Wonder Boys upended late at No. 20/17 Henderson State

ARKADELPHIA — In the six-year era under head coach Kyle Shipp, the Arkansas Tech football team has steadily improved and put itself on the doorsteps of a breakthrough against the recent stalwarts of the Great American Conference, and Saturday night's road game at No. 20/17 Henderson State was no different.
The Wonder Boys more than rose to the challenge of playing a highly-potent Reddies offense on the road as Tech held Henderson to just 230 yards of total offense with only 79 of those coming through the air. Coming into the game, the Reddies were averaging 533.5 yards of total offense with 333.5 of those yards coming in the passing attack.
That tremendous defensive effort in limiting the Reddies helped the Wonder Boys be on the verge of an upset win as they held a five-point lead, 12-7, heading into the fourth quarter.
Unfortunately, that final period was not friendly to the Wonder Boys as Henderson was able to capitalize on a pair of Tech turnovers and key penalties as the Reddies gained the lead early in the quarter and pulled away late to put up a final score not indicative of how competitive the game actually was, 27-12.
Despite the tough defeat, the Wonder Boys had several shinning performances on both sides of the ball.

Overall, the Wonder Boys were solid through the air again as they threw for over 300 yards for the second-consecutive game. Leading that effort was senior wideout Caleb Tanis as he had seven receptions for 85 yards. The Kansas City native now has 17 catches for 309 yards. The Wonder Boys were also able to connect on a pair of big pass plays as Dayton Keller had a 51-yard catch from his tight end position while Jordan Jackson hauled in a 40-yard touchdown pass for Tech's first points of the game late in the first quarter.
Defensively, the Wonder Boys had 8.0 tackles for lost yardage, 2.0 sacks and an interception. On the season, the Wonder Boys now have 30.0 tackles for loss, 7.0 sacks and four INTs. All of last season, the Tech defense had 58.0 TFLs, 22.0 sacks and seven INTs.
Leading the charge in the backfield for the Wonder Boys was Jyrin Steward as he had 4.0 TFLs with a sack and a forced fumble. Over his last two games, Steward has had 9.0 TFLs, 2.0 sacks and two forced fumbles.
The Wonder Boys will now look to bounce back at home against a Southern Arkansas team that will be coming off a close 25-20 loss at home to nationally-ranked Ouachita Baptist earlier on Saturday. Kick-off for the game between the Wonder Boys and Muleriders will be at 6 p.m. from Simmons Bank Field at Thone Stadium.