ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The closest rivalry in all of sports resumes its rich history Saturday as (RV) Henderson State will walk across Highway 67 to Cliff Harris Stadium to take on No. 10 Ouachita Baptist in the 96th Battle of the Ravine. Kickoff of the regular season-finale is set for 1 p.m.
 
STORYLINES: SETTING THE SCENE
(RV) Henderson State meets No. 10 Ouachita Baptist in the longest played rivalry in NCAA Division II with Saturday being the 96th all-time meeting. The Reddies trail in the overall series against the Tigers, 46-43-6. The red-and-gray come into Saturday's contest with some momentum, having won three straight contests while outscoring those opponents by a combined 149-14, including posting back-to-back shutouts.
 
No. 10 Ouachita Baptist is sporting a six-game winning streak over the Reddies with its last loss in the cross-street rivalry coming in 2015. The Tigers have won each of the last three meetings by three points and all three matchups have been decided in the final minute of game time, including last year's 40-37 overtime victory. Ouachita is currently tabbed No. 5 in the region rankings and would seemingly punch its ticket to the NCAA Division II Playoffs with a win Saturday.  
 
REDDIES REPORT: OFFENSE
Henderson State returns to Arkadelphia off its final road trip of the season, where the Reddies dismantled Southwestern Oklahoma State, 56-0. It was the second straight game HSU has posted a shutout after delivering its first shutout since 2015 just one week prior. As mentioned previously, the red-and-gray have outscored their last three opponents 149-14, with 133 of those points coming from the offense, while having outgained them 1526-453.
 
Quarterback Andrew Edwards has been sensational over this last three-game stretch, totaling 1009 yards and 14 touchdowns while completing 78.4 percent (58-of-74) of his passes. On the season, Edwards has 2931 total yards and 34 total touchdowns. For his career, the redshirt-sophomore has 5287 total yards and 58 total touchdowns, becoming just the second HSU quarterback ever to account for at least 5000 total yards and 50 touchdowns.
 
With consecutive 50-point blowouts, HSU has scored 50 or more in back-to-back games for just the second time since 2014. The recent scoring barrage has the Reddies third in the conference and 20th in the NCAA Division II with 37.4 points per game, which is currently the fifth highest scoring team in program history. Additionally, Henderson is fourth in the league – 17th in the country – with 444.5 yards per game.
 
Since both teams joined the GAC in 2011, the Reddies are averaging 422.9 yards of offense against Ouachita Baptist. Henderson has outgained OUA each of the last two years, despite falling in both matchups. In the 11 matchups as GAC opponents, the team which has the most yards is just 6-5 and HSU is only 3-4 during that time when it has outgained its Tiger counterparts.
 
Both teams' offensive lines are above average when it comes to protecting their quarterback. Henderson State is allowing 1.9 sacks per game this season while Ouachita Baptist is giving up 1.6 sacks per contest. The Reddies had not allowed a single sack in consecutive weeks before letting Southwestern Oklahoma State get to Andrews four times this past Saturday. The Tigers allowed a season-high four sacks to then-No. 9 Harding on Oct. 14 before giving up three to Arkansas Tech a week later.
 
Saturday's matchup will feature a pair of Top-12 teams in Division II in third-down conversions. Henderson State has converted 60 of its 123 (48.8%) third-down tries this season, which is third in the league and 12th in the country, while Ouachita Baptist moves the chains at a 51.2 percent clip (63-of-123). The Tigers do excel on fourth down as they top the conference with a 75 percent conversion rate while HSU is right at 50 percent for sixth.    
 
REDDIES REPORT: DEFENSE – SPECIAL TEAMS
Henderson State followed up its best defensive performance of the season against Northwestern Oklahoma State with an equally as dominant showing against Southwestern Oklahoma State, shutting out the Bulldogs, 56-0, while recording four interceptions and two pick-sixes. Saturday was the most interceptions garnered by an HSU defense in a single game since Oct. 5, 2019. 202 total yards is also the fewest yards allowed in back-to-back games by a Reddie defense in GAC history.
 
Saturday was Henderson's fourth game this season with at least five sacks as the red-and-gray have tallied 38 sacks this season – the most by an HSU team in the GAC era. That number has the red-and-gray second in the nation in total sacks and third with 3.8 sacks per game. Dylan Ndambuki and Gary Lewis have spearheaded the effort as both pass rushers have six and a half sacks this year, which is currently the fifth most single-season sacks in program history.
 
