CONWAY, Ark. - The Hendrix College defense forced four turnovers and only allowed 301 yards en route to a 21-16 victory over Birmingham-Southern College at Crafton-Faulkner Field and Young-Wise Memorial Stadium Saturday afternoon.
With the win, the Warriors move to 4-1 overall and 3-0 in Southern Athletic Association play. The Panthers fall to 3-3 and 1-3.
Hendrix received the opening kickoff and drove 67 yards on 15 plays, ending in a two-yard touchdown pass from
Seth Peters to
Ethan Hoppe. BSC started with good field position on their first drive then tailback Samir Usman rushed for 43 yards to the Hendrix 13. The Orange & Black defense held strong on the next three plays, holding the Panthers to a 25-yard field goal from Ryder Andrews.
Junior linebacker
John Donald forced a BSC fumble that was recovered by sophomore linebacker
Jake Brantley early in the second quarter. Junior linebacker
Ben Cunningham also picked off BSC quarterback Austin Martin, but Hendrix could not capitalize on either miscue.
With 4:12 left in the first half, Peters found sophomore
Nate Hodapp for a 23-yard pass, giving the Warriors a 14-3 lead at the break. The Panthers made the game 14-9 with 5:07 left in the third quarter on a 15-yard pass from Martin to Jonathan Scaringe. The extra point was missed.
Hendrix scored on the next drive on a 53-yard run by Daton Winn, his 12th touchdown of the season.
Senior safety
Caleb Shannon picked off Martin at the Warrior 41 early in the fourth quarter, but Hendrix went three-and-out. Reserve quarterback Mickey Courtney connected with Daniel Lopera for a 20-yard pass with 4:15 left in the game to make the score 21-16.
After eating up most of the remaining time, Hendrix was forced to punt, allowing BSC 24 seconds from their own two yard line. On the third play of the drive, Shannon picked off his second pass of the game to secure the win for the Warriors.
On the day, Hendrix had 431 yards of total offense on 78 plays. BSC had 301 yards on 65 plays.
Hendrix Notes- Shannon matches his two interception performance from the win over Berry in 2013. He now has eight career picks.
- Shannon also led the defense with eight tackles, along with Brantley. Brantley also broke up three passes.
- Junior defensive end
Tyler Clifton and Donald, each had five tackles, including one for a loss.
- Junior
Harrison Newton recorded a sack for a loss of 16 yards. Freshman defensive tackle
Duwan Booker also had a tackle for a loss.
- Winn rushed 30 times for 176 yards. He now has four games of 100 yards or more this season.
- Peters was 17-of-26 passing with 163 yards and two scores.
- Hodapp led the receivers with six catches for 43 yards and a TD.
- Sophomore
Ben Luedtke had five catches for 46 yards.
Birmingham-Southern Notes- Usman finished with 18 carries for 150 yards.
- Martin and Courtney combined to go 11-of-29 with three picks, 120 yards and two touchdowns.
- Scaringe had five catches for 59 yards.
- Trevor Dedecker led all players with 17 tackles, 12 solo.
- Alex King recorded 16 tackles, 2.5 for loss and 1.5 sacks.
Up NextHendrix will travel to Mount Berry, Ga. next Saturday to face Berry in a battle of the last two undefeated SAA teams.
