ARKADELPHIA -- Henderson State's football program enters its 14th season under Scott Maxfield with a resume to respect.
Eight consecutive winning seasons, a 68-22 overall record, a Division II playoff victory, and three trips to the postseason have been recorded by the Reddies since 2010.
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Maxfield's team posted a 49-9 record from 2012-2016 and became the team to beat in the Great American Conference much the way Alabama, on the Division I level, reigns in the SEC.
But 2017 was not as kind to the Reddies, who ended up 6-5, including a 1-4 mark at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium.
"There's a lot of factors that go into you going 6-5 and there's a lot of factors that go into you going 11-1," Maxfield said. "You've got to stay healthy. You've got to have great team chemistry. You've got to make plays at critical times. "Sometimes, the ball has to bounce your way. And last year, we were deficient in all those areas."
Whether 6-5 is a wakeup call or the signal of a slight decline will be determined in the weeks ahead.
Maxfield said it might be a combination of the other GAC teams taking pages from the Reddies' pass-happy playbook as well as teams closing the talent gap.
"A lot of the teams looked at the success we had and started doing the same things we were doing," Maxfield said. "I think they caught up to us in some areas. We didn't keep that gap talentwise. We had a more talented team than everybody there for a couple of years, and last year, they kind of caught up to us."
The Reddies, picked by coaches to finish sixth of 12 in the GAC, return four starters on offense and six on defense.
The quarterback, a key in the Reddies scheme, will be a junior-college transfer from California -- either Richard Stammetti (Mount San Antonio College) or Kody Whitaker (Orange Coast College).
Stammetti, a sophomore, passed for 766 yards and rushed for 163 yards as a freshman.
Whitaker, a junior, played two seasons at Orange Coast and passed for 4,079 yards, including 1,986 yards and 16 touchdowns last season.
Maxfield said he's not ready to name a starter, and they appeared to be on even terms in Saturday's scrimmage.
Senior offensive guard Daniel Moore said the team is ready to get behind whoever takes the field.
"We'll roll with it," said Moore, who enters the season with 29 career starts.
More important than which quarterback gets the job, Moore said, was for the Reddies to get back to the mentality that put them at the top of the GAC standings four consecutive seasons.
"So this offseason we basically worked on the principle that we are operating on a clean slate," said Moore (6-2, 285 pounds). "We no longer have the longest road winning streak in the country. That was teams in the past. We are no longer are a team with multiple championships in a row. That's a thing in the past.
"Our deal we worked with this year is that we are a new team and we're going to start a new legacy as the Henderson State Reddies."
Moore, along with fellow senior Malik Brown, said complacency crept into the program last season. It's not the only thing that contributed to 6-5, but it was definitely a factor in what the Reddies considered a disappointing season.
Complacency, Brown said, was more about how the Reddies viewed their competition.
"We were so used to being the top dogs that we just entitled ourselves to wins by just going to the game," said Brown, a safety who intercepted three passes.
Moore reiterated that the Reddies had become a little overconfident.
"We got so comfortable just beating on teams," Moore said. ... "We thought it would just naturally happen. That's not how it's supposed to happen. You've got to come out each day, every game, thinking this team is good.
"We're really coming out with a focus, not only on defense but offense, of physically dominating. We want to get back to that mindset, that rep, that we're the Henderson State Reddies and you don't want to mess with us."
Maxfield said he never had to sit down with team leaders to explain what needed to be done in the offseason.
"It's just a given," Maxfield said. "The guys who have been here know what we've got to do and what we need to do to get back where we want to be.
"There's only one way to do that, and it's hard work."
Sports on 08/21/2018