Henderson State at Oklahoma Baptist
Crain Stadium at Hurt Complex | Shawnee, Oklahoma | 6 p.m.
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ARKADELPHIA, Ark. — Henderson State opens the 2019 football season on Saturday evening in Shawnee, Oklahoma, when the Reddies take on Oklahoma Baptist at 6 p.m.

SETTING THE SCENE
- The Reddies have never lost to Oklahoma Baptist since the Bison joined the Great American Conference in 2014. However, their last trip to Shawnee was perilous down to the final seconds, as Henderson held on for a 14-13 win after the Bison botched a potential game-winning two-point conversion attempt. Saturday night is the first home game "under the lights" in Oklahoma Baptist history, as the Bison had lights installed at their stadium for the first time this summer.

- Scott Maxfield, who enters his 15th season at the helm of the program in Arkadelphia, can notch win No. 100 of his career at Henderson State with a victory on Saturday night. 100 career wins would put Maxfield in rare company, as he would join Henderson legend Sporty Carpenter (119 wins) as the only two coaches in program history to come out victorious in 100 contests at the school. The Reddies are 9-5 under coach Maxfield in season openers.

REDDIES REPORT
- Henderson brings back a great deal of firepower on offense as it enters the 2019 campaign. The Reddies return starting quarterback Richard Stammetti, their top two running backs in Logan Moragne and Querale Hall, wide receivers Chase Lodree and Doug Johnson, as well as three starters on the offensive line. Stammetti, Moragne, Hall and Lodree were all first-year starters last season.

- Stammetti proved capable in his first year under center in 2018 and looks to make a jump in his final season of eligibility. The senior from Las Vegas, Nevada, completed 53% of his passes for 2459 yards, 18 touchdowns and 11 interceptions in year one behind a line that featured four new starters and allowed 27 sacks. He threw for over 300 yards in four different contests and directed the fourth-best passing offense in the GAC (236.2 yards per game).

- Moragne, who was an Honorable Mention All-GAC selection, and Hall, who came on strong at the midway point of the 2018 season, proved to be a solid one-two punch in the backfield for the Reddies. Moragne finished the year with 707 rushing yards and five scores, while Hall added 482 yards on the ground, five rushing touchdowns, and two scores through the air.

- Lodree and Johnson provide a one-two punch in the receiving corps as both had solid campaigns as first year starters in 2018. Lodree finished with 34 receptions for 42 yards and five scores, while Johnson posted 18 catches for 191 yards and two touchdowns. Impact newcomer L'Liott Curry will also add another big target in the passing game after transferring from Central Oklahoma and impressing in fall camp. 

- Defensively, Henderson will look to senior end Robert Thomas to lead a somewhat new-looking unit. Thomas was an Honorable Mention All-GAC selection in 2018 after recording 38 tackles, 5.5 for loss and 2.5 sacks. Joining him up front will be senior tackle Jaquez Neilson and redshirt freshman Denzel Walter of El Dorado High School. Neilson had 16 stops and a half-tackle for loss in his first season on campus last year.

- At linebacker, sophomore Jake Chatman and junior Colby  Turner will man a group that has to cope with the losses of Cameron Sonnier, Logan Edwards and Cam Schulz, who combined for 166 tackles and 23.5 tackles for loss in 2018. Chatman had a strong campaign in his own right last season and finished with 26 tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss and three interceptions. Senior Mercardo Anderson of Ashdown High School, who is the leading returning tackler on the roster, will look to aid the linebacking corps from his nickelback position, where he had 55 tackles and 8.5 tackles for loss as a junior. 

- The secondary will be captained by senior cornerback CJ Jones, who had 42 stops and 10 pass break-ups last season, as well as junior safety Antonio Franklin, who will step into a larger role after making 13 tackles and appearing in all 11 games in 2018. Redshirt freshman Dedric O'Bryant will man the other corner slot for Henderson, while fellow redshirt freshman Patrick Jones oversees the free safety slot.

- The kicking game is on solid footing for the Reddies with sophomore Temo Martinez of Dardanelle High School returning for his second season. Martinez earned Honorable Mention All-GAC honors as a true freshman after converting on 10-of-16 field goal attempts and 34-of-35 extra points. Freshman Tristan Heaton will step into the punting role after impressing in fall camp.

