Sports

Heaton, Curry earn GAC Players of the Week honors

RUSSELLVILLE — After each played key roles in Henderson State’s dramatic win over Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday, the Reddies’ L’liott Curry and David Heaton were named GAC Offensive and Special Teams Players of the Week, the league announced Monday.

L’liott Curry
David Heaton

Curry, from Guthrie, Oklahoma, was tremendous and finished with 10 receptions for 155 yards and two touchdowns. He turned the tide for the Reddies in the third quarter with 66-yard and 18-yard touchdown catches that came inside two minutes of game time and erased a two-score deficit for HSU. Curry is second in NCAA DII with 83 receptions this season and third nationally in both receiving yards (1222) and touchdowns (14). The GAC Offensive Player of the Week award is his second this season and the third of his career.

Heaton, a senior transfer from Humble, Texas, had the best game of his career at Henderson and was the hero for the Reddies after drilling a 43-yard field goal into the wind to win the game as time expired. The right-footed kicker also connected on field goals of 22 and 40 yards and made three extra points. Since taking over the starting role three weeks ago, Heaton is 7-for-7 on field goal attempts for HSU. His game-winning 43-yarder tied the longest kick of the season for Henderson.

Curry and Heaton’s GAC weekly awards are the ninth and 10th overall Player of the Week honors for the Henderson State football program this fall — the most of any team in the conference.

The No. 13 Reddies (9-1) will look to clinch a share of the GAC title on Saturday at 1 p.m. when they face off against rival Ouachita Baptist (8-2) in the 94th Battle of the Ravine.