CONWAY, Ark. - The Hendrix College football team fought hard for a comeback victory against Southern athletic Association foe #25 Centre College, but the Warriors came up just short in the foutrh quarter, falling 35-26 on Saturday afternoon at Young-Wise Memorial Stadium.

The Warriors rallied in the second half, outscoring the Colonels 20-7 after the halftime break, but couldn't overcome the SAA's lone undefeated squad for the upset victory. 

The team honored seniors Casey Caton and Graham Senor in pre-game ceremonies for their final home game of the season. 

Hendrix running back Dayton Winn was held under 100 yards rushing for just the second time this season, rushing for 87 yards on 21 carries. Seth Peters threw for 366 yards and two touchdowns on 30-of-41 passing. Senior Casey Caton made the most of his last career home game, catching six passes for 187 yards a career-high and the highest single-game receiving total since the program's rebirth. Ben Luedtke and Nate Hodapp each caught touchdown passes and Peters rushed for a score as well.

Defensively, four Warriors finished with 10 tackles or more. Mac Adkins had 10 while Ben Cunningham finished with 11 tackles, a forced fumble, and a sack. Thomas Eddlemon set a new career-high with 14 tackles, while Caleb Shannon recorded a season-best 21 tackles, the most by a single player since the program's rebirth.

The Centre offense was led by Nolan Coulter and Max Mazza. Coulter finished with 33 carries for 186 yards and a touchdown, while Mazza caught 11 passes for 156 yards and three scores. 

In the first half, Hendrix struggled to stop the Centre offense, and went into the halftime break trailing 28-6. The Warriors' first score of the day was created off of a superb special teams play. Spencer Smith booted a 46-yard punt that bounced inside the Centre 20-yard line. The ball glanced off of a Centre player and the Warriors pounced on it. Mac Adkins recovered the kick on the Centre 12-yard line to give the Warriors the ball with great field position. A false start penalty crippled the Hendrix offense and they settled for a Steve Crenshaw field goal from 29 yards out.

In the second quarter, Hendrix put together a promising drive, going 53 yards in just six plays. Seth Peters completed a long 42-yard pass to Casey Caton to ignite the offense, but Centre's stout defense stalled the Warriors' drive in the red zone for the second time on the day. Crenshaw booted his second field goal of the day, a 36-yarder this time, to make the score 14-6 with just over 10 minutes left in the half. Centre finished the half with a pair of touchdowns to take a 28-6 lead into the halftime break.

The Hendrix defense made some key stops in the second half and the Warrior offense showed off some of its explosive firepower as they threatened to upset the 25th-ranked Colonels with a comeback. On Centre's first drive of the half, Matt Ramirez came away with a drive-stopping interception in the red zone to give Hendrix the ball back. The Warriors then took the ball 92 yards on 16 plays, but were stopped by the Centre defense just two yards short of a touchdown.

The Warrior defense came up big with a three-and-out stop to maintain momentum and give the team great field position. Hendrix drove the ball 46 yards on 10 plays for a touchdown on their next drive. Seth Peters capped the scoring drive with a 10-yard rush to make the score 28-13. 

At the beginning of the fourth quarter, the Orange and Black came up with another huge defensive stop, stalling the Colonels first drive of the final quarter. The offense took advantage with an 87-yard scoring drive on just five plays, finishing with an explosive play. Peters connected with Ben Luedtke on a 52-yard touchdown pass, making the score 28-20 with 9:33 remaining in the game.

With the Warriors threatening, Centre turned the ball over to their two playmakers Coulter and Mazza. The pair combined for six touches on a 65-yard scoring drive. Mazza capped the drive with a spectacular seven-yard touchdown grab extending the Colonels' lead to 35-20 with just under six minutes left.

Despite the two-possession deficit, Hendrix refused to go away. On their second play of the ensuing drive, Peters found Casey Caton for a 67-yard completion, the longest play of the game, putting the Warriors in the Centre red zone yet again. Peters finished the drive by finding Nate Hodapp for the 1-yard touchdown toss. A failed extra point left the Warriors trailing 35-26 with 4:24 remaining in the fourth quarter.

Hendrix lined up for an onside kick, but the Colonels were the first to hop on the ball and took control with the clock winding down. The Colonels gained a pair of crucial first downs with their rushing attack to kill the clock and curtail the Warriors' upset bid.   

Centre remains undefeated, improving to 8-0 on the season, with a 4-0 mark in the SAA. Hendrix moves to 5-3 on the season with a 2-2 mark in conference play. The Warriors will travel to Memphis, Tenn. on Saturday, November 8 to take on Rhodes College in their next contest.