10 solo tackles, two assists, a fumble recovery and a broken-up pass. Walls' big play was a pass interception with a 41 yard return for a touchdown. The Bisons traveled next to take on Evangel College in Springfield, Missouri. Harding rolled to their second straight victory, a 26-6 thrashing of Evangel. With just seconds left in a hard fought game against Arkansas Tech University, the score stood at 10-9 Tech with Harding going for the win instead of the tie. The Bisons tried a two-point conversion which fell short and sealed the victory for Arkansas Tech. The following Saturday the Bisons played a "tug-of-war" game against Southwestern College. The Bisons took the lead first then Southwestern came back. But in the end the Bisons tugged the hardest, outscoring the Lynxcats 40-24 . With the score deadlocked at 17 at halftime , the Bisons rallied in the second half with the help of Greg Poston 's two interceptions which were turned into touchdowns for Harding. _ LllsJiIl DoWI1S Arkadelphia was the setting for the Bisons secQnd AlC matchup. Henderson State came from behind in the fourth quarter to defeat Harding 21-17. The Bisons held a 17-14 lead with 2,50 left in the third period. The Reddies rallied in the four th quarter and Harding never got the ball back. The excitement and festi vities of Homecoming moved onto campus the weekend of October 29. The Bisons were never really able to generate any offense despite two field goal attempts by Hunter and a pass interception by Poston. The Boll Weevils of the University of Arkansas at Monticello spoiled the festivities by defeating the Bisons 15-0. The uphill battle became even steeper when Harding traveled to Magnolia to take on the Southern Arkansas University Muleriders. The Muleriders ran up 465 yards of total offense in a 31-0 shut out of the Bisons. Poston intercepted twice but the Bisons could not convert on either occasion. The closest the Bisons could get was the SAU one yard line, but a penalty for offsides stopped them. On fourth down and goal the Bisons went for the touchdown but were stopped when Mannie Lowery was sacked for a four yard loss. Harding had on'€' o ther scoring opportunity, but Hunter's 20-yard field goal attempt was blocked. The final home game was against Ouach- - Public &lafiol15 Offiu - Chris OIIi ita Baptist University. Both teams had not won a conference game all year. The OBU Tigers jumped out to an early 10-0 lead but with four seconds left in the half the Bisons drove all the way to the Tiger 14 before the drive was stopped. The Bisons' next possession resulted in a touchdown to make the score 13-10 Harding. The OBU Tigers kicked a 37-yard field goal to knot the score at 13. That's where it ended. Even though the fourth quarter produced some excitement for both teams, neither could score. The final game of the season pitted the conference number one team, University of Central Arkansas, against last place Harding. UCA was ranked number two in the NAlA. The task for the Bisons was too much and they ended the season with a 34-0
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTc5NA==