RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Playing in front of a Homecoming crowd for the first time since 2019, the Arkansas Tech football team nearly gave the home crowd a thrilling upset victory over nationally-ranked No. 20 Henderson State on Saturday afternoon out at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field. In the upset bid attempt, Tech scored 21 fourth quarter points to force overtime, but Henderson State scored a touchdown on their first possession of OT to stave off the loss.
 
After a relatively routine first three quarters of play, things picked up in a wild way in the fourth quarter.
 
Just prior to the start of the fourth quarter, Henderson State was 20-14 and had the ball with 1^st-and-Goal from the Tech 5-yardline. Facing the possibility of going down two scores heading into the fourth quarter, the Wonder Boys (2-6, 2-6 GAC) defense came up with a huge stop as Tyrus Fort forced a fumble on the Reddies (7-1, 7-1 GAC) ball carrier. Tech's Matt Arnold came up with the recovery in the endzone for a touchback.
 
On the first play of the ensuing drive, the Wonder Boys went into their bag of tricks and brought CJ Palmer in motion where he caught a shovel pass from Jack Lindsey and raced 49 yards down the field to the Henderson State 31-yardline. That momentum play sent the game to the fourth quarter and set the stage for a wild final 15 minutes-plus of game time.
 
Seven plays later, the Wonder Boys cashed the defensive turnover into points as Ron Thompson scored from four yards out to tie the game at 20-all. A good extra point by Jesus Zizumbo followed to give the Wonder Boys a one-point lead, 21-20 with 12:12 left to play.
 
The Reddies answered right back on their next drive and scored a touchdown to make it a 26-21 score pending any kind of extra point. The Reddies elected to go for two to try and make it a seven-point game. The attempt was successful and now it was Henderson out in front, 28-21 with 8:21 left in the fourth quarter.
 
Undeterred, the Wonder Boys got the ball back and their offense was still rolling. In just three short plays, Tech was in HSU territory. Six plays later, Tech's Brennon Lewis made a spectacular acrobatic catch in the endzone for what was a nine-yard touchdown. Following a successful extra point, the sore was knotted at 28-all with 5:26 remaining in regulation.
 
A quick 10-yard pass play on Henderson's first play on their ensuing possession seemed like it might spark some momentum for HSU, but the Wonder Boys' defense stood tall on the next three plays and forced a punt as the Reddies were faced with 4^th-and-6 from their own 39-yardline.
 
In forcing the punt attempt, it appeared that the Wonder Boys would be getting the ball back with just over four minutes left with a chance to engineer the game's final drive. Unfortunately a five-yard special teams penalty was called on Tech and after it was assessed and Henderson faced with 4^th-and-1 from their 44-yardline, the Reddies elected to go for it on 4^th down and converted to keep their drive alive.
 
Two plays later, the Reddies scored on a 54-yard pass to go up 35-28 with 3:24 to go.
 
The ensuing kickoff by Henderson went out of bounds, giving the Wonder Boys great field position at their own 35-yardline.
 
Once more, the Wonder Boys were determined on the offensive end and four plays into their drive, they were in Reddies territory with the game clock dwindling.
 
With 16 seconds left and facing 3^rd-and-1 from the HSU 20-yardline, Thompson's number was called and he rumbled 15 yards down to the HSU 5-yardline where timeout was called with 10 seconds left. On the next play, Lindsey connected with freshman tight end Jordan Edington for a touchdown with just five seconds left on the game clock in regulation. Zizumbo was then good on the extra point attempt to tie the game at 35-all.
 
Wiling to send the game to overtime, the Reddies took a knee on their final play following a touchback on the kickoff.
 
Before the start of overtime, Henderson State won the coin toss and elected to play defense so they knew what they needed to accomplish on their first possession in OT.
 
Tech's first play in overtime saw Thompson gain 10 yards and get down to the HSU 15-yardline. Two plays later, the Wonder Boys were faced with 3^rd-and-3 from the HSU 8-yardline. Looking to pick up the first down and continue the drive, the Wonder Boys called upon a new wildcat formation with Tyler Polk receiving the direct snap. Prior to that play, Polk had rushed 10 times for 55 yards.
 
Unfortunately, Polk was only able to gain a yard on the play, making it 4^th-and-2. The Wonder Boys then called upon Zizumbo for the chip-shot field goal attempt. Zizumbo was good from 24 yards out and Tech took a 38-35 lead.
 
The Wonder Boys now needed to hold Henderson to just a field goal at worst to keep the game going into a second overtime. The Reddies, however needed just two pass plays to score the game-winning touchdown and hand the Wonder Boys a gut-wrenching defeat.
 
The Wonder Boys will now prepare for their final road trip of the season as they are set to travel to Weatherford, Okla, to take on Southwestern Oklahoma. The game against the Bulldogs is scheduled for a 5:30 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, October 30.