Host of Arkansans aiming to bring first national championship home to Harding University

Harding is the first Arkansas-based Division II national finalist

SEARCY, ARKANSAS. – If every male in the United States of America were polled on the amount of highlights they have had in the past week, Harding University head coach Paul Simmons would probably have everyone beat by a mile. 

Speaking of a that, Simmons' Bisons have run for 5,844 yards – equivalent to 3.3 miles – which surpassed the national record for yards in a single season set by Lenoir-Rhyne (N.C.) in 2013, coincidentally the team the Bisons thumped 55-14 on Saturday to punch their ticket to the national championship game. The Bisons also have 74 touchdowns, and counting, which is the most in the Division II ranks since at least 2008. 

Harding (14-0), the No. 3 team in the country, will meet top-ranked Colorado School of Mines (14-0) on Saturday at noon in McKinney, Texas, televised live on ESPNU.

While the victory over Lenoir-Rhyne was the most cherished moment, at least thus far, for anyone associated with Harding football, it does not come close to measuring up to what Simmons felt later that evening while watching his two sons help Harding Academy win its fourth state championship in the past five seasons.

Simmons' oldest son, Wyatt, just finished his high school career and is committed to play football at the University of Arkansas. He finished the game with eight total tackles and forced a fumble, plus nabbed an interception, while his younger brother, Tanner, made a crucial sack late in the game. 

"I have had a lot of good ones, but Saturday was probably the finest day of my life," Paul Simmons said. "When I saw that ESPN put our game at eleven o'clock and my boys were playing at 6:30 p.m. I just could not believe that God blessed that situation the way that he did. 

"All of the things that transpired and getting to do it with my family, crazy special."

Simmons is in his seventh season as head coach of the Bisons, but has a lengthy history with the team. Before taking over, he was defensive coordinator/defensive line coach from 2010-16, defensive line coach from 2006-09 and a grad assistant for two seasons in 1997-98.

He starred as a player in the early nineties, earning All-American honors a school- record three times while compiling over 400 career tackles. 

Simmons is also a native Arkansan and though he has called Searcy home off and on for the past three-plus decades, he grew up in the deep southwest corner of the state in Ashdown, right on the Texas border. 

Whether it be Ashdown, Searcy, or anywhere in Arkansas, Simmons mentioned that he and his team have felt a rousing amount of support. 

"This has gotten bigger than just the Searcy community," Simmons said. "The energy, the excitement, the belief is just off the charts."

As far as Natural State natives, it does not stop with Simmons.

Sophomore quarterback Cole Keylon has been a vital part of the Bisons' signature flexbone offense that ranks first nationally in rushing yards by a long shot. Keylon ranks third on the team with 657 yards and second with 14 touchdowns, as well as 615 yards and eight touchdowns through the air.

While playing his prep football at Harrison, Keylon was a spread quarterback and the majority of his offers were to play linebacker. It did not take long for him to be sold on the idea of playing under center in the flexbone if it meant victories.

"When I saw that they win 10 or 11 games a year I was like 'let's go', it does not matter," Keylon said. "I have grown to love the flexbone and I would dang near say I like it more (than the spread)."

Though Keylon was all in on Harding, his father, Chris, who is now the head coach at Harrison, did not want his son to make too quick of a decision, but his mind changed fast.

"My family and I went on a visit and I remember my dad telling me that day to not commit," Cole Keylon said. "By the end of the visit we were in Coach Simmons' office and he told me to commit."

Along with Keylon, Braden Jay (Cabot) is one of the top offensive contributors with 914 yards and 9 touchdowns while averaging an incredible 12.2 yards per carry. Jay leads the Bisons in receiving with eight receptions for 168 yards and two touchdowns, while also serving as a threat on special teams with a kickoff return for a score against Lenoir-Rhyne. 

Andrew Miller's five-yard carry against Lenoir-Rhyne was the run that broke the aforementioned national single season team record. On the year, the Harding Academy alum has rushed for 484 yards and six touchdowns. 

"Coming from different towns in a small state, we all have mutual friends through different sports," Keylon said. "It is really cool having these connections and these guys are my best friends, so being able to do it with them is really awesome as well as doing it for Harding."

Defensively, the Bisons have been just about as dominant as the ground and pound offensive attack, currently ranked second in the country in scoring defense as they surrender just 11.1 points per contest. 

That unit is headlined by 2023 GAC Defensive Player of the Year Nate Wallace, a Bryant alumnus. The first-team All-American has logged 26 total tackles, 8.5 for loss with 7 sacks, 7 QB hurries, plus forced two fumbles and recovered another.

Wallace has dominated the defensive trenches since his high school days, helping Bryant win a state championship in 2018, which started a five-year run of consecutive Class 7A titles under Buck James, who taught Wallace the true meaning of grit.

"The first day I was playing for Coach James he just put us through trial after trial and all of this hard work," Wallace said. "He stopped everything and offered whoever did not want to be there to leave. 

"A lot of guys left and just from that experience it taught me how imperative it was to just be tough. The toughest guy is always going to last the longest."

Defensive back Ty Dugger, a Harding Academy alumnus, is another one of the top contributors on the Bisons' defense as the team's third-leading tackler with 39, along with five pass breakups and three interceptions, which also leads the team. 

"It is pretty exciting having these type of guys on the team who come from that same farm life type of upbringing," Wallace said. "People overlook Arkansas, but this state has some talent." 

Wallace and Co. will be up against 2022 Harlon Hill Trophy (Division II equivalent of the Heisman Trophy) winner John Matocha, who has completed 71% of his passes for 4,028 yards and 42 touchdowns, along with 444 yards and five touchdowns on the ground. 

"When it comes to an air raid or that caliber of a quarterback, I think it becomes more on the front six to make an immediate impact," Wallace said. "The focus and the drive have to be there just a little bit more and you have to be dialed in to make an impact on something that is trying to get you out of the game."

Colorado School of Mines has a leg up on Harding having played in this game a season ago and hopes to put on a much better performance this time around than when they fell hard to Ferris State (Mich.) 41-14.

This season has provided multiple firsts and as far as Keylon is concerned, the Bisons are preparing the exact same way for the biggest game of their lives only as they know how. 

"It is just another game," Keylon said. "We are going to perfect in practice what we do and it does not matter what they do, we just have to execute our own stuff.

"We are always going to be confident. We have already been battle-tested, I do not think they have. If we just go out and play well I do not think we will have an issue"

(Cover photo courtesy of Harding University)

– Kyle Sutherland | @k_sutherlandAR