Griffons keep Reddies down

Henderson State linebacker Maxie Graham (hidden) throws down Missouri Western State wide receiver Tyron Crockom during the second half of Saturday’s NCAA Division II playoff game at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia. Missouri Western won 45-21. More photos available online at arkansasonline.com/galleries.
Henderson State linebacker Maxie Graham (hidden) throws down Missouri Western State wide receiver Tyron Crockom during the second half of Saturday’s NCAA Division II playoff game at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium in Arkadelphia. Missouri Western won 45-21. More photos available online at arkansasonline.com/galleries.

— Henderson State trailed by 17 points, but the Reddies saw an opening after recovering a fumble at the Missouri Western State 19 early in the third quarter of Saturday’s NCAA Division II playoff game.

“That was our opportunity to have a chance to make it a competitive game,” Henderson Coach Scott Maxfield said. “We just didn’t do it.”

Henderson State gained 2 yards in three plays, then a Charles Gonsalves field-goal attempt clanged off the left upright.

Three plays later, Raphael Spencer raced 63 yards untouched for a touchdown, and Missouri Western cruised from there, winning 45-21 in Henderson State’s first Division II playoff game in front of 5,069 at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium.

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Missouri Western State receiver Reggie Jordan (89) pulls in a touchdown pass in front of Henderson State defenders Keaton Stigger (44) and Tim Llewellyn (19) in the first half of the Griffons’ 45-21 victory in the first round of the NCAA Division II playoffs in Arkadelphia on Saturday.

“It sucked the life out of us,” said receiver Dustin Holland, who caught 10 passes for 103 yards. “You only get so many opportunities in this game and that was the biggest one. They capitalized and we didn’t.”

Henderson trailed 31-14 at halftime, thanks to two interceptions thrown by Kevin Rodgers. One set up a Missouri Western touchdown and another ended a Reddies drive inside the Griffons 20-yard line.

The Reddies’ third-quarter possessions ended with the missed field goal, a punt, an interception and another punt. In the end, they walked off the field with their 12-game winning streak snapped while settling for the school’s first 10-victory season and a Great American Conference championship.

The Reddies (10-1) out gained the Griffons (12-1) 480-437 in Henderson’s first postseason playoff game since the 1985 NAIA playoffs, and Rodgers completed 37 of 65 passes for 412 yards.

But Rodgers also threw a career-high four interceptions with only one touchdown pass and had eight passes batted down by Missouri Western’s big defensive linemen.

Maxfield wouldn’t blame all of Henderson State’s mistakes on its unfamiliarity with the playoffs. But he said twice he called for a special teams unit and only 10 players ran onto the field.

“That tells me there were guys who weren’t focused on what we were trying to do,” he said. “Maybe we were nervous and didn’t respond to the challenge like we needed to.”

Missouri Western entered Saturday on the heels of a triple-overtime victory over Minnesota-Duluth in the first round last week and have beaten the previous four Division II national champions this year.

But Griffons Coach Jerry Partridge, whose team lost its first three playoff games before its first victory last week, said postseason experience didn’t play a part Saturday.

“We were just better,” Partridge said. “Better football team today. That’s what happened.”

That became evident after Rodgers led a 66-yard drive that ended with Kevin Nichols’ touchdown run to put the Reddies up 7-0.

The Griffons scored on their next three possessions — Michael Hill’s 15-yard run, Travis Partridge’s 1-yard sneak and Taylor Anderson’s 45-yard field goal — and the Reddies, who hadn’t trailed by more than 10 points all season, were playing catchup the rest of the game.

Jarvis Smith’s 14-yard run got Henderson State within 17-14. But Travis Partridge, who completed 22 of 29 passes for 204 yards and 2 touchdowns, threw two touchdown passes to Reggie Jordan in the final four minutes of the half, the last coming with five seconds left to go up 31-14 at halftime.

“That would have been bad if we would have come up without points there,” said Jerry Partridge, the quarterback’s father. “It worked. It was a big moment.”

Missouri Western got the ball to start the second half, too, but Henderson’s Wesley Brady fell on a fumble by Tyrone Cockram at the 19.

Henderson State could not take advantage, and Missouri Western opened a 38-14 lead after Spencer’s run.

Travis Partridge, who was sacked three times, added a 5-yard touchdown run with 6:46 left before Rodgers’ 6-yard touchdown pass to Israel Valentin later in the fourth quarter.

“It’s disappointing,” said Rodgers, who finished the season with 4,002 yards passing with 41 touchdowns and 12 interceptions. “You know, it’s just coming out and just making reads. There were a couple of times where I didn’t make good reads. I just have to step it up. I just didn’t play my game today.”

NCAA Division II playoffs at a glance

SECOND ROUND

SATURDAY’S GAMES

Mo. Western 45, Henderson St. 21

West Texas A&M 33, Ashland 28 Indiana (Pa.) 17, New Haven 14 Valdosta State 49, West Alabama 21 Carson-Newman 38, Lenoir-Rhyne 35 Winston-Salem 37, Shippensburg 14 Minn. St. Mankato 38, NW Mo. St. 35 Colorado St.-Pueblo 28, Indianapolis 7

QUARTERFINALS

SATURDAY, DEC. 1

Winston-Salem (12-0) vs. Indiana (Pa.) (12-1), TBD Colorado State-Pueblo (12-0) vs. West Texas A&M (11-2), TBD Valdosta State (9-2) vs. Carson-Newman (9-2), TBD Minnesota State Mankato (12-0) vs. Missouri Western State (12-1), TBD

Scoring summary

Missouri Western 17 14 7 7 — 45 Henderson State (10-1) 7 7 0 7 — 21 First quarter HSU—Nichols 1 run (Gonsalves kick), 10:23 MW—Hill 15 run (Taylor kick), 8:40 MW—Partridge 1 run (Taylor kick), 7:13 MW—FG Anderson 45, :29 Second quarter HSU—Smith 14 run (Gonsalves kick), 8:50 MW—Jordan 6 pass from Partridge (Taylor kick), 3:42 MW—Jordan 1 pass from Partridge (Taylor kick), :05 Third quarter MW—Spencer 63 run (Taylor kick), 12:04 Fourth quarter MW—Partridge 5 run (Taylor kick), 6:46 HSU—Valentin 6 pass from Rodgers (Gonsalves kick), 3:48 Attendance—5,069

Sports, Pages 32 on 11/25/2012

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