SHAWNEE, Okla. — Henderson State put on an aerial exhibition in the first half on Saturday night and then held off an Oklahoma Baptist rally late to defeat the Bison 35-28 in the season opener and give head coach Scott Maxfield the 100th win of his illustrious career at the school.

Maxfield joins legend Sporty Carpenter (119) as the only coaches in program history with 100 or more victories and now trails Carpenter by 19 wins for the most all-time at Henderson State.

Senior quarterback Richard Stammetti put on a show during the first-ever game under the lights at Crain Stadium, and finished 21-for-32 through the air for 357 yards and four touchdowns with no interceptions. A large chunk of that yardage came courtesy of fellow senior L'liott Curry, the Reddies' new addition to the receiving corps, who announced his presence to the conference with eight catches for 178 yards and three-touchdowns — the best day by a Reddie receiver since 2016.

It looked as though Henderson might run away with it early in the first game of year, as a touchdown run from Logan Moragne, followed by two scoring tosses from Stammetti to Curry, put the Reddies up 21-0 with 9:14 to go in the first half.

The Bison got on the board moments later to cut the deficit to 21-7, but another touchdown pass from Stammetti, this time to sophomore tight end Preston Jefferis, restored the three-score advantage. The touchdown was the first of Jefferis' career.

Oklahoma Baptist refused to go away, however, and scored a late touchdown to end the half, then another on the first possession of the third quarter on a 50-yard run from quarterback Preston Haire, to trim the Reddies' lead down to 28-21 early in the second half.

Both defenses stiffened in the third, but Henderson's offense finally broke through in the final quarter when Stammetti once again found Curry from 25 yards out to give the Reddies a 35-21 lead with 11:15 to go. Henderson's defense did its job from there and snuffed out the next two Bison drives. Oklahoma Baptist scored its final touchdown with 23 seconds remaining and the Reddies recovered the onside kick to ensure there would be no miracle on Saturday.

The Reddies' 507 yards of total offense in the win was their most since last season against Oklahoma Baptist, when they racked up 599. Moragne finished with 101 yards on the ground on 15 carries, while Querale Hall carried 14 times for 63 yards.

Henderson's defense had five total tackles for loss on the night and was led by junior linebacker Colby Turner who had a career-high 13 stops. The win improves Henderson to 10-5 in season openers under coach Maxfield and 19-1 all-time in GAC road games in the state of Oklahoma.

The Reddies (1-0) return to the field on Saturday, Sept. 14 at 6 p.m. when they face Southern Nazarene in the home opener at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium and Ruggles Field.