Henderson State Coach Scott Maxfield doesn't need a refresher on just how good Southern Nazarene quarterback Gage Porter is because he had a sideline view of him when the teams met a year ago.
That means Maxfield knows about the threat that awaits his Reddies -- ranked No. 22 in Division II -- when they reacquaint themselves with Porter and the rest of his Crimson Storm teammates at 2 p.m. today.
"Shoot, he's the reigning offensive [most valuable player] of our league," Maxfield said of Porter. "He's just so hard to tackle, and he's hard to corral. Surprisingly, he's thrown the ball very accurately this year, too. He's made some throws that have you wondering how he does it because it doesn't look pretty. But he seems to always complete those passes.
"Still, it's what he does with his legs that gives everyone fits."
Porter certainly gave Henderson State (4-1, 4-1 Great American Conference) all it could handle last season. The 5-11, 225-pounder had 329 yards of offense, including 180 yards rushing, and was a part of all 6 of his team's touchdowns.
However, it was the Reddies who escaped with a 42-41 victory in overtime after trailing 20-7 at halftime.
But the graduate student has been back at it this season for Southern Nazarene (3-2, 3-2), which is looking to return to its winning ways after having its three-game winning streak ended last week by Southern Arkansas. Porter is third in NCAA Division II in rushing with 645 yards, sixth in rushing yards per game at 129 and tied for first in rushing touchdowns with 11. He's also thrown for 798 yards and six more touchdowns.
To put into perspective just how productive he's been for the Crimson Storm, he's accounted for 1,443 of the team's 2,220 total yards. Also, his rushing touchdown total is more than Northwestern Oklahoma State (10) and Southwestern Oklahoma State (8) have scored all year total.
For Maxfield, though, it's the Crimson Storm's offensive system that has afforded Porter and others to operate at a high clip.
"They're really hard to defend defensively because of what they do offensively," he explained. "It's similar to Harding, but they do it out of the shotgun. They create a lot of gaps and misdirection. You know, the whole key to stopping them is stopping [Porter], but they've added a couple of guys that's got some speed.
"That allows them to run some speed sweeps and things like that. So we'll definitely have our hands full."
Southern Nazarene is expected to have a lot to deal with as well. The Crimson Storm have beaten the Reddies just once in 10 meetings and have been drilled almost every time the teams have played in Arkadelphia.
Henderson State is 5-1 against Southern Nazarene in its home stadium. In those five wins, the Reddies have outscored the Crimson Storm 289-47.
Maxfield's team hasn't been scoring at that same clip this season, but it is averaging just under 30 points. It also has the GAC's sixth-ranked offense, bolstered by the league's passing yardage leader in Andrew Edwards.
The Reddies also had plenty of success running ball in their previous meeting in 2022, with Korien Burrell running for 135 yards and a program record five touchdowns.
Yet, none of that will matter to Maxfield if his guys don't produce when they need to, namely after halftime. The Reddies have scored just 10 points total in the second half of their past two games.
"We've got to do something," he said. "I mean, we just haven't played well for two weeks in a row in the second half. So we've got to change that.
"But we know it's going to be a tough game with [Southern Nazarene] regardless. We've got to come out ready, that's for sure."