DANVILLE, Ky. (CentreAthletics.com) – The Centre football team forced three Hendrix turnovers in a Southern Athletic Association contest on Saturday at Farris Stadium, but the visiting Warriors used 622 yards of total offense to top the Colonels in the annual homecoming game.

Centre dropped its second straight game for the first time since 2012, moving to 3-2 overall on the season and 1-2 in SAA action, while Hendrix improved to 3-1 and 2-0 in league play.

In a high-scoring, back-and-forth game on Saturday which saw 10 lead changes, neither team led by more than eight points at any point in the matchup.

Centre extended its lead to eight points in the third quarter when senior quarterback Heath Haden (Kingsport, Tenn.) found senior wide receiver Braden Urevick (Knoxville, Tenn.) in the back of the end zone for the touchdown, giving the Colonels a 45-37 advantage with 8:20 remaining in the third quarter.

Hendrix responded when running back Dayton Winn scored one of his five touchdowns on the day to cut the Centre lead to 45-44 with 3:27 to play in the third period.

Junior kicker Alex Ward's (Murray, Ky.) 34-yard field goal with 43 seconds showing on the third quarter clock gave Centre a 48-44 lead, but Winn's two-yard touchdown run on the Warrior's opening drive of the fourth quarter gave Hendrix the 51-48 advantage.

After Centre was forced to punt on its next drive, the Warriors drained 9:02 off the clock, before giving the Colonels the ball at their own 17-yard line with 34 seconds to play.

Haden connected with senior wide receiver Blake Martin (Lexington, Ky.) down the left sideline for a 21-yard gain on first down, but that was as far as Centre would move, as the Warriors held on for the 51-48 victory.

Haden completed 12-of-23 passes for 131 yards and two touchdowns on the day. Junior running back Nolan Coulter (Knoxville, Tenn.) rushed 21 times for 116 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Senior wide receiver Jake Johnson (Louisville, Ky.) caught three passes for 48 yards, while Martin added three catches for 28 yards.  

Senior tight end Brandon Kamp (Cincinnati, Ohio) added two catches for 10 yards and a touchdown.

Ward was a perfect 2-of-2 on field goals and finished with 12 points on the day.

Freshman wide receiver Cody Estep (Pikeville, Ky.) tallied four kick returns for a combined 120 yards, while senior defensive back Alex Mattingly (Louisville, Ky.) returned two kickoffs for a total of 75 yards.

Senior defensive back Sam Spees (Dayton, Ohio) and senior linebacker Nate Sparks (Cincinnati, Ohio) each made a game-high 13 tackles. Spees also added two pass breakups.

Senior defensive back Taylor Peoples (Hendersonville, Tenn.) posted seven tackles to go along with two forced fumbles, a 27-yard fumble recovery and a pass breakup.

Hendrix quarterback Seth Peters finished the day 15-of-27 for 262 yards with two touchdowns and an interception.

Winn posted school records of 52 carries for 283 yards and five touchdowns on the ground.

Nate Hodapp caught six passes for a game-high 93 yards and a touchdown.

Kody Smith paced the Warrior defensive with eight tackles.

Hendrix had possession for nearly three quarters of the game at 40:14. The Warriors ran 92 plays on the afternoon, while the Colonels ran 55.

Centre finished with 302 yards of total offense, including 171 yards rushing and 131 passing yards. The Colonels tallied 213 return yards.

In the first half, Haden got Centre on the board early, running into the end zone from six yards out to cap a seven-play, 51-yard opening drive for the Colonels. Estep set the Centre up with good field position with a 44-yard kick return.

Hendrix answered with a Winn 51-yard touchdown run. Junior defensive lineman Trey Yeager (Danville, Ky.) blocked the Warriors' extra point attempt to preserve the Colonels' advantage.

Hendrix took its first lead of the game at 13-6 on a Peters 43-yard touchdown pass to Ben Luedtke with just over six minutes to play in the opening stanza.

On the Warriors' next drive, the Colonels capitalized on a Peters fumble at the Hendrix three yard line, as senior defensive tackle Kris Beauchamp (Norcross, Ga.) recovered the miscue on the three yard line.

On the very next play, Haden found Kamp across the middle of the end zone for the touchdown to regain the lead at 14-13 with 3:26 to play in the first quarter.

Winn responded with his second score of the day to, this time on a six-yard rush to give the Warriors a 20-14 advantage with just 33 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

On Hendrix's first drive of the second quarter, as the Warriors were pinned back deep into their own territory, sophomore linebacker J.D. Dotson (Nashville, Tenn.) blocked a John Donald punt and junior wide receiver Lloyd Hall picked up the ball and ran it into the end zone for the Centre touchdown, regaining a 21-20 lead.

Winn would find the end zone for a third time in the half on a one-yard run to give the Warriors a 27-21 advantage with 7:34 to play in the second quarter, before the Colonels scored 10 straight points on a Ward 24-yard field goal and Coulter 23-yard run to take a 31-27 lead.

A Steve Crenshaw field goal as time expired in the first half cut the Centre advantage to 31-30 at the break.

The Warriors opened scoring in the third quarter with a Peters 18-yard touchdown strike to Hodapp, but Coulter would answer with his second score of the day on a one-yard run with 8:44 to play.

On the first play of Hendrix's next drive, Peoples forced and recovered a fumble by Luedtke after a three-yard completion before returning it 27 yards to the Warriors' 20-yard line. This set up Haden's touchdown pass to Urevick to give Centre its largest lead of the game of eight points.

The Colonels return to action next Saturday, October 10 on the road at Millsaps. The Majors will be coming off a bye week after falling to Hendrix by a score of 45-34 on September 26.