Reddies win, play Kansas team next

ARKADELPHIA — Sioux Falls’ eventful first appearance in the NCAA Division II playoffs ended Saturday. Meanwhile, Henderson State’s championship season continues, allowing the Reddies to play on Thanksgiving weekend.

The Reddies posted their 10th consecutive victory, 23-16 at Carpenter-Hagyood Stadium, in a kickoff pushed back four hours when a snowstorm grounded the Sioux Falls Cougars in South Dakota on Friday.

Henderson will be home next week against Emporia State (Kan.), which beat Minnesota State-Mankato 51-49 in another first-round game Saturday.

Although struggling through the

Oaklawn

Park air, Henderson quarterback Dallas Hardison ran for a touchdown and passed to Mark Czaus for another. Jaquan Cole’s 10-yard run in the first quarter gave the Reddies a 7-0 lead it pushed to 14-3 on Hardison’s one-yard sneak in the second quarter and 23-13 on a fourth-quarter safety recorded by safety Jordan Dominguez.

Henderson (11-1) won its third Great American Conference title in four years but was previously winless in two playoff games, both at home. The Reddies, ranked No. 8 in the American Football Coaches Association poll, are unbeaten since Week 2 when East Central spoiled its home opener in a Thursday-night game.

Sioux Falls, ranked 16th nationally,

Simulcast

Racing finished 9-3. The Cougars pulled within 14-13 on Brett Garner’s 21-yard field goal and Luke Papilion’s three-yard run, the 12th play of an 85-yard drive.

Hardison passed 18 yards to Czaus with 3:52 left in the third quarter, the Reddies going 69 yards in 12 plays in 5:44 for a 21-13 lead. Neither team scored after Garner’s 25-yard field goal, his third of the game, with 5:32 remaining on a 12-play, 91-yard march.

Cole carried 31 times for 147 yards, helping the Reddies withstand 279 yards passing by Papilion, who had three interceptions. Hardison accounted for 12 points despite completing only seven of 17 passes for 108 yards and absorbing three sacks.