Edwards, Reddies pass Weevils, 42-14
MONTICELLO — Andrew Edwards was nearly perfect on a day Henderson State University nearly collected 600 yards of offense.
Edwards completed 22 of 27 passes for 295 yards and four touchdowns, leading the Reddies to a 42-14 victory over the University of Arkansas at Monticello before 1,659 fans at Willis “Convoy” Leslie-Cotton Boll Stadium. Henderson (6-2 overall and Great American) had 584 total yards to UAM’s 251.
“He’s very consistent, a good player,” Reddies Coach Scott Maxfield said of Edwards, last season’s Great American Conference freshman of the year from Bentonville. “Did a good job for the most part. He’s one of the best we’ve had around here, and he’s continuing to play well.”
Edwards threw touchdowns to four different receivers, including a 74-yard pass to tight end Cayden Davis early in the second quarter. The Reddies’ other two touchdowns came on the ground, where they totaled 289 yards on 45 carries.
Korien Burrell rushed 12 times for 99 yards and a touchdown. Fredrick O’Donald had 12 carries for 97 yards.
The running game wasn’t working nearly as well for the Boll Weevils (26 overall), who have lost six straight and were held to 17 yards on 30 carries. Buddy Taylor threw 14 of 32 for 234 yards and a touchdown, but he was sacked nine times.
“A couple of times, that was not on our offensive line,” Weevils Coach Hud Jackson said. “There were a couple of times Buddy was seeing something that he shouldn’t be seeing. He needs to get rid of the football. Our offensive line is a good line. There were probably six of them that weren’t sacks.”
UAM’s longest play on offense was a 42-yard delivery from Taylor to Jordan
Mansfield on the first play of the fourth quarter. That ended a shutout bid by Henderson at 28-0, yet it wasn’t the longest scoring play.
Senior Brycen Leblanc a wide receiver-turned-defensive back, recovered a Burrell fumble and returned it 99 yards to pull UAM within 35-14 with 3:35 left. That broke a record for longest defensive scoring play dating back to 1978, when John Tatum went 98 yards against Southern Arkansas University.
“Sad part, in that process, we might have lost him,” Jackson said, noting Leblanc was injured on the play. “He pulled something. That’s just the nature of this game.”
Arlie Lee pulled down three passes for 92 yards to lead UAM receivers. He came up with catches in heavy coverage and even aided a third-quarter drive that went down to the Henderson 3, only for the Reddies to force a turnover on downs.
Edwards threw touchdown passes to Elijah George (18 yards), Davis (74), O’Donald (13) and Micah Greene (11). He ran from two yards out for a touchdown and Burrell added the final score on a 3-yard carry with 41 seconds left.
Henderson led 28-0 at halftime.
“We gave up big plays, and when you get them on third down, you’ve got to make stops,” Jackson said. “The second half, I thought our guys played better. But, look, I’m not going to make excuses. We got beat. I think it’s frustrating. The only thing that’s coming out of this is that we’ve got guys getting quality reps just because of where we’re at. Defensively, they were really good up front.”
UAM will play at Oklahoma Baptist University in Shawnee at 2 p.m. next Saturday, then host Southern Nazarene University in the Nov. 4 home finale and visit Southern Arkansas to finish the season Nov. 11.