ALVA, Okla. -- Henderson State will embark on its longest road trip of the season as the Reddies travel nearly 500 miles to take on Northwestern Oklahoma in Alva, Okla. with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
HENDERSON STATE SPORTS NETWORKThe game will be broadcast and available on the following affiliates of the Henderson State Sports Network, beginning one hour prior to kickoff, with Phil Elson (
@ElsonPhil) providing the play-by-play, RJ Hawk (
@RJHawk) with color commentary and Athletics Media Relations GA
Hunter Lively (
@HLively_) on the sidelines.
Arkadelphia KDEL 100.9 FMHot Springs & Malvern 100.7 FM / 1310 AM
Benton 103.3 FM / 690 AM
Little Rock 1090 AM
LIVE STATShttp://www.sidearmstats.com/nwosu/football/?
STREAMING VIDEOhttp://nwosu.sidearmsports.com/watch/?Live=12?
WATCH PARTYIf you are in Arkadelphia join fellow Reddies at Slim and Shorty's which is the official "Home of Reddie Road Game Watch Parties."
SOCIAL MEDIA
THE GAME Henderson State will embark on its longest road trip of the season as the Reddies travel nearly 500 miles to take on Northwestern Oklahoma in Alva, Okla. with kickoff set for 7 p.m. on Saturday. The Reddies, 1-1 on the season, hope to rebound from a disappointing 35-28 loss to East Central last weekend.Northwestern Oklahoma opened its season with a 52-31 win over Arkansas-Monticello before losing their home opener last week to Southern Arkansas 49-14. The Ranger offense averages 340.5 yards per game, with the defense giving up a whopping 514.5 yards per contest. Reid Miller leads the offense from the quarterback position having completed 45-of-71 passes for 527 yards and five touchdowns. Miller threw for 379 yards and five touchdowns in the season opener against UAM to earn GAC Player of the Week honors. Miller has a large contingent of receivers including Tamarick Courtney who caught 30 passes for just over three-hundred yards and one touchdown in 2014. Justin Lord has seven receptions for 96 yards and two scores to lead NWOSU this season, while Justin Schanbacher also has seven touches for 73 yards and a pair of scores. The Ranger ground game has netted just 54 yards in the first two games with Davante Bourque having 15 carries for 29 yards. Defensively Northwestern is led by Derrick Thompson who has totaled 22 tackles, with Joby Saint Fleur having 19 stops.The Reddie offense is averaging 370 yards per game, while the defensive unit has allowed an average of 408.5 yards per contest.Dallas Hardison threw for a career-high 375 yards and three touchdowns last week against East Central. The junior from Bentonville, Ark. has completed 47-of-72 passes for 535 yards this season for a 65.3 completion percentage. Hardison ranks fifth in the GAC in average yards passing per game at 267.5. Corey Chappell had a career-high 138 yards on 6 receptions last week against ECU and leads the Reddies receiving corps with 150 total yards on the year.JaVante Mack has been very active in the Henderson offense having a GAC best 17 receptions for a total of 132 yards. The senior from Lufkin, Texas had a game-high 10 receptions for 84 yards against ECU including a 54-yard score. The Henderson ground game is averaging 101 yards per game with Jaquan Cole leading the Reddies averaging 78.0 yards per game.Linebacker Josh Davis leads the Reddie defense with 17 tackles including a game-best 12 tackles last week against East Central. Lawson Schulz had a career-high 13 tackles in the season opener against Southeastern Oklahoma and has a total of 14 stops on the year. Donovan McLeod has also had some big plays at linebacker. McLeod has totaled 12 tackles with three quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery returned 71 yards.Northwestern Oklahoma and Henderson State meet for the fourth time in a series which began in 2002. The Reddies lead the series at 2-1 after last year's 63-14 win at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium. Last year, Henderson State racked up 619 yards of offense as the Reddies rolled to a 63-14 win over NWOSU. Kevin Rodgers ended the game completing 25-of-33 passes for 296 yards and four touchdown tosses, with Dallas Hardison coming off the bench to complete 13-of-19 passes for 118 yards and two scores. Hardison connected with JaVante Mack for touchdown passes of 21 and 18 yards. Darius Davis led all receivers with seven catches for 115 yards. Verrick Ponder went over the 100-yard mark for the first time in his career having 102 yards on 12 attempts, while Rodney Bryson finished the game with 80 yards on 14 carries.
Henderson State will have to protect the football as the Reddies have committed seven turnovers in the first two weeks of the season while forcing four miscues. The Reddies are tied for 9th in turnover margin with Southern Arkansas at minus-3. Only Arkansas-Monticello and Southern Nazarene rank below the Reddies at minus-5 turnovers.
