BETHANY - Despite holding a 10-7 lead at halftime, the Southern Nazarene football team could not maintain that advantage as Henderson State came-from-behind with 17 unanswered points in the second half to upend the Crimson Storm, 24-10, on Saturday afternoon at the SNU Football Field.
Southern Nazarene finished with 206 yards of total offense including 136 on the ground. On the other end, Henderson State went for 343 total yards, but their top-ranked GAC passing offense was held to a season-low in passing with 212 yards.
Henderson State first drive stalled, but a roughing the kicker penalty kept the drive alive. What seemed like a great stop by the defense turned into a 12 play, 75 yard drive. It was capped off by a one yard plunge Kody Whitaker to give the Reddies a 7-0 lead.
The two teams would trade three-and-outs, but a 10-yard sack by senior
Daniel Flynn flipped the field in favor of SNU. The Crimson Storm took over at their own 42 and went on a 10-play, 33-yard drive ending in a 42-yard field goal from senior
Carlos Anguiano to make it a 7-3 game.
Early in the second quarter, the Reddies moved into SNU territory before freshman
Noah Campbell stepped in front of a 3rd-and-6 pass, earning his first career interception and setting up the Crimson Storm with great field position.
Facing 3rd-and-16, sophomore
Gage Porter scrambled out of the pocket and found a seam, racing 52-yards to paydirt and giving Southern Nazarene a 10-7 lead while bringing a ton of life into the stadium.
The SNU defense continued to step up in a big way, limiting the Henderson State passing attack for most of the first half. SNU went on an eight-play, 42-yard drive, getting into HSU territory, but had nothing to show for and ended up punting.
With 1:20 to play in the half, Henderson State, with good field position, moved down to the SNU one yard line with 23 second to play and no timeouts remaining. A bad snap sent the Reddies all the way back to the 11. With the clock running, they elected to go for it, but Whitaker's pass was knocked away by junior Dorian Harris as time expired to keep SNU ahead 10-7 at the break.
In the second half, the SNU offense struggled to get much of anything going with three-and-outs on their first two drives. HSU took advantage of a short punt on their first drive and went 38-yards in seven plays, getting a 33 yard field goal from Temo Martinez to even the score at 10.
On Henderson's second possession, they marched 50 yards down the field in 13 plays and moved in inside the five yards line. Two plays later, HSU moved it to the two yard line and faced 3rd-and-goal. The SNU defense would hold on the next two downs, getting a huge goal line stop and keeping the game even at 10 a piece.
The SNU offense was able to get out of their own endzone with a first down, but a fumble gave the ball back to the Reddies, taking over at the SNU 21. Three plays later, junior Richard Stammetti completed a deflected pass to John Murray from eight yards out to put Henderson back ahead 17-10.
Southern Nazarene took possession into the fourth quarter, but another turnover deep in their own territory, this time an interception, spelled disaster for the Crimson Storm. The Reddies were able to punch it in with a three-play, nine-yard drive, thanks to a Querale Hall touchdown run from one yard out, to lead 24-10.
SNU was able to move it into HSU territory on their next drive, but eventually turned the ball over on downs. The Crimson Storm would have one final shot with 5:10 remaining after another stop by the Storm defense, but another turnover on downs closed the contest out.
Porter finished 6 of 12 for 40 yards while rushing 19 times for 96 yards and a score. Senior
Jacob Spady added 7 carries for 12 yards and was 6 of 9 for 30 yards. Sophomore
Nate Walker carried three times for 14 yards while junior
Reid Roelofs caught six passes for 37 yards.
For the Reddies, Stammetti was 16 of 33 for 212 yards with a touchdown and an interception while Hall rushed 15 times for 85 yards. Ben Johnson caught four balls for 76 yards while Ethan Lazarek had three catches for 41 yards.
Defensively, senior
Myles Roll had nine tackles while Harris added eight tackles and two pass breakups. Flynn had five tackles and a sack while senior Zach Loyd and freshman
Trevon Hadley each had half a sack.
Foe Henderson State, Cameron Sonnier had 12 tackles with a tackle for loss and a sack while Kahlil Mitchell had seven tackles, a tackle for loss, and a forced fumble.
Southern Nazarene moves to 1-4 on the season and 1-4 in GAC play. They will look to bounce back next weekend as they hit the road for Magnolia, Ark. at Wilkins Stadium at Rip Powell Field to take on No. 19/18 Southern Arkansas at 2 PM.
