State's Gulf South Schools Aim for Playoffs

UAM UAM quarterback Scott Buisson scrambled his way to the league's 2007 Freshman of the Year honor.

For those Southerners who regularly and loudly claim that the Gulf South Conference is the toughest football conference in NCAA Division II - the Southeastern Conference of D-II, if you will - the 2007 season bolstered the argument.

Three Gulf South teams - Valdosta State from Georgia, Delta State from Mississippi and North Alabama - made the Division II playoffs. It was the fifth consecutive season for multiple GSC teams to be involved in postseason play. North Alabama and Valdosta both received first-round playoff byes. Delta State defeated Shaw in the first round before falling to North Alabama, 20-17, in the second round.

Valdosta State, meanwhile, took care of Catawba in the second round and then beat North Alabama 37-23 in a quarterfinal game. The Blazers went on to win two more games, earning their second national championship in four seasons and becoming the first GSC team to win a national title without having first won the league crown. Delta State had gone 8-0 in conference play, followed by North Alabama and Valdosta State at 7-1.

Unfortunately for the six former members of the Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference that play in the GSC, there were no postseason berths in 2007. Coming into this season, Lindy's College Football Magazine has Valdosta State ranked No. 1 in Division II, North Alabama at No. 7 and Delta State at No. 9. None of the six Arkansas schools made the magazine's preseason Top 25.

The Reddies of Henderson State came the closest among the Arkansas schools to making the playoffs last fall, finishing the 2007 season with records of 6-2 in conference and 7-3 overall. For coach Scott Maxfield's Reddies, it was a case of what might have been. Henderson lost 9-7 to Delta State on the road and then had a crushing 21-20 loss at home to Arkansas Tech. If just a couple of kicking-game plays had gone the other way, Henderson would have been the GSC champion at 8-0. The Reddies had two field-goal attempts of less than 30 yards blocked at Delta State in the fourth quarter. Arkansas Tech blocked two punts for touchdowns against Henderson. The Reddies' last four GSC losses have been by a combined total of 10 points.

No one can deny that Maxfield has completely turned the Henderson program around since becoming head coach in 2005. Maxfield, who had success in the junior college ranks in Texas, inherited a program that had experienced nine consecutive losing seasons with a record of 26-71. His three teams at Henderson have gone 3-8, 8-3 and 7-3. It's the first time 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 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 school-record average of 34.7 points per game.