ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – SWOSU Football was within one touchdown at halftime against Henderson State and had the game within three points midway through the third quarter following a Bulldog field goal, but ran out of juice as the Reddies scored 14 unanswered points to close out the game.
Henderson State entered Thursday's matchup receiving votes in the AFCA preseason poll. The Bulldogs went toe to toe with them for three quarters, before HSU finally took control of the game for good.
Special Teams kept the Dawgs in the game in the first half while the offense settled in. Trailing 6-0 after Henderson State missed an extra point on their first score,
Jalen Lampley took a punt return 65 yards to the house to give SWOSU a 7-6 lead with 8:48 remaining in the first quarter.
Henderson State slowly added another field goal in the first quarter and another touchdown early in the second quarter and extended the lead back out to two scores.
With the first half winding down and trailing 16-7, SWOSU orchestrated an 11-play drive that spanned nearly the entire length of the field. The Dawgs were knocking at the door in the redzone and threatening for more than just a field goal but were unable to cross the goal line and settled for three points instead off the foot of
Jaren Van Winkle.
During the drive, quarterback
Tylan Morton connected on a 53-yard third-down pass to Lampley that jumpstarted the score.
At halftime, SWOSU trailed 16-10.
After a defensive stop out of the locker room, the offense clicked with a productive drive but had nothing to show for it following a turnover on downs on the Reddie 26-yard line.
Zack Roberts kept the momentum on the Bulldog's side right afterwards when he intercepted an overthrown ball that had SWOSU right back in business. It was the second turnover the defense came up with on the night, with
Logan Engle also recovering a fumble previously the first quarter.
They couldn't cash a touchdown in but managed another field goal to chip away at the margin further – now trailing 16-13.
The Reddies scored touchdowns on their next two possessions and pushed the lead out to 30-13 early in the fourth quarter where it remained the rest of the way.
Henderson State finished with 444 yards of total offense, but that did not quite tell the story of SWOSU's defense. The Bulldogs won the turnover battle 2-0 and came away with three sacks on the night and five tackles for loss. With the offense sputtering at times, the defense kept the Dawgs in the game with timely stops.
Mason Daugherty led the way with a team best seven tackles.
SWOSU totaled 288 total yards in the game: 222 yards through the air and 66 on the ground.
Morton finished 18-for-39 passing and rushed for eight yards if you account for the sacks that affected his final yardage. He had the longest run of the night for 17 yards.
Running backs
Dexter Brown and
Carlin Fils-Aime toted the rock 26 times combined for just 57 yards combined.
Deshon Moreaux led all receivers with six catches for 44 yards.
SWOSU hosts Southern Arkansas next week in the Flex-Chem Football Classic. That game is scheduled for Saturday, September 10 at 6pm.
