Reddies host Bulldogs on Family Day
ARKADELPHIA — Henderson State returns of home Saturday to welcome Southwestern Oklahoma State to Carpenter-Haygood Stadium and Ruggles Field
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Ticket windows at the stadium open two hours before game time.
Tickets are $7 for adults and $5 for children. All students, faculty or staff with a valid Henderson identification will be admitted for free, as will children ages 5 and younger.
Henderson (1-2) is looking to rebound from the program’s first-ever Great American Conference loss in the state of Oklahoma. The Reddies fell Saturday, 30-24, to Northwestern Oklahoma State (1-2) in Alva, Okla., after leading at the start of the fourth quarter.
Southwestern (1-2) fell to GAC leader Southern Arkansas (3-0), 36-12, last week. The Bulldogs held a 10-7 advantage at halftime.
Former Missouri Western offensive coordinator Chet Pobolish is Southwestern’s new head coach this season. He was a standout receiver for Emporia State from 1999-2003 was a four-time All-Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association.
Saturday’s matchup features two of the more prominent passing attacks in the conference. Henderson is third in the league with an average of 286 passing yards per game, while Southwestern is fifth at 251.7 yards per game.
Henderson leads the series, 8-2, with six wins in a row. Southwestern’s last win against Henderson came in 2011.
The Reddies have struggled of late in contests at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium and Ruggles Field. Henderson is just 1-6 in its last seven home games. The Reddies hold a 31-15 record at home since 2010.
Wide receiver John Murray was one of the bright spots for Henderson at Northwestern. He set new career-highs with nine catches for 176 yards.
His 176 receiving yards was the most by any Reddie in a game since 2014, when Darius Davis caught four passes for 181 yards and three touchdowns in a 24-3 win over Arkansas Tech. Murray is second on the team this season with 16 catches for 243 yards.
Running back Logan Moragne punched in the first two scores of his Henderson career against Northwestern. He finished with 20 carries for 87 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Reddies’ rushing attack. He has 50 carries for 227 yards this season and averages
4.3 yards per carry.
Quarterback Richard Stammetti passed for more than 300 yards for the second straight game, completing 21 of 42 passes for 309 yards with two interceptions and a touchdown. Stammetti has thrown for 858 yards and seven touchdowns in his first three games.
Receiver Chase Lodree leads the Reddies with 17 catches for 284 yards, third-most in the GAC, and three touchdowns. He averages
94.7 receiving yards per game. Linebackers Cameron Schulz and Kahlil Mitchell are the team leaders with 3.5 tackles for loss each as 14 different Reddies have registered a tackle for a loss this season. Cameron Sonnier leads the team in total tackles with
26 stops and also boasts three tackles for loss and an interception.
The Reddies have outgained their opponents, 858-682, through the air, but have been outgained on the ground, 672-291. Henderson is 11th in the GAC in rushing offense and averages 97 yards per game.
Henderson is a perfect 10-for-10 in the red zone this season, including seven touchdowns. The Reddies are the only team with a perfect red zone scoring percentage in the conference.
They are also among the least penalized teams in the conference. They have just 107 total penalty yards this season, compared to
261 combined yards for their opponents. Freshman kicker Temo Martinez is off to a perfect start in his Henderson career. He is 10for-10 on extra points this season and is 3-for3 on field goals. He kicked his career-long of
34 yards at Northwestern. Henderson struggled on third down against Northwestern. They are just 14-for48, 29 percent, on third down conversions this season after going 2-for-16 last week.
The Bulldogs were 3-8 last season and were picked 10th in the GAC preseason poll. They turned heads in the opening game with a 49-35 win against Arkansas-Monticello (12). Quarterback Casey Freeman earned GAC Offensive Player of the Week honors after throwing for 416 yards and seven touchdowns with no interceptions.
Southwestern has since lost, 41-8, at Ouachita Baptist and Southern Arkansas. Freeman has thrown for 728 yards and nine touchdowns this season.
Running back Kyshawn Richards leads the GAC in all-purpose yards and has 212 rushing yards, 92 receiving yards and 190 kick return yards this year. Three different receivers have two touchdowns this season for the Bulldogs.
Southwestern looks to linebacker Braden Sweet and defensive lineman T.J. Harris to lead the defense. Sweet has 15 tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and 0.5 sacks, while Harris has 14 tackles, two stops for loss and one sack. Linebacker Clay Wilkerson leads the team with 16 tackles on the year.
The program’s last winning season came
in 2015, when the Bulldogs went
8-4 in the GAC. They are just
10-16 since with only three wins on the road.
Quarterback Evan Lassiter and Malik Brown led Henderson to a 37-14 win last season against Southwestern in Weatherford, Okla. Lasster threw for 301 yards and three touchdowns. Brown made two of Henderson’s three interceptions as the Reddies converted 8 of 15 third downs in the game.
Saturday is Family Day at Henderson. Check-in begins at
1:30 p.m. at the Duke Wells Center, along with games and activities. Attractions include a live DJ, photo booth, dunk tank, face painting, bounce houses, an obstacle course and a rock climbing wall.
Fans will be able to interact with the football team and cheer squad between 2-3 p.m. Tailgate options will be available beginning at 4 p.m.
The cost of a tailgate meal is
$4 plus tax per person between
4-6 p.m. The meal will be provided in the dining hall on the main campus in case of inclement weather from 3:30-5:30 p.m.
Buses will be staged at the corner of 12th and Wilson streets two and a half hours prior to kickoff. The shuttles will also run up to an hour after the game ends.