BOLIVAR, Mo. – The SBU Bearcats picked up their first win of the season, by defeating the Harding Bisons, 43-31.
SBU's Steve Gachette threw for 291 yards, and ran for 127 yards, leading the Bearcats to their first victory since October 7, 2006. Gachette hit Johnnie King 8 times for 156 yards. Jeff Finnell rushed for 112 yards, as the Bearcats ran for 143 as a team.
In his first career win as a head coach, SBU's Keith Allen credited the key “goal-line stands” and “explosive offense” against a “very good Harding team.”
The Bearcats struck early in their home opener, when Gachette constructed an effective drive, then ran the ball home from 10 yards out, giving SBU a 7-0 lead.
Four minutes later, Harding answered with a 42-yard field goal from Ryan Ferrell, cutting the Bearcat lead to 7-3.
It took the Bearcats only 2 minutes to get the field goal back, as Brock Jolly hit a 35-yarder at the 5:35 mark, giving SBU their 7-point lead back, at 10-3. But the Bisons answered with yet another 29-yard field goal from Ferrell; SBU 10, Harding 6.
Gachette electrified the 1,600 fans with at the 11:23 mark of the 2nd quarter, as he ran 24 yards for a Bearcat touchdown, giving SBU their first double-digit lead of the game, 17-6.
With three minutes remaining in the first half, Ferrell kicked Harding's third field goal, this one from 34 yards out, cutting SBU's lead to 17-9.
The Bearcats and Bisons swapped touchdowns with a minute to play in the first half. SBU's came at the 52-second mark, as Jeff Finnell ran the ball home from 8 yards out. But Harding's quarterback, David Knighton put together a 5-play, 60-yard drive that ended in a 24-yard touchdown pass to Kurt Adams, sending the teams to the halftime locker room at SBU 24, Harding 16.
Late in the third quarter, the teams scored three touchdowns in 63 seconds. SBU's Finnell scored from a yard out, but the Bearcats didn't convert the extra point. Harding came back instantly, with a 66-yard touchdown run from Jeremy Holt. But Finnell answered with a 19-yard touchdown of his own. After the extra point was missed, the Bearcats held a 36-23 lead.
The Bisons added a field goal, a safety, and another field goal – to cut the Bearcat lead to 36-31 with 5:45 to play.
The Bearcats, however, put together a game-sealing drive (8 plays, 65 yards), which Jeff Finnell, capped with a 1-yard touchdown, making the score SBU 43, Harding 31, which stood as the final.
The win puts SBU at 1-2 on the season, and 1-0 at home. Next up for SBU is Bethany (Kansas) next Saturday, September 20, at 1:30.