The Reddie defense has forced 18 turnovers in 10 games, recording a takeaway in all but two contests this season. Saturday was the sixth game of the 2023 campaign with multiple takeaways while Henderson's offense has only had three such games. In matchups where HSU has won the turnover battle, it is 5-1. The red-and-gray have lost the turnover battle just once this season, resulting in a 35-34 loss to Southern Arkansas. In the 11 previous GAC football seasons, HSU is 2-2 when winning the turnover battle against Ouachita Baptist and has never won the Battle of the Ravine in that time frame when it loses the turnover battle.
 
Defensive Coordinator Greg Holsworth continues to have his defense operating at the top of the conference. Henderson is Top-2 in scoring defense (18.3 ppg), total defense (292.0 ypg). rushing defense (126.0 ypg) and opponent first downs (15.6/g). The Reddies are also fourth in the league with 166 passing yards allowed per outing.
 
In a rivalry that has seen six of the last seven meetings decided by seven points or less and four of the last seven decided by exactly three points, special teams have played a major factor as of late. In 2021, Ouachita Baptist made a game-winning 53-yard field goal with 57 seconds remaining in regulation. In 2022, a 24-yard botched punt from HSU gave OUA a short field to score the game-tying touchdown in the final minute before eventually winning it in overtime.
 
Henderson has seen more success in its last two outings than it has all season in the punting game. Axel Robertson has taken over punting duties and has averaged 46.3 yards per punt over past eight quarters of play. Against Southwestern Oklahoma State, Robertson sent away three punts, including a long of 55, for an average of 45.7 yards per boot.   
 
THE OPPONENT: OUACHITA BAPTIST
Currently holding a 9-1 record, No. 10 Ouachita Baptist has reached nine wins each of the last six seasons. The Tigers have not lost a home game against a GAC opponent since Nov. 6, 2021 as their five victories inside Cliff Harris Stadium this season have come by an average of 33.8 points. All but one of those wins has been by 27 points or more.
 
Most recently, Ouachita Baptist handled Oklahoma Baptist on what was OUA's Senior Day, 55-14. The Tigers totaled 499 yards of offense, including 340 yards on the ground. Running back Kendel Givens recorded season-highs 199 yards and four touchdowns, earning himself GAC Offensive Player of the Week. Givens leads the rushing attack in 2023 for the purple-and-gold with 1166 yards and a nation-best 21 rushing touchdowns this season.
 
Both teams' quarterbacks do an excellent job at protecting the football as Riley Harms for the Tigers has matched HSU's Edwards with just two interceptions this season on top of throwing for 1827 yards and 21 touchdowns. Back-up quarterback Eli Livingston got the start against Oklahoma Baptist most recently, completing 13-of-19 passes for 157 yards. Livingston has run for three touchdowns in the past two weeks.
 
Wide receiver Connor Flannigan is responsible for 43.8 percent of Ouachita's receiving yardage this season, leading the GAC with 925 yards while also tallying six touchdowns. Flannigan needs just 22 yards Saturday to becoming Ouachita Baptist's single-season receiving yards leader in the GAC era, surpassing Allie Freeman (946) from 2019. Last year against the Reddies, Flannigan recorded five catches for 68 yards and one touchdown.
 
Ouachita Baptist owns the No. 2 ranked scoring offense in the conference with 41.1 points per game while being fifth it total offense (429.2 ypg), fourth in rushing offense (217.8 ypg) and fifth in passing offense (211.4 ypg). The Tigers have proved to be one of the best teams in the league at scoring touchdowns when getting inside the redzone. The Tigers trail only No. 2 Harding with 37 touchdowns on 51 trips (72.5%) inside their opponent's 20-yard line.
 
In every major defensive statistical category, Ouachita is just behind Henderson State in the league rankings, holding the third-place spot in scoring defense (19.1 ppg), total defense (327.3 ypg) and rushing defense (151.1 ypg). The Tigers are also fifth in passing defense at 176.2 ypg, though they have allowed seven passing touchdowns on the season, which is the third fewest.
 
Defensive leaders for purple-and-gold are junior defensive back Josiah Johnson (77.0) and junior linebacker Jax Miller (72.0) as the duo has combined for 149 tackles on the season. Johnson is also second on the team with two interceptions behind Mario Ganter, Jr. with four. The Tigers are second in the GAC with 12 interceptions, averaging just over one per game.    
 
