Northwestern St. 24, Delta St. 23

Published Sep. 2, 2011 6:16 a.m. ET

foxsports

Brad Henderson set a school record with 12 consecutive passes completed and Northwestern State stopped Delta State's 2-point conversion with 10 seconds left for a 24-23 victory on Thursday night.

Micah Davis connected with Tim Smith for a 13-yard touchdown with 10 seconds to go to pull Division II Delta State within a point.

Delta State coach Ron Roberts elected to go for two instead of a potential game-tying extra point kick. But Davis' pass to Chance Dennis fell incomplete and the Division I Demons held on.

The Demons trailed 17-0 at halftime in their season opener before Henderson threw a 32-yard touchdown to Justin Aldredge with 13:07 left in the third quarter. Sterling Endsley then scored on a 3-yard run to pull Northwestern State within three, and later tacked on the go-ahead score.

Northwestern State gave up 421 yards of offense but the Statesmen turned the ball over three times, including an interception by Micah Davis late in the third quarter. The turnover led to Endsley's second score five plays later, a 2-yard run, for a 21-17 lead.

Henderson, who finished with 210 yards on 13 of 14 passing, broke Paul Harris' record of 11 set Nov. 6, 2010.

Davis had two touchdowns and 290 yards passing for the Division II Statesmen.