COMPLETE GAME NOTES
Henderson State will attempt to rebound from its first loss of the season as the Reddies play host to Arkansas-Monticello, Saturday at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium/Ruggles Field with kickoff slated for 2 p.m.
Henderson State Athletics will pay tribute to the Armed Forces as it hosts Military Appreciation Day. All active and retired military personnel and their immediate family members will be admitted to the game free of charge.
At halftime, members of the Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps from across the state of Arkansas will march across the field in honor of the brave men and women who have served this great nation as a member of the United States Military.
The Reddies suffered its worst loss since joining the Great American Conference last week losing to Harding 35-3. Arkansas-Monticello lost on the road to Southern Nazarene last weekend 31-17.
Henderson State committed six turnovers in the loss to Harding. It was the most turnovers by a Reddies team since October 29, 2011 when HSU had six miscues against South Alabama in a 28-3 setback.
Evan Lassiter entered the game in the second half at quarterback for Henderson and completed 17-of-27 passes for 163 yards. The senior from Coral Springs, Fla. has completed 52-of-78 passes for 570 yards this season and has recorded four touchdown tosses.
Andrew Black had a tough outing in his first game back in two weeks completing 9-of-18 passes for 72 yards, but threw three picks. For the season, Black has completed 72-of-114 passes for 870 yards and three scores.
The ground game was limited to 73 yards last week against Harding. Black totaled 28 yards rushing while
Jeremy Wilson was limited to a season-low 27 yards. Wilson leads Henderson's ground game averaging 66.0 yards per game including six touchdowns.
Jaquan Cole was also held in check with just 16 yards last week. Cole has totaled 270 yards on 56 attempts this season and has scored a pair of touchdowns.
Courtney Whitehead continues to lead the Reddie receivers with 30 catches for 456 yards. Whitehead caught four passes for 58 yards last week against Harding.
Austin Bennett has 16 receptions for 176 yards, while
Jacoby Lewis has 21 catches for 155 yards.
Henderson's defense limited Harding to a season-low 214 yards rushing and just 295 yards of total offense despite the loss.
The defense allows just 322.5 yards per game which ranks third in the GAC while surrendering 18.8 points per contest which is second in the league.
Cameron Sonnier leads the Reddies defensively and ranks eighth in the league with 51 tackles including a league-best 7.0 tackles for lost yardage. Sonnier compiled 13 tackles against the Bisons last week.
Gary Vines follows with 42 stops after having eight stops last week.
Sam Johnson leads the league in sacks with five while having a total of 23 tackles on the season.
Arkansas-Monticello enters the game with a 2-4 record overall after last week's setback to Southern Nazarene.
The Weevils average 388.8 yards of offense per game including 254.0 yards passing which ranks fifth in the GAC.
Cole Sears is UAM's quarterback and has completed 111-of-214 passes for 1429 yards and 12 touchdowns. The sophomore from Hokie, Ark. completed 33-of-55 passes for 533 yards in the season opener against Northwestern Oklahoma.
Imani Riley leads the UAM ground game having rushed for 453 yards on 100 attempts. Riley had a season best 153 yards against Oklahoma Baptist and also rushed for 140 yards against Arkansas Tech.
Jeremy Jackson follows with 193 yards on 58 attempts and 3 scores.
Jalen Tolliver is UAM's primary receiver with 44 receptions for 698 yards.
The junior from Rayville, La. leads the GAC in several statistical categories including receiving yards per game (116.3), receptions per game (7.3), and total receiving touchdowns (9).
Nathan Crouch is also a threat having 20 catches for 296 yards.
Defensively, the Weevils allow 447.0 yards and 40.0 points per game.
Stacey Warren leads the squad with 38 tackles including 5.5 stops for lost yardage. Christian Jefferson follows with 28 stops and an interception while Lloyd Robinson has 27 tackles with one pick.
Arkansas-Monticello and Henderson State meet for the 79th time in a series which dates back to 1914. The Reddies lead the series 46-30-2.
Henderson has won the last six meetings and nine of the last 10. The Reddies are 4-0 against UAM in GAC games and have outscored the Weevils 198 to 31 in those contests.
Coach
Scott Maxfield is 9-1 all-time against UAM with the lone loss being a 51-48 setback in 2008.
Henderson State used an explosive second half to beat UAM 41-3.
The Reddies used another balanced offensive attack coupled with a suburb defensive performance as Henderson totaled 420 yards of offensive. Meanwhile, the defense stone-walled the UAM offense as the Boll Weevils managed just 254 yards on offense.
The Reddies got on the board first as
Jaquan Cole broke free for an 80-yard run on the first play of Henderson's second offensive possession.
Henderson increased its lead to 14-0 at the 9:31 mark in the second quarter as
Ryan McDonald plunged in from three yards.
UAM's only score of the game came with 1:29 left in the opening half as Jamie McGee hit a 30-yard field goal.
The second-half was dominated by the Reddies as Henderson outscored the Boll Weevils 27-0 including scoring 24 points in the fourth quarter.
Houston Ray connected on field goals of 38 and 44 yards, to start the scoring in the final 30 minutes.
The Reddies then scored three touchdowns in the final 6:52 as
Rodney Bryson scored on an eight-yard run following Cole gaining 34 yards on three carries and a 23-yard pass reception by
JaVante Mack from
Dallas Hardison.
The Henderson defense set up the next score as
Cameron Sonnier picked off a Hunter Leppert pass and returned it 39 yards down to the UAM 4.
Calen Peters would later score on a 1-yard run to make the score 34-3.
Henderson's final score came with 2:24 remaining as
Andrew Black threw his first touchdown pass of the season with Peters on the receiving end of the 25-yard scoring toss.
UAM's last chance of getting into the end zone fell short as
Jonathan Edouard picked off Leppert on the final play of the game.
Cole ended the day with 157 yards on 16 carries to lead the Reddie ground game.
Those unable to attend Saturday's contest can follow the action courtesy of the Henderson State Sports Network with 106.9 FM KYXK in Arkadelphia being the flagship station.
In addition, affiliates 99.7 FM in Hot Springs, 93.3 FM and 690 AM in Benton, Ark., and 920 AM The Sports Animal in Little Rock will also carry the game. The Henderson State Sports Network will be also available on-line at hsusports.com.
The broadcast team of Phil Elson, RJ Hawk and Kevin Rodgers will call all the action of Reddies football with the Domino's Pregame Show set for 1 p.m.
Live stats and live video will also be available on-line at www.hsusports.com.
GAME DAY LINKS:
Live Stats –
Click Here
Live Video –
Click Here
Live Audio –
Click Here
NOTES
• In the last 10 years, Henderson has outscored Arkansas-Monticello 439 (43.9 ppg) to 146 (14.6 ppg.). UAM has scored 20 or more points just three times including the Weevils' lone win against a Maxfield team in 2008, 51-48. The Reddies committed seven turnovers in that game.
• Henderson recorded shutout wins in 2010 and 2012.
• Henderson State needs just one more victory to record its seventh straight winning season under Coach
Scott Maxfield. No other coach in Reddie history has recorded seven consecutive winning seasons.
• Henderson has played 50 Great American Conference games and the Reddies have a 27-1 record when committing fewer turnovers than their opponents. The lone loss was a 16-13 setback in Henderson's second-ever GAC game in 2011. The Reddies have won 26 straight GAC contests when having less turnovers than the opposition.
• Henderson State's defense has totaled 44 tackles for lost yardage which leads the GAC with Southeastern Oklahoma having 43 TFLs. The Reddies also lead the league is quarterback sack with 17.
