ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – After kicking off the 2022 season with a 30-13 victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State inside Carpenter-Haygood Stadium at GeoSurfaces Field this past Thursday, the Henderson State Reddies hit the road for the first time when they travel to Alva, Oklahoma, to take on the Northwestern Oklahoma State Rangers Saturday, Sept. 10 at 6 p.m.
 
STORYLINES: SETTING THE SCENE
Henderson won its third consecutive home opener after holding SWOSU to zero offensive touchdowns last Thursday night. Saturday, HSU will look for its tenth consecutive win in a season's road opener.
 
Northwestern Oklahoma St. has not won a home opener since 2016 when NWOSU defeated Arkansas-Monticello, 59-56. The Rangers have not won a game at Ranger Field since Nov. 16, 2019 after going 0-5 at home last season and having yet to play a home game this season.
 
HSU leads the all-time series over Northwestern, 55-7, and is currently sporting a two-game winning streak over the Rangers. The last time these two teams faced off in Alva, however, NWOSU got the better of the Reddies, 30-24.
 
Win the win on Thursday, head coach Scott Maxfield now has 118 career wins at Henderson. A victory on Saturday will put him in a tie with legendary coach Sporty Carpenter for the most wins in program history (119).
 
REDDIES REPORT: OFFENSE
Henderson ran for 265 yards and threw for 179 yards Thursday night against Southwestern. Redshirt freshman running back Korien Burrell scored two of HSU's three rushing touchdowns on the evening, finishing with 56 yards on 13 carries.
 
Quarterback Landon Ledbetter had his way on the ground with the Bulldogs' young defensive unit, rushing for 140 yards and a score on just 12 carries, tallying an 11.7 yard average. Thursday marked the most rushing yards from a Henderson quarterback since Andrew Black ran for 143 yards against Northwestern Oklahoma St. back on Sept. 16, 2017.
 
Senior wide receiver Xavier Malone caught the lone touchdown through the air for the Reddies on a 47-yard go route down the sideline. Malone finished his night with two catches for 56 yards, marking his seventh straight game to eclipse 50 receiving yards dating back to last season.
 
With the success Henderson was seeing on the ground, the HSU offense only needed to throw 17 passes for the game, completing seven to four different receivers. 17 passes is the fewest number of pass attempts HSU has thrown in victory since Sept. 10, 2016. Similarly, seven completions is the fewest number of completions in a win since Oct. 20, 2018.
 
After the opening week in the Great American Conference, the Reddies are fourth in rushing yards per game and their 444 total yards were seventh among the league leaders. In 2021, HSU finished the year as the No. 3 rushing team and No. 1 in total yards.   
 
REDDIES REPORT: DEFENSE – SPECIAL TEAMS
Henderson State's defensive front was lights out Thursday night, holding Southwestern to 66 rushing yards while sacking quarterback Tylan Morton six times – the most sacks HSU has registered since Nov. 1, 2014. 66 rushing yards is the fewest rushing yards allowed by a Reddies team since Oct. 12, 2019.
 
Sophomore linebacker Jakob Neel led the defense with 11 tackles – six solo and five assisted – and picked up one of HSU's six sacks on the evening. Redshirt sophomore defensive lineman Dylan Ndambuki and redshirt freshman defensive end Gary Lewis combined for four tackles for loss after each player both registered a sack.
 
In the secondary, sophomore defensive back Cameron Thomas registered two tackles and three pass break-ups. Fellow defensive backs Darrick Rose Jr. and Jaden Bates both also recorded a pass break-up to help keep the Bulldogs' offense out of the endzone all night long.
 
The Reddie defense held SWOSU to 288 total yards in the season opener, which was the fewest allowed total yards across the entire GAC in week one. 222 passing yards and 66 rushing yards was also the sixth and second fewest yards allowed, respectively.
 
