Conway, Ark. - Jake Blice made his first career start for Hendrix on Saturday night but played with the poise of a veteran as the Warriors dominated Rhodes 47-28 at Young-Wise Memorial Stadium.
The sophomore accounted for 377 total yards, tossing three touchdowns and finishing the night with 339 yards through the air.
Westin Bruce followed up his career day last Saturday with another terrific performance, snagging five balls for 117 yards and two touchdowns.
After a 46-yard kickoff return from
Keaton Hahn to open the game, Blice drove the Warriors down the field immediately and hooked up with Bruce from twenty-one yards out for the game's first score. Hendrix turned Rhodes over on downs on the ensuing possession, and
Clay Brandenburg's 29-yard field goal put the Warriors up by a couple scores.
Rhodes would find the end-zone late in the first quarter, but Hendrix quickly made its way back into Lynx territory when Bruce reeled in a 45-yard ball from Blice. With the ball on the Lynx three yard line, Hendrix got into its goal-line set with
Auvic White receiving the direct snap and plowing his way in for his first of two touchdowns on the night. Rhodes worked their way back into Hendrix territory on the next drive, but on first down at the Hendrix 18,
Ryan Maxwell took advantage of a floated pass towards the goal line and pounced for his third interception in two games. Backed up deep in Hendrix's own territory, Blice engineered a 95-yard scoring drive on just seven plays. The drive was highlighted by a 43-yard pass to freshman
Jayger Rainwater, a career-first for the freshman. White punctuated the drive with a 31-yard scamper on 4th and 1 to put the Warriors up 23-7.
Rhodes took advantage of a short field after White coughed the ball up in Hendrix's half of the field to make it 23-14, but the Warrior offense was once again up to the task, driving 77 yards on 9 plays with Blice hooking up with Bruce in the end zone for the second time of the night to give Hendrix a 30-14 lead going into halftime.
Brandenburg tacked on his second field goal of the night just over halfway through the third quarter to solidify the Warriors' advantage. Rhodes fumbled on the next drive to give the ball back to the Warriors, and Blice connected with Rainwater for another big gain as the freshman found space up the seam for a 40-yard catch-and-score.
Zechariah Moore added one more score to start the fourth quarter, breaking a couple tackles after cutting towards the left side to score from 17 yards out.
Offensively, the Warriors put up 538 total yards of offense to just 351 from the Lynx. Hendrix finished 10-of-17 on third-down conversions and 3-of-3 on fourth down. The two teams tied with two turnovers, though Blice's lone interception came on the last play of the first half on a last-second heave.
Jayvian Coulter led all participants with 8 total tackles, including 7 solo tackles, to go along with a tackle-for-loss and a pass break-up.
The win improves Hendrix to 2-2 on the year. They now get a week off before starting league play on Oct. 11 as they host Austin College on Homecoming weekend.
