ARkADELPHIA -- It took Henderson State quarterback Kevin Rodgers four offensive plays Thursday night to become the state's all-time leader for career passing yards.
It took the Reddies a little longer to secure a 60-17 victory over Southeastern Oklahoma.
Rodgers, a 6-3 senior, threw for 382 yards in a game televised on CBS Sports Network at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium to pass former Arkansas State quarterback Ryan Aplin as the state's collegiate passing-yardage leader.
Rodgers has 11,035 career yards. Aplin, who played at ASU from 2009 to 2012, finished his career with 10,758 yards.
"I'm really humbled by all of this," said Rodgers, who completed 29 of 41 passes, including 2 for touchdowns. "I'm just very thankful that I've got great coaches, an offensive line, receivers and a defense that supports me. They're the reason I have all of my awards."
Rodgers also tied former Central Arkansas quarterback Nathan Brown with his 100th career touchdown pass when he teamed up Darius Davis for a 46-yard touchdown play in the fourth quarter.
"Kevin is a special kid and a special player," Henderson Coach Scott Maxfield said. "We're just really proud of his accomplishments."
The Reddies, No. 7 in the latest Division II poll, turned a 32-17 game into a laugher by scoring 28 points in the game's final 9:28.
Henderson finished with 627 yards of total offense, and 243 of those yards came in the final 15 minutes.
Southeastern Oklahoma quarterback Ryan Polite completed 24 of 41 passes for 155 yards, but he was sacked 4 times, including 3 times in the second half.
Henderson (3-0, 2-0 Great American Conference) scored on its first four possessions, but Southeastern Oklahoma kicker Jake Walters made a 37-yard field goal early in the third quarter to cut the Reddies' lead to 25-17.
Rodgers drove the Reddies 63 yards in 9 plays, with Jaquan Cole scoring on an 11-yard run, his second rushing touchdown.
The Reddies' defense shutout the Savage Storm the rest of the way.
"They had a little momentum," Maxfield said of Southeastern Oklahoma's third-quarter score. "We came out a little bit sluggish. ..."
Cole, a 5-8 sophomore who finished with a game-high 89 yards on 14 carries, extended Henderson's first drive of the second half twice with third-down runs.
Cole ran for 3 yards on third-and-3 to the Southeastern Oklahoma 20 and his 11-yard touchdown run came on a third-and-1 play with 8:03 left in the third quarter.
"We needed to get that touchdown to get things rolling," Rodgers said. "It was good for the team to see that. Hopefully, that will carry over to the rest of the season."
Southeastern Oklahoma (1-2, 1-2) gained 80 yards in the second half and finished the game with 274, with 119 rushing yards.
The Savage Storm came into the game averaging 40.5 points and 329.5 rushing yards a game.
"We got ahead of them and they had to abandon the running game," Maxfield said. "That was a good offensive team we faced tonight. ... I thought we played a lot better in the second half."
Rodgers entered the game needing 106 yards to pass Aplin and he got 62 on the game's first offensive play, connecting with junior wide receiver Joseph Snapp for a 62-yard touchdown pass. Mark Czaus passed to Charles Plaster on a two-point conversion and the Reddies led 8-0 after 16 seconds.
Snapp led all receivers with 120 yards and a touchdown on 7 receptions. Davis caught five passes for 108 yards.
Southeastern Oklahoma made it 8-7 with a seven-play, 54-yard drive that ended with Polite hitting Nick Sloson on a 2-yard scoring pass with 11:40 left in the first quarter.
It took three more plays for Rodgers to put himself on top of the career yardage mark. A 14-yard pass to Davis on the third play of Henderson's second drive pushed the Henderson quarterback past Aplin.
Sports on 09/19/2014