Henderson State Athletics will pay tribute to the Armed Forces as it hosts Military Appreciation Day on Saturday as the Reddies take on Northwestern Oklahoma with kickoff slated for 6 p.m. at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium/Ruggles Field.

All active and retired military personnel and their immediate family members will be admitted to the game free of charge with the presentation of a valid Military Identification Card. The Reddies Football coaching staff will also honor those who serve and have served our country by wearing military camouflage hats during the game.

A limited supply of these camouflage hats will be on sale for $20 at the game located at the Reddie Bookstore tent at the north end of the stadium, with a portion of the proceeds going to the Henderson ROTC program.

Northwestern Oklahoma brings to Arkadelphia another explosive offensive team that has lost its first two games by a combined total of five points. It will be the Rangers' second trip to Arkadelphia in three weeks as they lost the season opener to Ouachita Baptist 31-28 on August 30.
 
The Rangers have put up some solid numbers offensively averaging 428 yards and 31.5 points per contest.

Isiah Weed will be under center for the Rangers. The junior from Seattle, Wash. has completed 35-of-53 passes for 448 yards and four touchdown strikes. Weed is also a threat to run the football having racked up 71 yards on 19 attempts while scoring three times.

Da'Shawn Gordon has been Weed's favorite target in the first two games. The senior from Long Beach, Calif. has totaled 14 receptions for 223 yards including 4 catches for 130 yards last week against the Weevils.

Another receiver to watch is Horatio Smith who was a Second-Team All-GAC selection a year ago after recording 48 catches for 781 receiving yards. The junior from Amarillo, Texas led the league in all-purpose yards in 2016 with 1,495. Last year against the Reddies he logged a total of 206 all-purpose yards that included 84 receiving yards and 122 kickoff return yards.

Anthony Cota and Jacob Peyton handle the Ranger ground game. Cota averages 61 yards per contest having a season total of 123 yards on 18 carries. Peyton racked up 746 yards on the ground a year ago. The sophomore from Perkins, Okla. has 23 carries for 112 yards.

Defensively the Rangers have surrendered 469 yards and 34 points per game to begin the season.

Maurice Wright Jr. had a breakout freshman season as a defensive back a year ago, racking up 108 total tackles, third in the GAC. Wright moves over to outside linebacker this year. The sophomore from Luther, Okla. has 23 tackles including three stops for last yardage in the first two games of 2017.

Middle linebacker Devin Peyton leads the team with 27 stops including an astounding 18 tackles against Arkansas-Monticello last week. 

Henderson lost its home opener for the second time in three years as the Reddies fell to Arkansas Tech 26-3. In 2015, the Reddies lost their home opener to East Central 35-28 but went on to win the GAC title and advance to the second round of the NCAA playoffs.
 
The Reddies totaled just 254 yards of offense last week against the Wonder Boys, the lowest total since gaining just 139 yards against Emporia State in the 2015 NCAA playoffs. It was also the lowest total in a GAC game since 2011 when Henderson lost to Southwestern Oklahoma 16-13. Henderson's offense has averaged 327.5 yards in the first two games.      

Andrew Black and Evan Lassiter shared the quarterback duties last week with the two combining for 161 yards passing completing 19-of-37 attempts. Black threw for 85 yards while Lassiter totaled 76 yards.
 
Nicolas Hernandez led the Reddie receivers with six catches for 47 yards, while John Murray totaled 25 yards on three receptions.
 
Ben Johnson continues to lead the Reddie receivers with 8 catches for 104 yards this year.
 
The freshmen trio of running backs which includes Cobra Jones, Blake Faulk and Cecil Langston combined for 106 yards on 20 carries. Jones led the way with 55 yards last week and has totaled 77 yards for the season, while Faulk has collected 53 yards on 16 attempts this season including 7 carries for 30 yards a week ago. Langston has ran the ball 10 times for 51 yards.
 
Henderson's defense leads the GAC in pass defense allowing just 118 yards per game, and ranks fifth in total defense allowing 367.5 yards per contest.

Cameron Sonnier leads the Reddie defense with 21 tackles. The junior from Webster, Texas has led the Henderson the last two weeks with 10 stops against Arkansas Tech and 11 in the season opener against Harding.

Defensive back Sheldon Watson, who was GAC Defensive Player of the Week in week one against Harding, has 17 tackles this season along with two interceptions and three passes defended.

Defensive tackle Devante Charles has 14 stops this season including 8 last week against the Wonder Boys.

In honor of Military Appreciation Day, Command Sergeant Major Roderick D. Hodo will conduct the ceremonial coin toss prior to kickoff. Command Sergeant Major Roderick D. Hodo is a native of Manchester, Georgia. He joined the US Army as a 13B Field Artillerymen in 1987.

Henderson State University Alumni will once again coordinate a tailgate meal provided by Sodexo for $10 per plate. This week's menu will include Italian beef on French roll, macaroni & cheese, corn on the cob, chips, cream cheese brownies, sweet tea, lemonade, & water.

The tailgate will be set up at the red alumni tent behind the Duke Wells Center and adjacent to the Formby Athletic Center from 3:30 p.m - 5:30 p.m.

Bouncy houses and inflatables will also be available from 3:30 - 5:30 p.m. for kids, and will be located in the east lot of the Duke Wells Center.

Fans unable to attend Saturday's home opener 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 KWPS which covers Hot Springs, as well as 100.9 KDEL in Arkadelphia and KZYP 1310 AM and 104.1 FM in Malvern. The game can also be heard on 920 AM, The Sports Animal in Little Rock.

The Henderson State Sports Network will also be available on-line at hsusports.com.   

The broadcast team of Phil Elson, RJ Hawk and Cyrus Wittig will call all the action of Reddies football with the Domino's Pregame Show set for 5 p.m.

Live stats and live video will also be available on-line at www.hsusports.com.


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