LITTLE ROCK — A year ago this week, Henderson State was preparing for a game that would end up being its third loss in its first four games.
It was a puzzling start for the Reddies, who had won a share of the Gulf South Conference title the previous season. Henderson State was picked to win the new Great American Conference before the season, and was ranked among the top 25 teams in NCAA Division II.
Fast forward a year and the Reddies have won eight of their past nine games — including eight consecutive against Division II opponents — and have made their way back into the rankings at No. 24.
The reason for the turnaround are plentiful, but smoother execution of its complicated Spread offense is at the top of the list.
That has to do with sophomore quarterback Kevin Rodgers, who has completed 72.4 percent of his passes (71 for 98) for 1,183 yards (394.3 per game) through 3 games. His 17 touchdown passes are more than any other quarterback in the NCAA’s four divisions.
Rodgers has thrown only three interceptions, and his 224.9 pass efficiency rating ranks higher than anyone else in Division II with more than one game played.
“That’s something that we feel like we were missing is a quarterback,” receiver Dustin Holland said. “We definitely have one in Kevin Rodgers.”
Henderson State blew out Arkansas Tech 73-34 last week to move to 3-0 for the first time since 1981 and is averaging 61 points and 555 yards of total offense a game.
“It’s certainly been a blessing,” Rodgers said. “It’s been kind of a shock. I didn’t realize how good I was doing until people have come up to me to say something about it.”
Rodgers’ rise to the top of Division II’s statistical charts has been rapid. He came out of Heath High School in Rockwall, Texas, with few college options, and he was third on Henderson State’s depth chart coming out of spring practice in 2011.
About two weeks before signing day in 2010, Rodgers sent his highlight tape to about 10 schools — mostly Division II schools — and received only two responses.
Midwestern State, a Division II school in Wichita Falls, Texas, called to schedule a visit, but Rodgers didn’t hear much after he left. The other came from Henderson State, about which Rodgers admits he knew nothing.
“I just wanted to play football,” Rodgers said. “As a teenage kid, you’re not really thinking much.”
Henderson State offensive coordinator Mike Volarvich had been on the job for only a few weeks when he dived into a database that contained highlights from about 100 quarterbacks. He came across Rodgers’ film, and the quarterback’s accuracy, ability to run — though the Reddies don’t use it much — and roots in the Spread were reasons enough to invite him for a visit.
Volarvich said he believes the lack of interest shown by other schools was the product of playing in suburban Dallas, a region so deep in talent that not even all the schools in Texas can snatch up every talented player.
“There are a lot of good kids left behind,” said Volarvich, who coached at Blinn College in Brenham, Texas, for four years.
Rodgers redshirted in 2010 and struggled in the spring to get used to an offense that required more snap decisions than the Spread he operated in high school.
He returned to Arkadelphia for the latter part of that summer to watch film and learn from the coaches, and by the end of fall practice last year he had passed Hayden Smith, who is no longer with the team, for the No. 2 job and was pushing eventual starter Nathan Nall.
“He’d come over here and bug the heck out of you,” Coach Scott Maxfield said. “That’s where he made his biggest jump. He went from being the third-team guy to nearly being the No. 1 guy coming out of two-a-days.”
It took only a few weeks for Rodgers to make the next jump. The Reddies’ offense sputtered through the first 10 quarters of the season, before Rodgers entered in the second half of an eventual loss to Southwestern Oklahoma State. He started six of the remaining seven games and led the Reddies to five victories, including a season-ending victory against rival Ouachita Baptist.
He has been even better this year, throwing for 360 yards and 4 touchdown passes against Southern Nazarene, 442 yards and 7 touchdown passes against McKendree and 381 yards and 6 touchdown passes against Arkansas Tech. And he has more than two seasons left.
“I think the sky’s the limit,” Volarvich said. “It’ll be hard to keep pace, but I told someone that last week, too.”
Sports, Pages 23 on 09/21/2012