Henderson State's defensive unit played a stellar second half as the Reddies claimed the 89^th Battle of the Ravine in beating Ouachita Baptist 21-17 Saturday at Cliff Harris Stadium.

A crowd of 9,868 witnessed a Henderson defense limit the Tigers to just 237 yards of offense as the Reddies snapped OBU's 10-game home conference win streak.

"I am so proud of this team," said Head Coach Scott Maxfield. "Our defense really stepped up in the second half and did a great job. But everyone played well. The offense moved the ball at key times and we got some big stops in the second half."

Henderson would strike first on its first possession as the Reddies drove 84 yards on 13 plays as Ryan McDonald recorded his 22^nd career touchdown with a 1-yard plunge.

The Reddies would convert on a pair of third down conversions on the drive as Dallas Hardison hit Jaquan Cole for a 10-yard gain and then later found Joseph Snapp in the flats for 17 yards.

OBU would then put together a drive of its own as Austin Warford would score on a 7-yard jaunt to cap off a 12-play, 74-yard drive.

Henderson would regain the lead midway through the second quarter as Mark Czaus made a one handed catch from Hardison for a 5-yard score with 8:26 remaining in the half.

The big play of seven-play, 80-yard drive was a 42-yard connection from Hardison to Corey Chappell.

Again OBU would put together a drive late in the half, but the Reddie defense held on a 3^rd-and-5 at the 8 and the Tigers had to settle for a 25-yard field goal by Cole Antley to make the score 14-10 at the break.

The Reddies would take the opening possession of the second half and go 75 yards on 13 plays with Rodney Bryson scoring on a 15-yard run.

The Tigers, however, would respond on their first drive of the second half as Kris Oliver scored on a 2-yard run with 4:51 left in the third quarter.

The OBU drive covered 90 yards on 13 plays with the Tigers benefitting from a pair of 15 yard penalties by the Reddies including an unsportsmanlike penalty on 4^th-and-8 to keep the drive alive.

It was all defense the remainder of the game as the Tigers struggled to move the ball.

The Reddie defense held OBU to just 7 yards on 9 plays in the 4^th quarter with Tigers managing just 72 yards in the second half.

Henderson would finish the game with 360 yards of offense with the Reddies converting on an astounding 13-of-18 third-downs.

Hardison had another solid game completing 22-of-30 passes for 229 yards with Corey Chappell leading the receivers with five catches for 89 yards. Joseph Snapp had 3 receptions for 54 yards.

After sitting out last week, Jaquan Cole returned to rush for 89 yards on 25 carries to lead the Reddie ground game.

Defensively Gary Vines had eight tackles including seven solo stops, while Ilya Petrosyan had six tackles with two for lost yardage.

With the win, Henderson State will now advance to the NCAA Division II Super Region 3 playoffs next weekend.

The Reddies, 10-1 on the season, are in line to host the opening round next Saturady. The official NCAA Division II playoff pairings will be announced on Sunday at 4 p.m. Fans can watch the selection show at www.ncaasports.com.
 
NOTES

• Henderson State has now won 22 straight road games.
• The visiting team has won four of the last five Battle of the Ravine's.
• Scott Maxfield is 7-3 all-time against OBU. Just one win behind Sporty Carpenter who had 8 wins in 19 years.
• Neither team committed a turnover in the game.
• Henderson State now leads the all-time series 43-40-6.