SEARCY - Henderson State endured plenty of pre-Halloween chills, thrills and spills Saturday on its way to a 45-30 Great American Conference victory over Harding.
The Reddies had their usual big plays, including Corey Chappell’s 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown and Darius Davis’ 70-yard touchdown reception that opened the game at First Security Stadium.
But Henderson State lost all-time leading receiver Robert Jordan to a gruesome broken leg after a touchdown, had a number of linemen limp off and turned a sure touchdown into a fumble before Daniel McCoy finally closed it out with a 1-yard touchdown plunge with 1:38 left in the game.
“It was a great football game on both sides,” Henderson State Coach Scott Maxfield said. “I hate to see somebody lose, but I’m glad we won.”
Leading 28-24 at halftime, Henderson State (8-0, 7-0 GAC) forced a punt to start the third quarter and scored on an 11-yard pass from Kevin Rodgers to Jordan to take a 35-24 lead with 11:43 left in the third quarter. But Jordan, whose 2,186 career receiving yards is a school record, stayed down in the end zone while medical staff examined him on the field and was taken off on a stretcher before Charles Gonsalves could kick the extra point.
Early reports indicated that Jordan had what appeared to be a compound fracture with the bone breaking through the skin on his lower leg. Maxfield confirmed the injury as a broken leg.
Both teams took the field and knelt in support of Davis as he was treated, but despite the subduing effect of the injury the touchdown was a turning point as a first-half shootout turned into a game of attrition.
Gonsalves kicked a 34-yard field goal to make it 38-24 with 9 seconds left in the third quarter, and Harding (5-2, 5-2) responded with a 41-yard field goal by John Gay with 10:11 in the game. In the process the Reddies had lineman Garrett Whitley limp off after he collapsed before a snap, holding his leg, and they lost linebacker/short-yardage back Keaton Stigger when he was ejected for targeting Bisons quarterback Keenan Kellett.
“That’s why we’ve got 60 guys on this travel squad, to travel and make plays when they get the chance,” Maxfield said of having to replace his starters.
The Reddies appeared ontheir way to a backbreaking score after a completion from Rodgers to Joseph Snapp. But Ashtun Williams punched the ball out from behind and Corey Bassett recovered for Harding and ran it out of the end zone to the 26 where he was tackled with 9:04 left in the game.
Harding advanced to the Henderson State 14, but a holding penalty and incompletions forced the Bisons to settle for another 41-yard field goal from Gay, cutting it to 38-30 with 4:02 left in the game.
“Two really physical football teams and two teams that play really hard, and that’s kind of the way it played out today,” Harding Coach Ronnie Huckeba said.
Rodgers finished 19 of 26 for 368 yards and 4 touchdowns, while Harding running back Romo Westbrook had 161 yards and 1 touchdown on 30 carries.
Gonsalves missed a 52-yard field-goal attempt wide right as time expired in the second quarter, but the Reddies held a 28-24 lead after the back-and-forth first half.
Each team punted once as the lead changed six times. Henderson State had the big plays, scoring on the game’s first play with a 70-yard catch-and-run by Davis and on Chappell’s kickoff return that made it 21-17 early in the second quarter.
Harding’s drives were more sustained for the most part, but the Bisons showed some explosiveness with Eric Kelly’s diving, 30-yard reception that was followed by Jason Oller’s 44-yard scoring run that put the Bisons ahead 17-14 with 11:13 left in the half.
The Reddies’ other scores of the half came on a 23-yard pass from Rodgers to Jordan and Jordan’s 32-yard reception that gave Henderson State its halftime lead. Harding scored on a 31-yard field goal by Gay, a 2-yard run by Kellett and Westbrook’s 4-yard touchdown run.
OUACHITA BAPTIST 34, ARKANSAS TECH 24
Jalen Jones caught two touchdown passes and Chris Rycraw ran for two more to lead Ouachita Baptist (6-1, 6-1 Great American Conference) past Arkansas Tech (3-5, 3-4) at Thone Stadium in Russellville.
OBU took advantage of its balanced offensive attack, rushing for 194 yards and passing for 182 while rolling up 376 total yards.
Steven Kehner carried 19 times for 105 yards to lead OBU rushers, with Rycraw adding 75 yards on 19 carries.
