SHAWNEE – Henderson State built an early lead and held off a late push from Oklahoma Baptist to earn a 28-14 victory Saturday at Crain Family Stadium. The Reddies improved to 2-0 overall and in Great American Conference play, while the Bison dropped to 0-2.
Quarterback Andrew Edwards set the tone for Henderson State, throwing a 94-yard touchdown strike to Maddox Davis on the Reddies' second play from scrimmage.
Edwards later connected with Aundreus Griffin on a 23-yard score to make it 14-0 at the 8:38 mark of the first. By that point, Edwards had already passed for 154 yards. The senior quarterback also added an 11-yard rushing touchdown in the second to extend the lead to 21-0. Edwards finished with 375 passing yards, two touchdowns, and one rushing score.
Oklahoma Baptist finally broke through late in the first half when
TJ McMahon found
Haydn Thornton for a four-yard touchdown, trimming the deficit to 21-7 at halftime. Henderson answered in the third stanza with a two-yard scoring run by Jeremiah Davis, capping an 88-yard drive that stretched the margin back to 21 points.
McMahon, who threw for 196 yards, connected with
Nick Harris on a 20-yard touchdown in the fourth quarter to bring OBU within 28-14. But Henderson's defense came up big, forcing four interceptions—including key picks by Bryant Hammond II and Markavious Justice—to seal the victory.
Davis was unstoppable, hauling in eight catches for 200 yards and a touchdown, while Jeremiah Davis paced the ground game with 81 rushing yards. Despite committing 17 penalties for 165 yards, Henderson State's explosive offense and opportunistic defense proved too much. The Reddies piled up 568 yards of total offense
Garrett Vaughn led the Bison with career-highs in receptions (6) and yards (111) in the loss. Running back
Deuce Wise added 80 yards rushing with a 4.4 yards-per-carry average too.
Defensively,
Chase Whitebear had a superb game. He notched a goal-line interception in the first half, recovered a fumble and tied for team lead with eight stops. Defensive lineman
Jahden Brown also added eight tackles, with 2.0 tackles-for-loss and a sack.
Next week, the Bison will host Northwestern Oklahoma State (0-2) on Sept. 20 at 7 p.m.
