RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Playing in the final game of the 2025 regular season against No. 2-ranked Harding, Arkansas Tech freshman running back
Bryson Roland did something that hasn't been achieved since 2015 as the Waco, Texas native surpassed the 1,000-yard rushing mark in a season. Unfortunately, the achievement for Roland came in a losing effort as the Wonder Boys ultimately fell to the Bisons by a score of 47-13.
Needing just 26 yards to reach the 1,000-yard mark entering Saturday's game, Roland ran for 80 on 14 carries against the vaunted Bisons' defense to finish with 1,054 yards for the season. Coming into the game, the Harding defense was allowing just 96.8 yards per game on the ground by their opponents.
As far as overall game action, despite the final score, the first half of the game was closely played. After the Wonder Boys went 3-and-out on the opening drive of the game, Harding went on a 10-play, 89-yard touchdown drive that took 6:05 of game time. The Wonder Boys would respond with a lengthy touchdown drive of their own on the ensuing possession to tie the game at seven-all.
That Wonder Boys drive, which started at the 7:21 mark of the first quarter ended up being 16 plays, 75 yards and used up 8:44 of the game clock as the three-yard touchdown pass from
Carter Hensley to
Jared Long came at the 13:37 mark of the second quarter.
Tech then kept the Bisons out of the endzone on their next possession and forced Harding to attempt a 28-yard field goal. That attempt was good and Harding was back in the lead, 10-7 with 6:33 to go in the first half.
Harding would score a touchdown at the 2:32 mark to go up 17-10. Tech then began to put together a productive two-minute drill and got down to the Harding 23-yardline before the drive stalled with 42 seconds left, leaving the Wonder Boys to attempt a 40-yard field goal. That kick would hit the upright as the score remained 17-7, Harding going into halftime.
Within the first five minutes of the second half, Harding scored a pair of touchdowns to suddenly be up 31-7. Tech would get one of those touchdowns back with 9:45 on the clock on a three-yard run by
Carldell Sirmons. Unfortunately, the PAT attempt was blocked and returned the other way for a two-point conversion for Harding to give the Bisons a 33-13 lead.
Harding would tack on two more touchdowns in the fourth quarter to bring the score to its final fo 47-13.
Despite the loss, the Wonder Boys, with a 7-4 record in hand, may still have a chance to continue to play as the lone DII bowl game with a potential GAC tie will make its team selections following the announcement of the teams that will make the NCAA Playoffs on Sunday night.
