MONTICELLO, Ark. — A gutsy effort from its defense and a spectacular afternoon from L'liott Curry won the day for No. 23 Henderson State on Saturday, as the Reddies fought past Arkansas-Monticello 27-20 to keep their Great American Conference title hopes alive.
Curry proved to be the difference for Henderson (8-1) in the win, as he snagged 10 passes for a career-high 184 yards and two touchdowns. The Reddies' defense was equally impressive and stood tall all game despite playing 77 snaps and being on the field for over 37 minutes.
UAM made life difficult for HSU for the majority of the contest on Saturday. Two bigs plays — a 51-yard touchdown catch from Doug Johnson and a 79-yard score from Curry — secured a 13-10 lead for Henderson at the break, but the Weevils defense held the Reddies to just 10 rushing yards in the half while their offense held the ball for over 21 minutes.
A defensive stand in the red zone and a field goal from UAM at the 3:50 mark of the third quarter tied the game at 13-13, but Curry provided a breakthrough for Henderson moments later, when he shed two tacklers and cruised into the end zone from 41-yards out to put the Reddies back in front 20-13.
Protecting a seven-point lead with a quarter left to play, the Reddie defense rose to the occasion and twice stopped the Weevils on drives that could have tied the game, the latter of which ended on a fourth down stop from Josh Puryear at HSU's 38-yard line with just under six minutes to go.
Despite struggling to run the ball all day, the offense delivered what proved to be the knockout blow with 3:13 remaining when Logan Moragne broke free for the Reddies' longest rush of the day and rumbled for a touchdown from 46 yards out. The play accounted for nearly half of HSU's rushing yards in the game. The two-touchdown cushion was just enough, as Henderson withstood a late UAM score and onside kick to escape with its eighth win of the season.
The Reddies had the ball for just 22 minutes in the victory and ran 56 plays to 77 for UAM. Richard Stammetti finished 16-of-30 through the air for 278 yards and three scores, while Moragne carried the ball 12 times for 81 yards and scored a touchdown for the eighth-consecutive week.
Defensively multiple players had career afternoons. Jake Chatman led Henderson with a career-best 15 tackles — the most for a Reddie this season — while Colby Turner had 13 stops and Antonio Franklin turned in 11. HSU's defense held the Weevils to 222 yards rushing on a whopping 61 attempts; an average of just 3.6 yards per carry.
The win improves Henderson to 8-1 on the year, which matches its best start since 2015 when the Reddies won their last GAC title. HSU has now won five-straight games dating back to Sept. 28.
Henderson will look to notch a perfect season at home next Saturday, Nov. 9, when it welcomes Southern Arkansas (7-2) to Carpenter-Haygood Stadium and Ruggles Field for Senior Day at 2 p.m.
