ARKADELPHIA, Ark. - After mounting a fourth-quarter comeback to remain undefeated on the season, No. 23 Henderson State will shoot for a third straight win to open the 2023 campaign against Arkansas Tech. Kickoff from Simmons Bank Field at Thone Stadium in Russellville, Arkansas, is set for 6 p.m.
 
STORYLINES: SETTING THE SCENE
No. 23 Henderson St. cracked the AFCA Top-25 after surviving a scare in Durant, Oklahoma, this past Saturday, overcoming an 11-point fourth-quarter deficit against Southeastern Oklahoma State to remain unbeaten on the year. Now 2-0, the Reddies look to start out 3-0 for the fourth consecutive season with a victory over Arkansas Tech. Henderson has won four straight over the Wonder Boys and has never lost to Tech in Russellville in GAC play. The last three outings in Russellville between these two former AIC rivals have been decided by single digits, including overtime thrillers in each of the last two.
 
Saturday's loss to Southern Nazarene marked the third time in the last four seasons Arkansas Tech has started the year 0-2. Each of its two losses have been by single digits, including a 23-21 defeat at the hands of Oklahoma Baptist in the opener. The Wonder Boys are dead even with the Reddies in the all-time series, 45-45-2, but HSU has owned the head-to-head matchup since both teams joined the GAC with the red-and-gray having won nine of the last 10 such meetings.
 
REDDIES REPORT: OFFENSE
Of HSU's 38 points it scored Saturday against Southeastern Oklahoma State, 21 of them came in the fourth quarter. Trailing 28-17 after three quarters of play, Henderson recorded 185 of its 462 total yards in the final 15 minutes, scoring three touchdowns in less than 10 minutes of game time. Two of those scoring drives were 85 yards on six plays, including a 63 yard touchdown pass to Jalen Abraham, and 78 yards on 12 plays.
 
Quarterback Andrew Edwards was sensational once again, seeing his second four-touchdown game of the season. After being named the GAC Offensive Player of the Week in the first week of the season, Edwards followed that with 20-of-27 passing for 302 yards and two passing touchdowns while also gaining 53 yards on the ground along with two more scores. Through the air, wide receiver Abraham proved to be Edwards' go-to guy, posting a career-high 190 yards and two touchdowns on seven catches.
 
After having a difficult time getting much going on the ground in the opener against East Central, Henderson's running lanes opened a bit in game two, posting 160 rushing yards as a team. Edwards led the group with 53 yards while Korien Burrell finished behind him with 50 and a score on 4.2 yards per carry. Jaquarion Turner saw 15 of his 31 yards come in the fourth quarter, helping the Reddies put the game on ice after taking the lead halfway through the final frame.  
 
Through two games, HSU has the fourth ranked scoring offense and total offense in the GAC at 39.5 points per game and 432.0 yards per game, respectively. Edwards is second in the league in total passing yards (578) while being 12th in NCAA Division II with a 71.2 completion percentage. Abraham leads the conference and is 11th in DII with 238 receiving yards. After getting back on track in the second game of the season, the Reddies' rushing attack is sixth in the GAC with 143.0 yards per game while Burrell is ninth with 110 yards.
 
Henderson's offense has had tremendous success against Arkansas Tech, racking up an average of 537 yards per game against the Wonder Boys over the last three seasons – the second most against any GAC team in that time span (Oklahoma Baptist, 564.3). The most yards in that four-year span (did not play in 2020) came in 2021 when HSU recorded 634 total yards against Tech behind 522 passing yards from quarterback Adam Morse and a combined 393 receiving yards from Xavier Malone (200) and L'liott Curry (193).   
 
REDDIES REPORT: DEFENSE – SPECIAL TEAMS
As reflective of the offense, Henderson's defense struggled in the first half of the Southeastern game, allowing 21 points in the opening 30 minutes, including allowing four passes of 20 yards or more. Southeastern came out in the second half and was only able to manage seven points, however, as the Reddie defense held the Savage Storm to 115 total yards in the final two quarters, including two three-and-outs, each of which resulted in touchdowns on HSU's ensuing drives.
 
Henderson recorded three takeaways on the evening, including an interception in the endzone by Kolbi Crawford. With Southeastern taking its first lead of the game at 14-7, an HSU fumble on the kickoff return gave the ball back to SE inside HSU's 25-yard line with a chance to open a two-possession lead in the early going. After working the ball down to the six-yard line, Crawford picked off a tipped pass from Tim Jennings to help keep the Reddies within striking distance.
 
In addition to the interception, Jakob Neel got the Henderson takeaways started with a fumble recovery on the sixth play of the game after Zach Dixon knocked the ball loose from SE quarterback Bryce Fields. Neel finished his day with six tackles as he is now second on the team with 10 take-downs. The Bryant, Arkansas, product is also one of three Reddies with multiple tackles for loss in 2023.
 
Henderson's front seven sacked Southeastern's Fields five times, with one and a half of those courtesy of Trenton Moore. Moore has been a force in his back-up defensive end role, claiming a total of three sacks in just the first two games. The Tomball, Texas, native had one sack all of last season. Starting defensive tackle Tyler Strain had a team-high eight tackles against the Savage Storm as he leads the defense with 13 tackles on the year.
 
The Reddie defense ranks fourth in defensive scoring at 20.5 points per game while sitting sixth in total defense at 332.0 yards per game. As was the case last season, HSU's rush defense continues to be elite, allowing an average of 79.5 yards for fourth in the league and 29th in the country. Henderson's pass defense has shored up compared to the beginning of last season, allowing the ninth-most passing yards per game in the GAC at 252.5.
 
