For the second consecutive week, Henderson State slowed down one of the top offensive teams in the Great American Conference as the Reddies defeated Arkansas Tech 17-7, Saturday at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium.

ATU, 4-1 on the season, entered the game averaging a GAC leading 45 points and 482.5 yards of offense. The Henderson defense limited Tech to just 323 yards while recording 11 tackles for lost yardage.

The Reddies, 4-1 on the year, nearly picked up their second consecutive shutout but ATU scored with 1:06 left in the game when Michael Fine caught a 3-yard pass from Arsenio Favor.

Henderson got out of the gates quick as Jaquan Cole took the opening play from scrimmage and raced 65 yards down to the Arkansas Tech 10.

Two plays later, Ryan McDonald rushed in from 3 yards out to put the Reddies on top 7-0 with 13:55 left in the opening quarter.

Both teams struggled offensively for a majority of the quarter until Tech finally began moving the ball courtesy of the ground game. Kristian Thompson and JaMarcus Walker helped move the ball down to the Reddie 7-yardline to set up 1st-and-goal.

Josh Davis, however, was in the ATU backfield the next two plays dropping Walker for losses of 1 and 6 yards to set up 3rd-and-goal at the 14.

Favor's third-down pass fell incomplete and ATU was forced to attempt a 32-yard field goal. Eric Perez's attempt was wide right and the Reddies took over at the 20.

The Reddies then would drive deep into ATU territory, but the drive was halted as Cua' Rose intercepted a Andrew Black at the 6-yardline.

ATU would then drive down to the Henderson 18 where Perez would have to attempt a 35-yard field goal.

The Reddies kept the Wonder Boys off the board as Perez's kick was blocked by Kenrick Burns to keep the score 7-0 in favor of Henderson.

The two teams were unable to put any more points on the board in the half and would go into the locker room with HSU leading 7-0.

Henderson, which leads the nation in interceptions, picked off a Favor pass to begin the second half as Adrian Tucker came away with his first pick of the year at the ATU 45.
The Reddies would settle for a 35-yard field goal by Houston Ray to make the score 10-0 early in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, linebackers Lawson Schulz and Josh Davis continued to make things difficult for the Wonder Boy offense as the two combined for 24 tackles and 5 ½ tackles for lost yardage.

Schulz had a career-high 15 stops and a pair of quarterback hurries, while Davis totaled a career-best four tackles for lost yardage including two pass breakups.
Henderson's ground game punished the ATU defense moving the ball consistently but not able to put points on the board.

However, with 2:03 left in the third quarter, Cole broke free again and scampered a career-long 88 yards for a touchdown to put Henderson on top 17-0.

The Reddies stayed with the ground game in the final quarter running the clock, while the defense continued to force Favor out of the pocket and throw off-balance.

Cole ended the game with 245 yards on 27 carries to record his second consecutive 100-plus yard game. The 245 yards was the most since Blake Christenson rushed for 250 yards on Nov. 16, 2002 against Southern Arkansas.

Henderson State will next travel to Searcy to take on Harding on Saturday, Oct. 10 with kickoff set for 6 p.m. at First Security Stadium.
 
NOTES:
* Jaquan Cole had back-to-back 100-plus yard games with a career-high 245 yards on 27 carries.
* The Henderson State defense added two more interceptions on year and ran the season total to 14.
* The HSU defense recorded a season-high 11 tackles for lost yardage.
* The Reddie offense rushed for 305 yards. The last time HSU went over 300 yards was on Nov. 10, 2012 vs OBU (305 yards).
* The Reddie defense shutout its opponents for seven quarter plus 13:54 as Tech scored with 1:06 left to play to avoid the shutout.
* Scott Maxfield picked up win 73 as Henderson's head coach to tie for second in HSU for wins with legendary coach Duke Wells.