After a thrilling season-opening win against 15^th-ranked Harding last week, No. 23 Henderson State will battle another in-state foe as Arkansas Tech comes to Arkadelphia for the Reddies' home opener on Saturday with kickoff slated for 6 p.m.
 
The game will mark the beginning of the 50^th season at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium/Ruggles Field. Constructed in 1968, Henderson State has a 31-17-1 record in home openers at CHS/RF.
 
Arkansas Tech and Henderson State meet for the 93rd time in a series that dates back to 1920. The Reddies lead the all-time series at 44-43-5 following HSU's 27-20 win last season in Russellville. HSU has won the last six meetings and seven of the last eight games against the Wonder Boys.
 
Quarterback Andrew Black led the Reddies last week having a solid game against the Bisons completing 18-of-30 passes for 246 yards and two touchdowns. The junior from Tyler, Texas also totaled 28 yards rushing including a 1-yard plunge for a touchdown.
 
Black has 2455 career passing yards and has completed 188-of-302 passes for 62 percent including 17 touchdown tosses.
 
Ben Johnson was Black's favorite target in the opener as Johnson hauled in seven passes for 80 yards, all in the first half. Johnson increased his career total to 545 yards to go along with four career touchdowns.
 
A trio of freshmen handled the duties at running back as Cecil Langston totaled 30 yards on six attempts, Blake Faulk carried the ball 9 times for 23 yards, and Cobra Jones providing the longest run from scrimmage going 22 yards on his first collegiate attempt.
 
Henderson's defense limited Harding to 347 yards of offense with Malik Brown and Cameron Sonnier leading the charge with 11 tackles each.
Defensive back Sheldon Watson had five tackles and two interceptions including the game-saving pick with 21 seconds left in the game to earn GAC Defensive Player of the Week honors. The junior from Palestine, Texas has seven career interceptions during his three years at Henderson.

Arkansas Tech also took down a nationally-ranked opponent in the season opener as the Wonder Boys beat preseason GAC favorite and 22^nd-ranked Southern Arkansas 28-21. ATU took advantage of three turnovers and benefitted from 15 Southern Arkansas penalties to upend the Muleriders.
 
On the offensive side of the football, Ty Reasnor returns under center for the Wonder Boys. The senior suffered a season-ending injury in ATU's trip to Southern Arkansas last season.
Last week against SAU, the Cashion, Okla. native completed 13-of-23 passes for 220 yards and three touchdowns including a 59-yard strike to Drew Wade. Reasnor also rushed for the game-winning score as he broke free for a 10-yard jaunt with just 2:54 to play in the game.

ATU returns an offensive that features one of the top rushing units in all of Division II.

Bryan Allen ended 2016 with a team-high 584 rushing yards (73.0 yards per game) and 5 rushing touchdown, while Brayden Stringer was a 2016 All-GAC Honorable Mention selection after carrying the ball 91 times for 474 yards.

Justin Bailey is also a threat in the backfield. The sophomore from Mayflower, Ark. totaled 422 rushing yards while also catching six passes for 228 yards a year ago.

Jakcob Dean led the receiving corps last week against SAU with five receptions for 63 yards.

The Reddies will also have to keep an eye on Alabama A&M transfer Tevin McKenzie who racked up 50 receptions for 539 yards and a touchdown in his last season with the Bulldogs.
Defensively, the Wonder Boys return three key players in Cua' Rose, along with linebackers Seth Culp and KJ Reid.

Cua' Rose has established himself as one of the most fearsome secondary defenders in the GAC. A Second-Team All-GAC selection, the junior from McGehee, Ark. was third on team with 65 tackles. Rose totaled 9 tackles last week against SAU while forcing a fumble along with a pair of pass breakups and an interception with 2:36 left in the game.

Culp totaled 95 tackles a year ago including collecting 10 or more tackles in five games. The senior from Temple, Texas led ATU last week with 14 stops.
Reid collected 39 tackles including 21 solo stops in 2016. The junior from Texarkana, Ark. recorded nine tackles in the season opener.

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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