THE COACHING MATCHUP
The 96th edition of the Battle of the Ravine will feature two of the winningest coaches in the state of Arkansas' history. Henderson State head coach Scott Maxfield (133-64), who is in his 18th season, and Ouachita Baptist head coach Todd Knight (152-100), who is in his 24th season, have won a combined 285 games for Arkadelphia's representative universities. Individually, Maxfield and Knight are fourth and second, respectively, among the state's winningest head coaches across all divisions.
 
Maxfield, who took over as head coach at Henderson State in 2005, is 7-9 against Ouachita Baptist under Knight. With Knight beginning his tenure at OUA in 1999, he holds a 13-8 record against the Reddies. Until Maxfield arrived in Arkadelphia, Knight and the Tigers were 4-1 against HSU until Maxfield led the red-and-gray to victory in his first matchup against the cross-street rivals in 2006.
 
THE LAST MEETING
The 95th Battle of the Ravine was a classic inside Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in the storied rivalry. In what was only the third overtime game in the series' history, Henderson State led by 14 with 4:47 remaining in regulation before Ouachita Baptist eventually won in overtime on a walk-off touchdown from TJ Cole for the 40-37 victory. It was the third straight year the Battle of the Ravine had been decided by exactly three points.
 
The Reddies outgained the Tigers on the afternoon, 474-396, while seeing 30 first downs to OUA's 23. Henderson's defense also forced an interception as HSU won the turnover battle. With Ouachita even having more penalties than the red-and-gray, the biggest statistical area in which the Tigers had Henderson's number was in the punting game. Ouachita Baptist averaged 44.3 yards per punt while HSU saw just 34.8 yards per boot, including a 24-yard punt that set up OUA with great field position at its own 49-yard line before scoring the game-tying touchdown.
 
In his first Battle of the Ravine, redshirt-freshman Andrew Edwards stood tall, completing 21-of-36 passes while accumulating 283 total yards and three touchdowns. Jeremiah Davis paced the Reddie ground attack with a season-high 104 yards of HSU's 237 rushing yards. Wide receiver Xavier Malone also recorded three touchdowns, including a passing touchdown.

IMPORTANT GAMEDAY INFORMATION
Tailgating events on the Henderson State campus will begin Saturday morning. Reddie Club donors and fans are invited to a pregame tailgate meal at the red and white tents in front of the Duke Wells Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. 

The menu has a variety of options, including both grilled corn on the cob and barbecue sliders, breakfast crepes and sandwiches, a charcuterie board, a dessert bar featuring s'mores cookies and marshmallow cake sticks, bottled water, sodas and hot chocolate. All HSU fans are invited to the pregame tailgate meal. There will be no cost for Reddie Club donors who bring their 2023 credit card-style season seat pass to identify themselves. One meal per Reddie Club season seat pass. For non-Reddie Club members, the cost of the meal is $15 per person.

The Reddies will begin the walk across the street into Cliff Harris Stadium at approximately 11:15 a.m. 

A free shuttle service for Reddie fans will begin running at 11 a.m. and continue until kickoff. The busses will run again following the game for an hour. CADC SCAT busses will pick up fans at two different locations: near the Reddie Club parking lot in front of Carpenter-Haygood Stadium at GeoSurfaces Field and at the corner of 12th and Wilson Street on the main campus, allowing fans to utilize the parking lots near Smith Hall and other lots around main campus. The shuttle will drop fans off at the corner of MH Russell Drive and Highway 67 adjacent to Cliff Harris Stadium. After the game, busses will pick up fans at the corner of MH Russell Drive and Highway 67 and drop off at the two prior pick-up locations.

A ticket table will be located under the tailgate tents at the front of the Duke Wells Center from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on game day. Tickets are $8 each and all tickets are general admission. Children four years of age and under will be admitted free. Cash or check only will be accepted on game day. Checks should be made out to Ouachita Baptist University. 

Current Henderson students will not need to purchase a ticket as they will be admitted free to the game with a valid ID. 

General admission tickets will also be sold at the Reddie Bookstore from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Thursday and 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Friday. Checks will not be accepted as payment; cash or credit cards only.

In addition, the ticket window at Cliff Harris Stadium will open at 9 a.m. on Saturday, Nov. 11 for those who wish to purchase tickets on game day. Customers can pay with cash, credit card or debit card. For fans who wish to purchase tickets online through Ouachita, click HERE. Tickets purchased will be available at OUA's Will Call two hours prior to kickoff. 

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.