ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State used a big second quarter and another terrific display of passing to cruise past Southern Nazarene 34-6 in its home opener on Saturday night.
Richard Stammetti turned in another strong showing under center and finished 34-of-44 for 396 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. L'liott Curry topped 100 yards receiving for the second-straight week with 12 catches for 103 yards and two scores, while Chase Lodree went for 113 yards on five receptions. Doug Johnson nearly made it three Reddies with over 100 yards receiving with a career-high 96 yards on seven grabs.
In what was a 6-6 game after one quarter thanks to a missed extra point by SNU and a failed 2-point conversion from HSU, Henderson took control with an offensive explosion in the second 15-minute period. The Reddies out-scored SNU 21-0 and all three drives in the quarter resulted in touchdowns.
Querale Hall put the Reddies in front 13-6 on his first touchdown of the year from three yards out, and on the next possession it was Curry who walked into the end zone for his fifth score of the season to make it 20-6. Henderson's last trip to the end zone before the half came with 1:21 to go until the break when Stammetti found Preston Jefferis for a 33-yard touchdown; Jefferis' second in as many games.
Henderson carried its comfortable 27-6 lead through a scoreless third quarter and into the fourth, before Darius Austin tacked on a late 3-yard touchdown run for the exclamation point. It was his first career touchdown.
The Reddies' defense proved dominant in the win and held the Crimson Storm to just 12 first downs and 260 yards of total offense. HSU had seven tackles for loss on the night, two of which came from Denzel Walter. CJ Jones and Colby Turner each had a team-high six tackles, while Antoine Roshell came up with Henderson's first sack of the year in the fourth quarter.
Offensively, the Reddies nearly doubled SNU up in total yards, 516-260. With the win, Henderson moves to 2-0 for the first time since the 2016 season when they opened 5-0.
HSU (2-0) returns to Carpenter-Haygood Stadium and Ruggles Field next Saturday, Sept. 21, when it hosts Arkansas Tech at 6 p.m.
