RUSSELLVILLE -- Henderson State's starting quarterback watched Saturday night's game from the sideline, not far from its best running back -- last year's Great American Conference Offensive Player of the Year -- who didn't even dress.
Considering the missing pieces, Reddies Coach Scott Maxfield wasn't sure what he was in for Saturday night at Thone Stadium.
Junior Evan Lassiter, making his first collegiate start, two experienced receivers and a stingy defense gave them enough.
Lassiter threw two touchdown passes to senior Al Lasker in the first half and Henderson State's fast start was enough to hold off a late charge by Arkansas Tech in a 27-20 victory on Saturday night.
Lassiter, who was the team's punter last season, had to do much of the work himself when Arkansas Tech (2-3, 2-3) shut down Henderson State's running game. He was fine with that, completing 26 of 37 passes for 311 yards and the 2 touchdown passes to Lasker that gave the Reddies, ranked No. 7 in NCAA Division II, a 20-10 halftime lead and set them on their way to their Division II-leading 25th consecutive road victory.
"If we had seven blockers, they had eight guys, if we had six blockers, they had seven guys," Maxfield said of a running game that was held to 43 yards. "They were forcing us to throw the ball, so that's what we did."
Maxfield didn't hesitate to throw even with Andrew Black on the sideline nursing a shoulder injury. Maxfield said Black could have been used in an emergency, but running back Jaquan Cole didn't dress while trying to recover from an ankle injury.
Both should be fine for next week's game against No. 20 Harding, which will be a battle of GAC unbeatens thanks to Lassiter's ability to find Lasker and Courtney Whitehead in man-to-man coverage.
Lasker caught touchdown passes of 5 and 11 yards in the first half, while Whitehead caught 7 passes for 165 yards, including a 55-yarder on the first drive of the third quarter that led to Jeremy Smith's 3-yard touchdown run and gave the Reddies a 27-10 lead.
"I knew going into the game we had an opportunity to have big plays through the air and we did," Lassiter said.
Arkansas Tech was forced into an alternative plan because the absence of its starting quarterback, too. Ty Reasnor is out for the season after he broke his wrist last week, then developed a staph infection. He spent Saturday night at local hospital, Coach Raymond Monica said.
Monica moved Jabyes Cross, his leading receiver, to quarterback with Reasnor out and tried to develop a game plan around a running game.
The Wonder Boys rushed 59 times for 190 yards, good for 3.2 yards per carry. Cross was 15 of 19 for 184 yards with 1 touchdown, which covered 31 yards to J.V. Davis with 1:23 left to get within 27-20. The Reddies recovered the onside kick and were able to run out the clock.
"It's not just losing a quarterback, you're losing a wideout too," Monica said of the change. "[Cross will] play and he'll compete and he'll make some plays and he'll make some things happen."
SOUTHERN ARKANSAS 37,
SOUTHERN NAZARENE 20
Quarterback Barrett Renner completed 28 of 38 passes for 296 yards and 2 touchdowns and ran for another score to lead Southern Arkansas (4-1, 4-1 Great American Conference) past Southern Nazarene (0-5, 0-5) in front of 5,216 at Wilkins Stadium in Magnolia. Renner threw second-quarter touchdowns of 39 yards to Jonathan Weisheit and 9 yards to Tanner Hudson to give the Muleriders a 16-0 lead. His 3-yard touchdown run with 6:19 left in the third quarter upped the advantage to 23-6. Michael Nunnery, who rushed for 129 yards, and Keiandre Purifoy added fourth-quarter touchdowns for SAU.
The Muleriders had 544 yards of total offense to 268 for the Crimson Storm.
ARKANSAS-MONTICELLO 31, OKLAHOMA BAPTIST 27
Cole Sears threw an 18-yard touchdown pass to Jalen Tolliver with 3:34 left in the fourth quarter to lead Arkansas-Monticell0 (2-3, 2-3 GAC) over Oklahoma Baptist (2-3, 2-3) in front of 1,500 at Cotton Boll Stadium in Monticello. The loss broke a two-game losing streak for the Boll Weevils. UAM’s game-winning score came just minutes after Oklahoma Baptist’s Dawson Myers gave the Bison a 27-24 lead on a 38-yard touchdown run. Sears completed 21 of 41 passes for 320 yards and the lone touchdown to Tolliver who had 9 catches for 147 yards. The Boll Weevils also got a big game from Imani Riley who rushed for 154 yards and a touchdown on 30 carries. UAM converted 10 of 17 (59 percent) third downs and had 461 yards of total offense to the Bison’s 397.
NCAA DIVISION III
HENDRIX 35, CENTRE 28
Seth Peters threw two first-quarter touchdowns to Nate Hodapp and ran for another in the second to lead Hendrix (4-0, 2-0 Southern Athletic Association) past Centre (4-1, 2-1) in front of 1,704 at Young-Wise Memorial Stadium in Conway.
Peters and Hodapp connected for 29-and 5-yard scores to give the Warriors an early 21-7 lead. After the Colonels cut the deficit to 21-13, Peters raced 54 of his game-high 178 yards with 3:52 left in the second quarter to give the Warriors a 28-13 advantage.
Centre scored consecutive touchdowns to tie the score 28-28 early in the second half before Hendrix’s Dayton Winn went over for his second 1-yard touchdown with 6:32 left in the third quarter for the eventual-game winner.
The four-play, 84-yard drive was aided by Peters’ 68-yard run from the Hendrix 16.
Winn added 89 yards on 17 carries for the Warriors.
LYON 48,
SW ASSEMBLIES OF GOD 42, OT
Dwane Robinson ran for a 12-yard touchdown in overtime to give Lyon (2-4, 1-1 Central States Football) the victory over Southwest Assemblies of God (2-3, 0-1) at Pioneer Stadium in Batesville.
The Scots trailed 42-27 with 6:24 left in the fourth quarter but got a 35-yard touchdown from Robinson and a 6-yard scoring pass from Robinson to Jonathan Hendrix with 46 seconds remaining to force overtime.
Robinson rushed 21 times for 175 yards for 4 touchdowns. He completed 12 of 20 passes for 118 yards and another score. Michael Bowles added 161 yards on 23 carries and 1 touchdown for the Scots.
Sports on 10/02/2016