Henderson State quarterback Nick Hardesty’s passing and Arkansas Tech’s turnovers were too much for the Wonder Boys to overcome Saturday night at Thone Stadium at Buerkle Field.
The Reddies (2-1 overall, 1-0 Gulf South Conference) defeated Arkansas Tech 45-21 to end the Wonder Boys’ home winning streak at eight consecutive games.
Hardesty completed 35-of-53 passes for 521 yards and five touchdowns, while Arkansas Tech (1-2, 0-1) was plagued by turnovers for a third consecutive game to begin the 2010 season.
The Wonder Boys committed six turnovers — three of which came inside the HSU 20-yard line. Tech has committed 17 turnovers through its first three games this season.
Henderson State raced out to a 28-7 lead, but touchdown passes of 11 yards from Rico Keller to Whisley Laurent and five yards from Keller to Roger Jackson allowed the Wonder Boys to climb to within 28-21 with 6:21 left in the third quarter.
That was as close as Tech could get. Eric Torres made a 31-yard field goal for HSU with 1:04 remaining in the third period. Tech’s ensuing drive was halted when Henderson State’s Kyle Mathieu made an interception at the Reddies’ 4-yard line.
Two more Hardesty touchdown passes early in the fourth quarter — a 10-yard strike to George Lewis and a 26-yard toss to Chris Evering — increased the Henderson State lead to 45-21 with 11 minutes to go.
Evering made eight catches for 138 yards and two touchdowns for the Reddies.
Keller, a redshirt freshman who saw his first action as a Wonder Boy, completed 23-of-41 passes for 254 yards and three touchdowns. He missed Tech’s first two games of 2010 due to injury.
Jackson caught 11 passes for 126 yards and two touchdowns for the Wonder Boys. Antonio Charles made 11 tackles to lead the Wonder Boys’ defense.
Arkansas Tech will visit Arkansas-Monticello for a 6 p.m. game at Cotton Boll Stadium in Monticello on Saturday, Sept. 25.
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