------------------------------------------------------~s The Incredible Leaping Boy! Greg Henderson leaps into the air to snatch the football from an opponent's grasp. - photo by James McCreary. Here's the Plan . Vital in/ormation about the next play is exchanged between Coach Bill Barden and Steve Schuartz. - photo by Doug Kilman. Here Come the Wildcats! The Harding Academy Wildcats cha rge in to meet the competition . - photo by Doug Kilman . Senior Wildcats Sweep Conference .~ . This year was an extremely good one in football. The Wildcats pounded their way through regular season without suffering a loss, only to lose in the quarterfinals of the Class A State Playoffs. Everyone contributed to the team success; and the coaching staff took pri de in this. The first game was Vilonia. The Wildcats were victorious, beating the Eagles by a score of 20-0. Next was a tough Heber Springs team. The Wildcats showed their determination and beat Heber 14-0. Another tough· contest was expected from Barton, but the Wildcats did not seem to have any trouble. The final score was 30- 14, in favor of Harding, of course. The next game was not much of a contest as the Wi ldcats destroyed the less ta lented West Memphis Christian team 39-0. The Wildcats faced DeValls Bluff next , who had not played football last year. Their inexpe rience due to last year's layoff proved to be an advantage for Harding as they went on to win by a score of 28-6. Next came their archrival, Central Arkansas Christian. The only pOints came in an overtime period when Kenny Fox carried it in to the end zone with the extra point being kicked by J ay Boyd. The Wildcats won, 7-0. The next game was with the Bruins of Pulaski Academy. Britt Thomas, Gary Richey and Stan Moreland led a tenacious defensive attack inside while Greg Henderson, Scott Throckmorton and the rest of the Wildcat secondary made it extremely difficu lt for P .A. to get anything outside. The defense he ld P.A. to only six points . Harding won by the score of 28-6. The final game of the regular season was with another archri va l, Hazen. The Wildcats aga in showed strong defense and held Hazen score less. Tim Smith scored the game's only touchdown with Jay Boyd making the point after . Greg Henderson and Britt Thomas tackled a Hazen ball carrier in the end zone for a safety. The Wildcats won 9-0 and finis hed the regular season undefeated. The Wi ldcats then wen t on to the state playoffs. Their first opponent was a larger Clarendon team . The defenses were tough for both teams. By the end of regulation, neither team had had a successful scoring attempt, which forced the team into overtime. The high-anxiety game was ended by Jay Boyd's field goal which led the Cats on to the quarterfinals of the State playoffs. I o R H I G H F o o T B A L L Boy's Sports 323
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