WEATHERFORD, Okla. – The SWOSU Football team made their Return to the Gridiron on Thursday night as they hosted Henderson State in the SWOSU Kickoff Classic, but the result went the way of the Reddies as HSU claimed a 31-13 victory at Flex-Chem Field.
Miscues marred the first half for SWOSU, with the Dawgs having a touchdown called back by a penalty on the first drive before turning the ball over on downs at the HSU five-yard line later on the first play of the second quarter. Two more SWOSU drives would reach the red zone, with the first halted by a sack and ensuing penalty, while an interception stalled out the next drive at the 18-yard line and sent the Dawgs to halftime trailing 14-0.
Momentum turned in the home teams favor in the third quarter, with
Derrius Franklin intercepting an HSU pass to end their first drive and set up the Bulldogs first score. Quarterback
Tanner Griffin guided the Dawgs 64 yards in eight plays and got SWOSU on the board with a 21-yard scoring strike to
Deshon Moreaux at the 9:39 mark of the quarter. HSU answered with a scoring drive, but SWOSU again got on the board with a one-yard plunge into the end zone by Griffin that made it 21-13 with 3:01 to play in the quarter.
Courtney Ledyard recorded a sack on third-and-eight to halt HSU's next possession and give the ball back to the Dawgs in a one-score game early in the fourth quarter, but the Bulldogs were undone by an interception near midfield that took away the momentum. HSU would add 10 points in the final quarter to close out the 31-13 road win.
Griffin finished 23-for-39 for 269 yards and a touchdown, but was picked off three times in his Bulldog debut while
Nate Davis rushed for a team-high 47 yards on eight carries. Nine different receivers caught a pass in the game, with
Justin Bailey leading the way with four receptions for 81 yards while Moreaux had three catches for 40 yards and a touchdown.
Orlando Brown led the Dawgs with nine tackles (four solo, five assist) while
Davotrick Dotrey had eight stops (four solo, four assist) in the game.
Courtney Ledyard had the Dawgs lone sack, while
Nate Burnard had three tackles for loss.
Derrius Franklin hauled in the first interception of the season for SWOSU and joined
Donovan Jemerson with pass breakups for SWOSU.
SWOSU, now 0-1 on the year, will return to action next Saturday, September 11th, with a trip to Magnolia, Ark., to face Southern Arkansas.