Rycraw helped OBU take a 7-0 lead with a 17-yard touchdown run with 9:33 left in the opening quarter, and his 4-yard touchdown run gave the Tigers a 31-24 lead with 11:18 left in the game.
Jones caught 10 passes for 103 yards to lead OBU receivers. His 12-yard touchdown pass from Benson Jordan with 59 seconds left in the first half gave OBU a 17-10 lead, and his 6-yard touchdown pass with 7:21 left in the third quarter gave the Tigers a 24-17 lead.
Benson completed 15 of 23 passes for 182 yards with 2 touchdowns and 3 interceptions.
Matthew Ehasz kicked two field goals for OBU, one from 21 yards with 5:55 left in the first half and a 25-yarder with 2:57 left in the game that set the final score.
Justin Owens scored on a 6-yard run for ATU with 10:18 left in the first half, and Jonathan Keener had a 3-yard touchdown run that pulled ATU into a 17-17 tie in the third quarter.
Deandre’ Bonner’s 43-yard interception return with 2:37 left in the third quarter tied the game at 24-24 going into the fourth quarter.
Randy Velazquez also kicked a 41-yard field goal for the Wonder Boys.
OBU held ATU to 57 yards rushing. Luke Halpin led the Wonder Boys with five carries for 15 yards.
ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 22, SOUTHERN NAZARENE 19
Southern Nazarene (0-8, 0-8 Great American Conference) outgained Arkansas-Monticello (5-3, 4-3) by more than 100 yards and had twice as many first downs, but the Boll Weevils managed to win for the third time in four weeks.
Arkansas-Monticello was held to 223 total yards, but intercepted three Southern Nazarene passes and scored two special teams touchdowns in its victory at Cotton Boll Stadium in Monticello.
Ivory Washington’s 61-yard punt return for a touchdown gave UAM a 17-3 lead in the first quarter, then Anthony Hughes returned a blocked extra point 98 yards for a safety that made it 19-9 going into halftime.
Jamie McGee kicked a 26-yard field goal that put the Boll Weevils ahead 22-12 in the third quarter and Trey Knowles scored a 1-yard touchdown with 6:40 left in thegame to pull Southern Nazarene to within 22-19, but it couldn’t draw any closer.
Mike Early, Deshaun Thomas and Alex Black each intercepted Southern Nazarene’s Trey Hills, who completed 23 of 41 passes for 233 yards and 1 touchdown.
Southern Nazarene had 339 yards of offense to UAM’s 223.
UAM’s Cody Trimble completed 20 of 25 passes for 125 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 interception, and Nick Williams led the Boll Weevils with 75 yards rushing.
SAA AUSTIN 45, HENDRIX 38
Austin College rushed for 344 yards and held off a late Hendrix comeback in a nonconference victory Saturday in Sherman, Texas.
James Nwankpah rushed 23 times for 202 yards and 1 touchdown, while Bryce Murphy added 111 yards and 1 touchdown on 17 carries and Hendrix (3-4) gave up 569 yards of total offense.
The Warriors had 503 total yards to keep pace with the Kangaroos (3-5) but couldn’t come back after trailing 21-7 in the second quarter and 38-24 in the fourth.
Hendrix took a 7-0 lead on a 39-yard run by Dayton Winn, who had 92 yards and two touchdowns on the ground, but Noah Jesko threw three consecutive touchdown passes to give Austin a 21-7 lead and added another touchdown pass as Austin led 28-21 at halftime.
Steve Crenshaw kicked a 33-yard field goal in the third quarter to pull Hendrix within 28-24, but Andrew Clink kicked a 45-yard field goal to make it 31-24 and James Nwankpah’s 57-yard run made it 38-24.
Winn’s 1-yard run pulled Hendrix to within 38-31, but Murphy’s 5-yard run pushed Austin’s lead to 45-31 with 2:41 left. Hendrix managed one more score on Ethan Hoppe’s 13-yard pass from Frye with 1:37 left, but it couldn’t recover the ensuing onside kick.
SATURDAY’S GAMES Henderson State 45, Harding 30 Ark.-Monticello 22, S. Nazarene 19 Ouachita Baptist 34, Arkansas Tech 24 NW Okla. State 25, SE Okla. State 21 East Central (Okla.) 24, SW Okla. State 21
Sports, Pages 30 on 10/27/2013