RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – An upset of nationally-ranked No. 23 Henderson State on Hall of Fame weekend was definitely on the minds of the Arkansas Tech football team heading into the game on Saturday afternoon, and it nearly came to fruition.
After winning the coin toss and deferring to the second half, the Wonder Boys sent their defense out first against Henderson. The Reddies were ready for the early offensive call as they engineered a methodical 14-play, 75-yard drive that ate up the first five and a half minutes of the game clock. That initial drive ended with a one-yard plunge by the Henderson tailback Jaquarion Turner.
The Wonder Boys were also up to the task for their first offensive drive of the game as they put together a methodical drive that also saw 14 plays be run. Tech's drive, however, was longer with 6:28 of time, but was also forced to settle for three points as the Reddies made a key sack on third-and-six from their own seven-yard line.
The three points were put on the board thanks to a made field goal from 38 yards out by
Austin Hosier.
Henderson would go on to score a touchdown on their next possession as it looked like the game, now in the early part of the second quarter, might be shaping up to be a shootout.
That theory grew some metaphorical legs not long afterwards as the Wonder Boys struck for a quick touchdown on their ensuing possession to make it a 14-10 game. The score came on just the second play of Tech's drive and saw junior transfer
Caleb Tanis simply outrun the Henderson secondary after catching the ball right around mid-field. All-told, Tanis' touchdown reception went for 63 yards with about 60 of those being after the catch.
The Wonder Boys' defense then made the game's first defensive stop as they forced the Reddies to punt from their own 48-yard line. The good feelings from stop were not able to last long, however, as the Reddies intercepted the ball on the first play of Tech's ensuing drive, giving the Reddies the ball back at the Tech 22-yard line.
Despite having to defend a short field, the Wonder Boys' defense was able to force a three-and-out, making the Reddies attempt a 39-yard field goal. That attempt would sail right of the upright, keeping it a 14-10 score.
Tech was then shut down on their next possession and forced to punt after a three-and-out.
Henderson would then put together another lengthy drive, but after getting the ball to the Tech 5-yard line, the Wonder Boys' defense stood tall and pushed the Reddies back three yards over the next three plays to make them have to attempt a 25-yard field goal. The kick was good, giving Henderson a 17-10 lead.
With just over four minutes left to play, the Wonder Boys would connect for another big play that resulted in a touchdown. This time it was
Taye Gatewood completing a pass to
Matthew Rivera over the middle that saw Rivera slice through the Reddies' secondary and eventually out-race them to the endzone for a 61-yard touchdown, suddenly tying the game at 17-all.
The two teams traded punts over the next two possessions as the game neared the half.
With the final possession of the first half going to the Reddies with just 50 seconds left, Henderson was able to move the ball down to the Tech 16-yard line before calling a timeout with three seconds left to set up a field goal attempt as time expired in the first half.
The kick attempt was from 33 yards, but it was blocked by Tech's Tryique Jones and recovered by
Matt Arnold. Arnold would have a return of 27 yards before being taken down. A declined penalty on Tech would have negated any longer of a return, so the game went into halftime tied at 17-all.
The third quarter was won by the Reddies on the scoreboard as they out-scored Tech 10-0 in the period. The first points of the quarter for Henderson was a 27-yard field goal while the second was an 11-yard touchdown pass.
After struggling offensively in the third quarter, the Wonder Boys found their footing once more in the fourth. After turning the Reddies over on downs on the first drive of the fourth quarter, the Wonder Boys got the ball back on their own 25-yardline and started to get things rolling.
Tech would go on a 10-play, 75-yard drive that ended on a four-yard touchdown grab by Tanis as he high-pointed a well-placed ball from Gatewood in the left-corner of the endzone. That score pulled Tech within three points of the Reddies, 27-24.
After a big completion on first down to start the drive, the Wonder Boys forced the Reddies backwards with a no gain rush and three-straight sacks. All three of those sacks were made by
Vershaud Richardson with his third also forcing a fumble on 4
th-and-16. Tech did recover the ball, but the sack on fourth down made things elementary in terms of Tech getting the ball back.
The Wonder Boys, thanks to amazing defensive stop, now had a chance to either tie the score or potentially go-ahead as they got the ball back with 4:22 left on the clock.
On the second play of that drive, the Wonder Boys got a monster catch down the sideline from
Joyrion Chase to bring the ball all the way down to the Henderson 23-yard line. The Wonder Boys would gain nine yards on the next three plays to set up a massive 4
th-and-1 from the Henderson 20-yard line.
Now with under two minutes left, the Wonder Boys elected to go for it to continue their drive. The fourth-down try appeared like it might have had enough initially to get the first down out-right, but a placement of the ball fell just short after the chains were brought out. Obviously with the game on the line, the Wonder Boys utilized their challenge flag in hopes of having video replay overturn the call on the field.
Unfortunately, after review, the call was upheld on the field and the Wonder Boys turned the ball over on down with 1:54 to play.
Playing cautiously, the Reddies opted for three-straight rushing plays. The Tech defense was up fotr the challenge and did not allow a first down, forcing Henderson to punt from their own 23-yard line. This would allow the Wonder Boys one final chance at driving the ball down the field for a potential game-tying field goal.
That last chance came with 31 seconds on the clock, no timeouts and a starting point of their own 40-yard line. Unfortunately, the Reddie defense stood its tallest of the night and recorded consecutive sacks and ended the game on an interception in the waining seconds.
The Wonder Boys will look to bounce back following their third-straight tough one-possession defeat as they are set to travel to Magnolia next Saturday to take on Southern Arkansas. Kick-off is scheduled for 6 p.m.
