It was a game that will go down as a classic as Henderson State held on to beat Ouachita Baptist 41-36 in the 85th meeting of the St. Joseph's Mercy Battle of the Ravine, Saturday at A.U. Williams Field in Arkadelphia, Ark.

In a game that will be discussed for years to come, it came down to the final play. With less than one second remaining and the ball on the Henderson 1-yardline, OBU turned to running back Chris Rycraw to win the game for the Tigers. Rycraw was initially hit by Antonio Leak and then stuffed by Taylor Stone to deny the Tigers.

“Our defense played great for the most part,” said Head Football Coach Scott Maxfield. “They made the plays when they needed and I am so proud of them.”

Henderson State, 6-4 on the year and 4-1 in the Great American Conference,
scored on its opening possession moving the ball 80 yards on 10 plays capped off by a 3-yard run by Jarvis Smith.

Following a 28-yard field goal by OBU's Jason Fowler, the Reddies struck quickly as Kevin Rodgers connected with Robert Jordan for a 67-yard scoring strike to put Henderson on top 14-3 with 5:04 remaining in the opening quarter. It was Henderson's longest pass play of the year and Jordan's first touchdown reception of the season.

Then it was OBU's turn as the Tigers got touchdown runs of 24 yards and 1-yard by Rycraw to take a 17-14 lead with 7:18 left in the half.

The Tiger lead was short-lived as the Reddies scored on its next two possessions. Henderson took the lead for good when Smith scored from two yards out with 3:24 remaining in the half.

Rodgers completed a pair of 13-yard pass plays to Jordan, and a 14-yard strike to Israel Valentin to move the ball down to the OBU 9 to set up the score.

Henderson increased its lead to 27-17 just before half as Smith scored his second touchdown of the game from a yard out. Rodgers again was masterful in the drive having a 16-yard run and a 14-yard completion to Nick Johnson to move the ball into scoring position.

Henderson State stormed out of the locker room to begin the second half as Rodgers hit Jazz Scott for a 37-yard touchdown and a 48-yard strike to Elliot Hebert to increase the Reddie lead to 41-17 with 7:11 remaining in the third quarter.

Just when it looked as if the Reddies had things in control, OBU stormed back scoring 19 unanswered points in the fourth quarter as Casey Cooper hit Brett Reece for a 6-yard touchdown and an 8-yard touchdown to Phillip Supernaw. Rycraw then scored on a 12-yard run with 3:47 to play to make it a one possession game.

OBU then got the ball back on the kickoff as Jackson Guerra forced Hebert to fumble with OBU's Ryan Newsom recovering the ball on the Reddie 29.

However, the Henderson State defense held and the Reddies got the ball back with 2:15 to play in the game.

The Reddies needed just one first down to end the game, but Tiger defense forced Henderson to punt. Christian Latoof's punt traveled 35-yards and OBU took over on its own 47 with 43 seconds to play.

The Tigers moved the ball quickly as Cooper completed a 13-yard pass to Rycraw and then a 29-yard pass to Reece to get the ball down to the 11.

On 3rd-and-5 from the HSU 6, Cooper completed a 5-yard pass to Reece down to the HSU 1. On first-and-goal, HSU's Chuck Obi broke up a Cooper pass, but there was still 0.6 left on the clock.

With the crowd of 7,369 all standing, the officials indicated that the Reddie defense held on the final play and the Henderson faithful stormed the field.

“It was another classic game in this rivalry,” said Maxfield. “Our guys worked hard all season and had some bad breaks, but as far as I am concerned we are the best Division II team in Arkansas.”

Rodgers ended the day with some stellar numbers, completing 26-of-41 passes for a career-high 332 yards and three touchdowns.

Hebert totaled five receptions for 101 yards, while Jordan had 4 catches for 70 yards.

Smith ended the day rushing for 38 yards on 12 carries and three touchdowns.
Henderson's defense was led by Jeremy Rodenburg and Keaton Stigger who both had seven tackles. Wesley Brady and Vincent Thompson both had interception for the Reddies.

OBU's Cooper ended the game completing 28-of-53 passes for 302 yards while Rycraw totaled 92 yards rushing on 18 carries.

The Reddies ended the season winning five of its last six games and finish 6-2 against Division II opponents. With the win, Henderson State takes a 40-39-6 lead in the series, having won the last two meetings.