- Henderson threw the ball more than any team in the GAC in 2018 outside of OKBU (426 attempts) and was second-to-last in the league in rushing attempts (353). Despite this, HSU averaged 4.2 yards per carry, the third-best mark in the conference.

- The Reddies have lost just one GAC road game in the state of Oklahoma since the formation of the conference in 2011, which came last season at Northwestern Oklahoma State. Henderson State is 18-1 all-time in Oklahoma GAC contests.

SCOUTING OKLAHOMA BAPTIST
- Oklahoma Baptist is coming off of a 5-6 campaign in 2018 where the Bison defeated every Oklahoma school in the conference and lost to every Arkansas institution. After starting the year 2-0, the Bison dropped six-straight contests before rebounding to win their final three games. OKBU's five wins last season were by a combined 28 points with every victory coming by one score or less.

- The Bison return several key performers, beginning with junior quarterback Preston Haire, who led the GAC with 28 passing touchdowns in 2018 and was second in the league with 3044 passing yards. Also returning is sophomore running back Tyler Stuever, who ran for 549 yards and six scores as a true freshman, as well as running back Isaiah Mallory, who sat for all of 2018 but ran for 723 yards two seasons ago. On defense, OKBU brings back its top two tacklers in junior linebacker Josh Arnold and sophomore safety Felipe Alvear. The pair combined for 185 tackles last season and seven tackles for loss.

- OKBU orchestrates the most prominent "air-raid" offense in the GAC. The Bison threw the ball a league-most 506 times last season and averaged 276.5 yards through the air per game. Haire, despite racking up big numbers, also put the ball in danger often in 2018 and finished with a GAC-leading 22 interceptions to go with his 28 touchdown passes. Three of those interceptions came in a 56-21 loss to the Reddies.

- Despite a couple of close calls, the Bison have never beaten Henderson through four contests between the two schools. Wins in Shawnee, Oklahoma, have been difficult to come by for the Reddies, however. HSU's 2015 GAC Championship team held off OKBU 22-14 on the road and the 2017 team defeated the Bison 14-13. Henderson has yet to score a first-half point in two previous trips to Shawnee.

LAST YEAR'S MEETING
- It was all Reddies from the get-go at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium and Ruggles Field, as freshman Shane Sanders came up with a pick-six in the opening seconds which opened the floodgates on a 56-21 victory for Henderson State. HSU out-scored OKBU 28-0 in the second quarter.

- Henderson rushed for a season-high 383 yards in the win, which was the most rushing yards in a game for the program since 2004. Moragne finished with 167 yards on the ground and a touchdown, while Hall rushed for 173 yards and two scores. It was the first time since 2011 that two different Reddies rushed for over 100 yards in the same game, and the first time since 2015 that HSU had rushed for more than 300 yards as a team. The Reddies' offensive output of 599 yards was their highest since 2016.

- Stammetti out-dueled Preston Haire in the win for Henderson, completing 17-of-29 passes for 206 yards and three scores, while Haire was just 16-of-45 for 217 yards, two touchdowns and was picked off three times by the Reddies' defense. Oklahoma Baptist gained just 87 yards on the ground in the game on 27 total rushing attempts.

HOW TO LISTEN
- The game will be broadcast and available by the Henderson State Sports Network on KDEL 100.9 FM and KVRC 1240 AM in Arkadelphia, KWPS 99.7 FM in Hot Springs, KYXK 106.7 in Gurdon, KZYP 104.1 FM/1310 AM in Malvern, and on KAFN 99.3 FM/690 AM in Benton. Coverage begins one hour prior to kickoff. The radio broadcast can also be heard on the web by going to the audio link for the game at hsusports.com. Cyrus Wittig will be on the call as he begins his second season as the play-by-play man for Henderson State football.

SLIM & SHORTY'S WATCH PARTY
- For those unable to follow the team to Oklahoma, join your fellow Henderson State fans and head over to Slim & Shorty's for the official watch party of Reddie road games. Slim & Shorty's is located at 617 Clinton Street in downtown Arkadelphia and will be broadcasting the game beginning at 6 p.m.