ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Arkansas Tech football team nearly pulled off an upset win on the road on Saturday afternoon at nationally-ranked Henderson State but ultimately lost in heartbreaking fashion by a score of 28-27.
The heartbreak for the Wonder Boys came in the form of a blocked field goal on what was a potential go-ahead 29-yard kick with just seven seconds left in the game. Henderson State recovered the ball following the block and took a knee to officially end the game.
Getting to that point with a chance to win, however, showed a remarkable amount of resilience by the Wonder Boys as they found themselves down 14-0 after the end of the first quarter. Their first points of the game didn't come until 5:13 left before halftime when
Carter Hensley connected with
Gavin Waits on a 27-yard pass.
On the ensuing possession, Henderson was driving the ball and had it down to the Tech 34-yardline before the Wonder Boys forced a fumble and recovered it for a 49-yard scoop-and-score to tie the game at 14-all.
The Reddies managed to score right before the end of the half and carried a 21-14 lead into the locker room.
Tech had the initial possession of the second half and proceeded to go on a 9-play, 70-yard drive that ended with a 23-yard passing TD from Hensley to
JD DeCausmaker. The Wonder Boys were an extra-point away from tying the game again, but a bad snap resulted in a failed attempt, keeping Henderson in the lead, 21-20.
Shortly thereafter, however, the Wonder Boys defense came up with another big turnover as
Julien Lopez intercepted Austin Ledbetter at the HSU 48-yardline and returned it 26 yards to the HSU 22-yardline. Three quick plays later and the Wonder Boys were in the endzone once more, this time on a 12-yard pass from
Lathan Boone to
Trey Nelson. Tech would elect to kick the extra point and were successful, putting them up 27-21 with 5:08 to play in the third quarter.
The Reddies had an answer on their next possession and scored with 1:17 left on the third quarter clock. A successful point-after-try put them back in the lead 28-27.
The fourth quarter did not yield any points from either side, but the tension was still at a high level.
After having to punt the ball away on their first drive of the fourth quarter, the Wonder Boys forced another turnover, this time a fumble on fourth down. They would get the ball to the HSU 42-yardline before the ensuing drive stalled. The Wonder Boys opted for field position and punted the ball back to Henderson with 5:18 left on the clock. The punt was masterful by
Angus Greaves as he dropped it inside the five-yardline where a Tech special teamer was able to down the ball at the HSU 2-yardline.
The Reddies were able to move out from the shadow of their own endzone on the first play of the drive and got the ball near midfield, but a holding penalty followed by an illegal substitution flag pushed them back to their own 27-yardline. The drive stalled shortly thereafter and the Wonder Boys would get the ball back on a punt with 1:28 to play.
Forced to use their timeouts on defense, the Wonder Boys were in the two-minute drill with time not on their side. On three pass plays, however, the Wonder Boys were able to get the ball from their 37-yardline to the HSU 31-yardline. Tech then took consecutive shots into the endzone and neither were completed, but the second drew a pass interference penalty, making it 1
st-and-10 from the HSU 13-yardline with 10 seconds left.
The Wonder Boys tried one final shot in the endzone, but the pass was broken up, leaving five seconds on the clock. Tech then trotted out their field goal unit for the potential go-ahead and winning kick from 29 yards out. Prior to the try, Henderson used their first timeout of the second half.
Out of the timeout, the Wonder Boys lined up for the kick. The snap was good, the hold was good and the kick was on its way, but a Reddie defender, who was making a leaping effort from his backfield position was able to get a hand on the kick, denying the Wonder Boys the potential upset victory.
The Wonder Boys will now prepare for a second-straight road game as they will now head to Bethany, Oklahoma to take on Southern Nazarene. That game is scheduled for a 2 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, October 31.
