SEARCY, ARK. – The Lenoir-Rhyne Football Team saw its season come to an end in the National Semifinal with a loss to Harding. The Bears wrap up a successful season that saw them tie the program record for most wins in a single season in program history.
INSIDE THE MATCHUP:
Final: No. 3/4 Harding 55. No. 11 Lenoir-Rhyne 14
Records: Lenoir-Rhyne (13-2), Harding (14-0)
Location: Searcy, Ark. | First Security Stadium
STATS OF THE GAME:
• After the Bears went three-and-out on their first drive, Harding took the ball and went 36 yards on nine plays capped by a 1-yard rush by Cole Keylon on 4th and goal from the 1.
• The Bisons went onside kick after the score and recovered. Six plays later, Blake Delacruz ran one in from nine yards out.
• Delacruz would add his second TD on a 4-yard run and Braden Jay made it 28-0.
• The Bears would drive at the end of the first half and Zyheir Dillard would punch it in for a 5-yard TD run to pull LR within three scores.
• However, Harding would take the ensuing kick off 89 yards to the house and went up 34-7 at the half.
• Harding hit a 65-yard pass to Roland Wallace to make it 41-7. They would tack on another 3rd quarter TD.
• Sean White finished the game with 270 yards passing and completed 23 of his 33 attempts.
• Jalen Ferguson would replace White in the fourth and connected with Deondre Lester on a 52-yard touchdown.
• Jon Ross Maye led the Bears with 14 total tackles, including 12 solo stops.
• Harding ran for 431 yards on the day compared to -3 by the Bears. Harding outgained the Bears 500-336 in total yards.
• The Bisons had a pair of 100-yard rushers in the game. Delacruz finished with 147 yards on 21 carries and Keylon had 108 yards on 15 rushes.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE:
• The 13 wins this season tied the single season program record.
• In the NCAA Playoff era, this was the second-farthest an LR team had ever gone. Only the 2013 team advanced past this round.
• In the game, Harding broke the single-season Division II record for most rushing yards, previously held by LR in 2013.
• The Bears fall to 11-7 all-time in NCAA Playoff games.
• This was just the second time all year that LR failed to score first. The Bears are 0-2 in those two contests.
UP NEXT: The Bears will look forward to building off the success of the 2023 campaign in the fall of 2024.
