Henderson State committed six turnovers as the Reddies' bid for an upset fell short to No. 6 Delta State 34-31, Saturday at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia, Ark.

Delta State, 4-1 on the season, scored 17 points off of miscues to overcome a 21-10 first-half deficit.

Delta State scored on its opening possession on a 3-yard run by Avery Horn, but the Reddies answered on its next drive on a big 4th-down call.

Facing 4th and 6 at the Delta State 45, Henderson set up in punt formation, but the Jazz Scott took the direct snap and busted loose for a score with 48 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

After Delta State regained the lead on its next possession with a Matt Dean 22-yard field goal, redshirt freshman quarterback Kevin Rodgers put Henderson back on top with a 6-play, 61-yard drive.

Rodgers completed a 12-yard pass to Labroderick Barnett, then a 23-yard strike to Robert Jordan down to the DSU 5. Jarvis Smith scored on a 5-yard run to put the Reddies on top 14-10.

The Reddies, 1-3 on the season, increased the lead to 21-10 with 3:01 to play in the half as Nick Johnson caught a 3-yard pass from Rodgers for the score. The big play of the drive was a 28-yard completion to Jared Farley down to the DSU 13.

DSU scored just before the half on a 3-yard run by Richard Freelon to make the score 21-17 at the break.

The Reddies' first drive of the second half resulted in a 20-yard field goal by Eric Torres to make the score 24-17. Henderson went 90 yards on 10 plays during the drive as Rodgers hit Jordan with passes of 30 and 14 yards during the drive.

Henderson gambled again on a fake punt, but Scott was stopped short of the line to gain and the Statesmen took over on the Reddie 39.
Delta State then tied the score late in the third quarter as Micah Davis hit Bill Franks with a 16-yard scoring toss.

The Statesmen then took the lead for good after Rodgers was intercepted by Dwight Tillman at the Reddie 24.

DSU punched it in six plays later on a 1-yard plunge by Freelon to make the score 31-24 with 14:42 remaining in the game.

Another Reddie turnover resulted in a 38-yard field goal by Dean with 3:38 to play in the game as Jordan fumbled on the Reddie 26 following a 10-yard completion from Rodgers.

Henderson did not quit, as the Reddies quickly moved the ball down field with Turell Williams scoring from 1-yard out with 2:25 to play.

The ensuing onside kick was recovered by Delta State, and the Statesmen put the game away.

After totaling just 139 yards of offense a week ago, the Reddies compiled 395 yards compared to Delta State's 354 yards.

Rodgers, in his first collegiate start, ended the night completing 29-of-49 passes for 292 yards and a touchdown.

Jordan led the Reddie receivers with 10 catches for 121 yards, while Johnson caught seven passes for 75 yards.

DSU's Davis completed 24-of-34 passes for 169 yards.

Jeremy Rodenburg had a career-high 13 tackles, while Taylor Stone added eight tackles. Kevin Lloyd had seven stops with a forced fumble and a pass break-up while Keaton Stigger also had seven tackles and a pair of pass breakups.