Arkansas Sports 360.com - July 2008 - (Page 33) Henderson has had back-to-back winning seasons since the 1990-91 campaigns. This could be the year the Reddies make the playoffs. Henderson returns seven offensive and six defensive starters, including quarterback Roch Charpentier. Returning for his senior season is running back Bernard Palmer, who has a chance to become Henderson’s all-time leading rusher. Palmer had 958 yards rushing in 2007 and rushed for more than 100 yards in four games, including 131 yards against archrival ouachita Baptist. Palmer comes into the season with 2,614 yards on 569 carries in 31 games. The school’s career record is 3,181 yards set by quarterback Blake Christenson from 2001-04. on the defensive side, Henderson led the GSC against the pass last season, allowing 136.7 yards per game, and ranked second in the conference and 12th nationally in total defense at 267 yards per game. If the Reddies can find a kicking game, they will challenge Delta State, Valdosta State and North Alabama for a conference championship. The most pleasant surprise among the six Arkansas schools might turn out to be Harding. The program was rocked last season when Randy Tribble suddenly MUleRiDeRS PloW inTo FoeS: Southern Arkansas’ Daren Lewis makes a hit. resigned as head coach after the second game with little explanation given as to the reasons for the resignation. Tribble was in his 14th season as head coach and was the dean of Gulf South head coaches. The Bisons were 1-1 at the time. Defensive coordinator Ronnie Huckeba, a member of the Harding coaching staff since 1986, stepped in and led the Bisons to victory in five of the final six games. That gave Harding its fourth consecutive winning season at 6-4. Harding led the GSC and ranked third nationally in Division II in passing offense. The Bisons were second in the conference in total offense, averaging a school-record 445.6 yards per game. They scored a schoolrecord average of 34.7 points per game. Harding senior quarterback David Knighton from Seminole, okla., might just be the best quarterback in the conference. He passed for 3,198 yards and 32 touchdowns last year. Senior left guard Ross Conn, who has started all 31 games of his Harding career, was named to Lindy’s College Football Magazine’s Division II All-American team on the second team. So was wide receiver Zac Ross. Arkansas Tech finished the 2007 season with two consecutive losses and a 5-5 record. That was below the normal standards for coach Steve Mullins, whose teams had posted records of 10-2 in 2004, 7-3 in 2005 and 7-3 in 2006. The Wonder Boys could never find their defense last year, giving up 34 points to Gulf south (continued on Page 35) July 2008 SoUtHeRn ARkAnSAS UniveRSity ArkansasSports360.com 33 http://www.centralarkansassports.com http://www.centralarkansassports.com http://ArkansasSports360.com
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