Box Score Box Score

Henderson State totaled 564 yards of offense as the Reddies rolled to a 63-21 win over Southern Nazarene in the opener of the 2012 football season in front of a hometown crowd of 5,742 at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia Wednesday night. 

The Reddie offense had 384 yards through the air and 180 yards rushing, while the Henderson defense allowed just 265 yards, most coming in the fourth quarter against the reserve unit.

Henderson took control of the game in the first half as sophomore quarterback Kevin Rodgers completed 19 of 25 passes for 306 yards and three touchdowns.

The Reddies started things when Rodgers connected from 31 yards out to Labroderick Barnett with 9:55 left in the opening quarter.

Rodgers struck again on Henderson's next drive with a 6-yard pass to Dustin Holland, then the Rockwall, Texas native connected with Robert Jordan for a 40-yard score to give the Reddies a 21-0 lead by the end of the first quarter.

Henderson added a pair of rushing touchdowns in the second quarter as Kevin Nichols plunged in from a yard out, then Jarvis Smith scored on a 3-yard run as the Reddies took a 35-0 lead into the locker room.

In the opening half alone, Henderson totaled 346 yards of offense while the Reddie defense limited the Crimson Storm to just 100 yards.

The Reddies added three more scores in the third quarter as Rodgers threw his fourth touchdown pass of the game, the second to Jordan from 25 yards out.

Rodgers ended the game completing 22-of-30 passes for a career-best 360 yards and four touchdowns.

Nichols scored his second touchdown of the game on another 1-yard dive. Ryan Black replaced Rodgers and scored on a 10-yard acrobatic play to give the Reddies a 56-0 lead at the end of the third quarter.

Southern Nazarene scored a pair of touchdowns off of Henderson turnovers early in the fourth quarter, and another score late in the game.

Ryan McDonald scored the final Henderson touchdown with a 40-yard scamper. The freshman from Charleston, Ark. ended the game with 98 yards rushing to lead the ground game.

Denszell Brown and Ben Chandler led the Reddie defense with seven tackles and a fumble recovery each.
The Reddies will hit the road next week to face McKendree on Saturday, Sept. 8 with kickoff set for 1:30 p.m.