Both teams saw turnovers in the special teams game Saturday with Henderson fumbling on a kickoff return early on before the Savage Storm returned the favor, coughing it up late in the contest on a kickoff return of theirs. After HSU claimed its first lead since early in the first quarter at the 7:24 mark of the fourth, AJ Zarate forced the ball out on the ensuing kickoff before Keegan Stinespring gathered it, allowing the Reddies to add to their lead, opening a 10-point advantage with 4:05 remaining in the game.
 
Defensive back Cameron Thomas got his first taste of the return game, taking three kicks back for a total of 70 yards, including a long of 30. Devon Adams continued to operate as the Reddie's punt returner, returning three punts for 12 yards. Jody Easter was the other HSU player to get involved in the return game, fielding two kicks for 11 yards.
 
For the second straight week, kicker Kolby King made all five of his extra points as he is now 10-for-10. The Houston, Texas, native is three for four on field goals after hitting on his lone attempt Saturday. In addition to his field-goal duties, King also sent away five punts, including a long of 52, with two of them landing inside SE's 20-yard line.
 
SCOUTING ARKANSAS TECH
For the third time in four seasons, Arkansas Tech is facing an 0-2 hole to start the year. Both losses to open the 2023 campaign have come by single digits; a two-point loss to Oklahoma Baptist to kick off the season and a seven-point defeat most recently in its home opener against Southern Nazarene. Tech's next two opponents are No. 23 Henderson State and on the road at Southern Arkansas, which was picked fourth in the GAC Preseason Poll.
 
The stats were reflective of the close game against the Bison. Both teams picked up 17 first downs, a similar time of possession of 30:48 for OKBU compared to 26:42 for ATU, 69 offensive plays for Tech compared to 64 for Oklahoma Baptist, and 329 total yards for the Bison while the Wonder Boys racked up 307 yards. Oklahoma Baptist held a 20-7 lead after three quarters, but a furious fourth-quarter rally was left short thanks to a 43-yard field goal from OKBU's Luke Watkins with 2:14 left in regulation to open up what was at the time a two-score advantage.
 
Against the Crimson Storm, 2022 GAC Player of the Year Gage Porter for Southern Nazarene ran for 216 of the team's 349 rushing yards. Despite the visiting Storm accumulating nearly two times as many yards as Arkansas Tech, 524 to 276, the Wonder Boys found themselves leading after three quarters, 24-23, thanks to a 36-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown with 59 seconds remaining in the third stanza. However, a pair of 80-plus yard touchdown drives in the fourth for SNU taking a total of nearly 11 minutes off the clock yielded Arkansas Tech's second loss of the season.
 
Thanks in large part to Southern Nazarene's potent rushing attack, ATU is allowing a league-worst 239.5 rushing yards per game. Arkansas Tech is Top-5 in the league in passing defense with 187.0 yards per contest, having not allowed more than 200 yards through the air in either of its first two games. Overall, Tech is ninth in the GAC in total defense with 426.5 yards allowed per game while only being sixth with 30.5 points allowed per game.
 
Quarterbacks Taye Gatewood and Hunter Loyd have both taken snaps under center this season, with Gatewood getting the start in both games, going 27-of-40 for 369 yards, two touchdowns and one interception. The Wonder Boys' top playmaker on offense appears to be wide receiver Matthew Rivera, who has eight catches for 102 yards and one score through two games. Arkansas Tech is averaging 291.5 yards per game, which is eighth in the conference.
 
The individual leaders on defense begins with linebacker Jyrin Steward, who leads the team with 22 total tackles, which is the second most in the GAC. Steward also has two tackles for loss while defensive lineman Vershaud Richardson leads the pack with 2.5 tackles for loss. Both Steward and Richardson also have a forced fumble on their 2023 résumé.
 
THE COACHING MATCHUP
Henderson State head coach Scott Maxfield extended his personal win streak against Southeastern Oklahoma to 13 after HSU's 38-28 win in Durant, Oklahoma. This Saturday, Maxfield will attempt to keep another streak alive with what would be his fifth straight victory over head coach Kyle Shipp and the Wonder Boys. Maxfield has not lost in Russellville since 2010.
 
Head coach Kyle Shipp begins his fourth football season at Arkansas Tech and has compiled a 12-23 record, including standing 0-3 against Henderson State. In the offseason, Shipp did hire assistant head coach and former Henderson associate head coach and passing game coordinator Dom Mirocke. In addition to being the assistant head coach, Mirocke also serves as ATU's offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach.     
 
THE LAST MEETING
Henderson's offense racked up 525 yards of offense – the most yards in a single game since Nov. 6, 2021. 302 of those came through the air while HSU's ground game recorded 223 yards. Andrew Edwards was responsible for all 302 yards, throwing for three touchdowns to one interception while completing 69.6 percent (19-of-28) of his passes. Korien Burrell led the rushing attack with 144 yards and two scores, followed by Jeremiah Davis with 47 yards.
 
HSU's Catrell Wallace blocked Arkansas Tech's first punt of the game, but an interception for the home team allowed ATU to take a 3-0 lead after the first quarter. Henderson exploded after that, however, with 35 points over the next 30 minutes of game time. With the score in favor of the Reddies at halftime, 21-13, Henderson held Tech to just six points in the second half as the red-and-gray came away with the 35-19 victory.
 
The Reddie defense allowed just 81 yards on the ground, but did give up 305 yards through the air. Linebacker Jordan Owens had a team-high six tackles, including one tackle for loss, while fellow linebackers Jakob Neel and Keegan Stinespring combined for Henderson's only sack on the afternoon. Cornerback Cameron Thomas recorded two pass breakups to go with his four tackles.  
 
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.