Henderson State's quest for a fourth Great American Conference football title begins Thursday as the Reddies play host to Southeastern Oklahoma with kickoff set for 7 p.m. at Carpenter-Haywood Stadium.

Coach Scott Maxfield begins his 12th season as head coach of the Reddies and has compiled an 80-40 record, second only to HSU legend Sporty Carpenter. Maxfield will aim to tie Carpenter's record of five conference championships (1973, 74, 75, 77 and 85). Henderson has won conference titles in 2010, 12, 13 and 15 under Maxfield.       

Since the inception of the Great American Conference in 2011, Henderson State has compiled the best conference and overall record in the league, posting a 47-10 mark overall and a 40-4 record in GAC play.     
           
Coming off it's third GAC football title in four years, Henderson State is ranked No. 9 in the AFCA Preseason Division II Top 25.       

The Reddies finished 2015 with an 11-2 record and posted their first NCAA playoff win in school history.          

Henderson State returns 15 starters and 51 lettermen from last year's team including GAC Offensive Player of the Year Jaquan Cole.       

Cole rushed for 1198 yards in 12 games, averaging 99 yards per contest. The senior from Duncanville, Texas rushed for a HSU record 245 yards on 27 carries against Arkansas Tech.  

In addition to Cole, six additional all-conference players return including first-team center Cory Stitle. Defensively, two-time first-team All-GAC selection and All-American outside linebacker Josh Davis returns for his senior year. Davis is Henderson's top returning defender having 103 tackles along with a team-best 15 tackles for lost yardage in 2015. The product from El Dorado, Ark. also had seven pass break-ups and eight quarterback hurries.     

First-Team defensive back Gary Vines also returns after having 76 stops with four interceptions to his credit.      
 
Andrew Black will be the Reddies quarterback to begin the season. The sophomore from Tyler, Texas played in 10 games and completed 25 of 49 passes for 209 yards a year ago.
 
Black also rushed for 155 yards and scored two rushing touchdowns including a 10-yard winning score against Harding.

Henderson returns one of the best kickers in the region in Houston Ray.
A first-team All-GAC pick, Ray was one of nine NCAA Division II kickers on the Fred Mitchell Award watch this year. The junior from Owensboro, Ky. led the team in scoring with 87 points, hitting 16 of 21 field goals and 39 of 42 PAT's in 2015. A 3-time GAC Player of the Week selection, Ray ranked fourth in Division II in field goals per game.         

Also returning are All-GAC selections return specialist Darion Gray and corner back Tavares Garner.          

Gray ended the year with 197 yards in punt returns while Garner finished the year with 48 tackles and a team best four interceptions.
 
The Savage Storm return 20 starters from a team that finished 6-5 in 2015, including a pair of all-conference honorees on the defensive side of the ball in Nicolas Sierra and Raheem Wilson.

Sierra, a linebacker from San Antonio, Texas, was third on the team in tackles with 49 while matching the team-best with 7.0 tackles for loss.  Those included a pair of sacks, two pass breakups, two fumble recoveries, and a forced fumble.          

Wilson, a corner back from DeSoto, Texas is coming off a season in which he was third in the GAC in passes defense, averaging 1.36 per game. He was also tied for second in interceptions with five and was one of just two players to post two interception returns for touchdowns.  Wilson finished the season with 39 tackles, one for a loss and also added a blocked kick.  His five picks brings him to 13 in his career which is three short of the school record of 16 held by Greg Lornes and Andrew Knight.          

SOSU was ranked in the top half of the league in both scoring offense and scoring defense last season, while its defense led the GAC in pass defense and was third in total defense.  The offense was fifth overall in yardage and ranked in the top half of the league in both rushing and passing, one of just two teams to show that kind of offensive balance.       

The Storm returns eight of 11 starters on offense, including the entire offensive line, but will have a new quarterback under center in CB Cantrell. Cantrell had a solid spring game completing 10-of-16 passes for 103 yards.

SOSU is loaded at the running back position with Ronnie Green and Devlon Wortham providing the bulk of the yardage.     
Green led SOSU in rushing going for 772 yards on 163 carries while scoring 10 touchdowns in 2015. Wortham followed with 361 yards on 86 attempts and six scores.      

Kaymon Farmer is the top returning receiver with 61 receptions for 544 yards and six touchdowns a year ago.   

The Reddies lead the all-time series with a 20-6 advantage including a 23-16 win last year in Durant, Okla. Henderson State has won the last six games over the Storm. Henderson State owned the series from 1968 to 1979 winning nine straight before Southeastern ended the streak with a 32-14 win in 1980.  
 
Henderson played its first football game on Thanksgiving Day, Nov. 28, 1895 against Ouachita Baptist. Since that first game, the Reddies football program has compiled 498 wins.
 
Henderson's all-time record is 498-440-42 which ranks second in total wins among GAC playing institutions and fourth among all Arkansas collegiate football programs. Arkansas Tech leads GAC teams with 549 wins, while the University of Arkansas has won 700 games to be tops in the state.
 
Fans unable to attend Thursday's game can follow the game 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 1090 AM KAAY 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 6 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