CONWAY, Ark. - Hendrix lost its regular season opener to Huntingdon 26-20 on Saturday afternoon at Young-Wise Memorial Stadium. After trailing 26-3 in the third quarter, the Warriors scored 17 unanswered points across three scoring drives to get within 26-20 with 2:40 remaining, but were unable to find the end zone on their final drive. The Warriors finished with 301 passing yards and 23 first downs, but allowed seven sacks, threw two interceptions and lost two fumbles.
Jake Blice completed 27 of 47 passes for 328 yards and two touchdowns, while
Westin Bruce hauled in 14 passes for 200 yards.
Clay Brandenburg converted both of his field-goal attempts, including a 52-yarder.
Chandler Laurent recorded a team-high seven tackles and blocked a kick.
The Warriors held the ball for 11:27 in the first quarter and produced seven first downs, with Blice completing 7 of 10 passes for 75 yards. Huntingdon managed one first down and punted twice, while the Warriors' 13-play drive included a fourth-down conversion at the Huntingdon 38 and ended with Brandenburg's 37-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead.
Huntingdon outscored the Warriors 19-0 in the second quarter, getting touchdowns on a Kenyon Watkins 6-yard run, Brayden Collins' 77-yard punt return and a 16-yard pass from Jake White to Landon Pace to move ahead 19-3. Huntingdon finished the quarter with 104 passing yards and eight first downs, while the Warriors went 0-for-3 on third down, rushed for minus-16 yards and lost one fumble.
The Warriors matched Huntingdon 7-7 in the third quarter, answering a 15-yard interception return for a touchdown with a 12-play, 77-yard drive capped by Blice's 17-yard touchdown pass to
Kobey Wall. The Warriors produced 76 passing yards and six first downs in the quarter, while their defense held Huntingdon to 0-for-2 on third down, blocked a 27-yard field-goal attempt and added
Cash Gourley's 9-yard sack before the teams went to the fourth quarter with Huntingdon ahead 26-10.
The Warriors outscored Huntingdon 10-0 in the fourth quarter and finished with 101 passing yards and eight first downs in the quarter, while holding Huntingdon to 11 total yards, no first downs and 0-for-3 on third down. Brandenburg's 52-yard field goal with 2:40 left followed
Jaedin Kim's 20-yard punt return and made it 26-20, which stood as the final score.
Brandenburg broke through for the Warriors with a 37-yard field goal with 50 seconds left, putting the Warriors ahead 3-0. The scoring drive began at the Huntingdon 45 after
Jaedin Kim's 40-yard punt return and included Blice's 4-yard fourth-down conversion at the Huntingdon 38 and a 16-yard completion to
Jayger Rainwater. Huntingdon managed one first down in the quarter, and the Warriors finished the first quarter ahead 3-0.
The Warriors' best chance in the second quarter came immediately after
Jaedin Kim's 65-yard punt return touchdown was nullified by a holding penalty; Blice then hit Bruce for 31 yards to the Huntingdon 25, but the drive ended on downs. Huntingdon scored three touchdowns in the quarter, including a 77-yard punt return, while the Warriors finished 0-for-3 on third down and were penalized six times for 52 yards.
Tristian Johnson blocked the first extra point, but the Warriors went to halftime trailing 19-3.
The Warriors' main answer in the third quarter came after Huntingdon's interception return touchdown made it 26-3, as Blice led a 12-play, 77-yard drive and found Wall for a 17-yard touchdown before Brandenburg's PAT made it 26-10. Earlier, Laurent blocked a 27-yard field-goal attempt and
Casen Foster recovered it to keep Huntingdon off the board on its opening drive of the quarter. Gourley later added a third-down sack to force a punt, and the Warriors ended the quarter with possession while trailing 26-10.
The Warriors closed the gap in the fourth quarter, with Blice finding Bruce for a touchdown and Brandenburg adding the extra point to make it 26-17. After a Warriors interception, the defense forced a punt from deep in Huntingdon territory, and
Jaedin Kim's 20-yard return helped set up Brandenburg's 52-yard field goal, a new program record, with 2:40 left to make it 26-20. The Warriors got the ball back once more but turned it over on downs at the Huntingdon 37, and Huntingdon ran out the clock to finish off the 26-20 result.
The loss drops the Warriors to 0-1 on the season. Hendrix will travel to Jackson, Mississippi, next week to face Millsaps College at 1 p.m. Saturday at Harper-Davis Field.