Kicker Tristan Heaton was 4-5 on field goals for the evening, connecting on all but one of his point-after tries. Heaton made a 30 yard field goal towards the end of the first quarter to give the Reddies the lead after briefly trailing, 7-6. The Humble, Texas native also sent his first three of six kickoffs out the back of the endzone for a touchback.
 
Return specialist Braden Boykin was back returning kicks for the Reddies after missing all of last year with an injury. Boykin saw four total return opportunities on the night, taking back two punts for 11 yards and two kickoffs for 46 yards, including a long return of 26 yards.
 
Southwestern's only touchdown of the night did come on a 65 yard punt return halfway through the first quarter. The Bulldogs only mustered 20 returning yards after that, which all came on one kickoff return early in the second quarter.
 
SCOUTING NORTHWESTERN OKLAHOMA STATE
Northwestern Oklahoma State gave up 625 total yards in its season opener, falling to Southern Arkansas, 62-31. 375 of those yards came on the ground as four Muleriders accounted for at least 55 yards.
 
The Rangers, like the Reddies, have a dual-threat quarterback under center as Tanner Clarkson was the leading rusher for NWOSU last Thursday with 141 yards and one touchdown. Clarkson also threw for 146 yards and a score, accounting for 287 total yards.
 
Clarkson threw just as many passes as Ledbetter did for HSU in each team's opener, completing nine of them. The Ranger offense appeared to operate with a two-quarterback system all night, however, as backup Dakota Michaels also threw nine passes, connecting on eight of them.
 
The Ranger defensive front failed to put any really pressure on SAU quarterback OB Jones all night, accounting for zero sacks and zero quarterback hurries. Jones threw for 216 yards and four touchdowns on just 10 completions.
 
NWOSU's secondary was able to break-up four passes on the night, two of which came from junior defensive back Alejandro Aaron. Sophomore defensive back Isaiah Wallace forced the only Mulerider turnover of the night with an interception halfway through the third quarter to keep SAU from scoring a touchdown on what would have been its fifth consecutive drive.
 
Northwestern's offense accounted for 452 total yards against Southern Arkansas, which was the fifth most in the GAC after week one. The Rangers' 229 rushing yards was fourth most in the league. In 2021, NWOSU was eighth in the conference in total yards per game (362.7) and 11th in rushing (117.8).
 
THE COACHING MATCHUP
Henderson State head coach Scott Maxfield is 118-59 in his 17th season at the helm of the Reddie program. With a win on Saturday, Maxfield will tie legendary HSU head coach Sporty Carpenter with 119 career wins, with an opportunity to break it Saturday, Sept. 17 at home against Arkansas-Monticello. Henderson is 6-2 against Northwestern under Maxfield.
 
Matt Walter is heading into his 8th season as the Ranger head football coach with a 22-45 overall record. Since taking over at NWOSU in 2014, Walter is 16-24 at home and is 2-5 against the Reddies. In those seven meetings, HSU has outscored Northwestern 306-134.
 
THE LAST MEETING
Henderson defeated Northwestern inside Carpenter-Haygood Stadium, 55-7, holding NWOSU to 227 total yards while HSU racked up 623 yards of offense. After the Reddies held a 10-point lead at half, 17-7, HSU exploded for 38 points in the second half while holding the Rangers scoreless the rest of the way to claim the 48-point victory.
 
After relieving quarterback Adam Morse halfway through the fourth quarter, Landon Ledbetter came in and ran for 46 yards and a touchdown on four carries. Fredrick O'Donald as a true freshman was the team's second leading rusher on the day, recording 52 yards on seven carries.
 
Wide receiver Xavier Malone led the Reddies through air on that particular Saturday evening, catching seven passes for 130 yards, including a long reception of 58 yards. Tight end Ayden Shurley was the recipient of one of Morse's two touchdown throws in the contest in what was his only grab of the game.
 
 WHERE 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 FM in Gurdon, and KZYP 104.1 FM/1310 AM in Malvern. 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.