SHAWNEE, Okla. — Oklahoma Baptist scored with 10 seconds remaining in the fourth quarter, but its fake extra point try for the two-point conversion failed, as Henderson State held on for a 14-13 victory Saturday afternoon in Shawnee, Oklahoma. The win extends HSU's NCAA DII-record road winning streak to 29 games.
KEY PLAYS:
- The two teams traded punts to begin the game, but on its second possession, OKBU got on the board with a 14-yard touchdown pass from Preston Haire to Stephan Turner, giving the Bison a 7-0 lead just five minutes into the game.
- Trailing 7-0 after a quarter of play, Henderson looked like it would answer early in the second. After taking over at their own 10-yard line, the Reddies put together a big drive, taking the ball all the way down to the Bison 2-yard line. However, a delay of game on first-and-goal moved the Reddies back to the seven, and on the next play,
Andrew Black's fade pass intended for
A.J. Smith was picked off in the end zone by OKBU's KeLandus Culton, giving the Bison the ball back and squashing HSU's momentum.
- Henderson's defense stood strong after the turnover in the end zone, getting the ball back for the offense at the HSU 39-yard line. Again the Reddies drove down the field, this time going 53 yards in 14 plays to get the ball down to the OKBU 18. But once again Henderson could not come up with points, as
Julio Cervantes missed a 35-yard field goal wide right to keep the score 7-0 heading into the halftime break.
- On the opening drive of the second half, the Reddies did what they were unable to do in the first 30 minutes: finish a drive with points. Henderson marched 64 yards in 11 plays and got a 1-yard touchdown run from Black, tying the game 7-7 early in the third quarter.
Evan Lassiter was 4-for-4 on the drive, with three completions going to
Fernando Van Hook.
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Blake Faulk ignited the Reddies' second possession of the third quarter, taking a carry on the first play 40 yards up to the HSU 47. The run put Faulk over 100 yards rushing for the day. After a pass interference penalty on the Bison moments later, Black punched in his second rushing score of the day, and eighth of the year, from two yards out to cap off an 11-play, 87 yard drive, and give the Reddies a 14-7 lead with 2:53 left in the third quarter.
- On the ensuing possession for OKBU, the Bison went on a massive drive that took 18 plays and went 73 yards, all the way down to the Reddies' 10-yard line. At that point the HSU defense did it's job, coming up with negative plays on first and second down, followed by an incompletion on third, to force a 33-yard Bison field goal attempt. The kick sailed wide right and Henderson took over with 9:58 to go in the game.
- OKBU got the ball back for one last drive on its own 20-yard line with 2:48 to play after the Reddies' second missed field goal of the day, and the Bison took advantage of their final opportunity, driving down to the HSU 8 with just 18 seconds to play. On 3rd-and-4 from the 8-yard line, pass interference was called on Reddies' defensive back Bryon Miller in the end zone, giving the Bison 1st-and-goal at the HSU 1. After an incompletion, Haire connected with Alex Lewis to cut the HSU lead to 14-13 with 10 seconds left in the game. However, on the point after attempt, the Bison went for the win and tried a bit of trickery, as their holder flipped the ball over his head to the kicker who ran behind him. The flip pass was a poor one and the kicker, Trey Tully, never had a chance, as Henderson recovered the ball, and the ensuing onside kick, to win the game, 14-13.
KEY STATS:
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Blake Faulk led Henderson with a career-high 146 yards rushing on 13 carries. Faulk's 146 yards was the most rushing yards by a Reddie in a single game this season.
Fernando Van Hook led HSU with seven receptions for 33 yards.
Andrew Black scored twice on the ground for Henderson on the day, giving him eight rushing scores on the year.
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Evan Lassiter was 28-for-42 passing for 183 yards on the day. Ten different players caught passes from Lassiter on the afternoon.
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Sheldon Watson led HSU defensively with nine tackles and a half-sack that he shared with
Brandon Quinterro.
- As a team, Henderson out-gained OKBU 395 yards to 333 and racked up 212 rushing yards to the Bison's 66.
- The win moves the Reddies to 3-3 on the season and extends the nation's longest road-winning streak at any level to an NCAA DII-record 29 games. Henderson has never lost a Great American Conference road game.
UP NEXT:
HSU is on the road in Oklahoma again next weekend, as they travel to Durant, Oklahoma to face first-place Southeastern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m.
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