Western Illinois wide receiver Matt Henry had a career-high 181 receiving yards last weekend in a victory against Tennessee Tech. (Photo by GoLeathernecks.com)
By Barry Bottino
Matt Henry grew up in Miami and spent two years piling up big numbers as a wide receiver at NCAA Division II Livingstone College in North Carolina.
Finding his way to Western Illinois as a mid-year transfer in January was the result of Leathernecks first-year head coach Joe Davis and his staff finding players anywhere and everywhere.
“We were doing a deep dive in the transfer portal,” Davis said. “I like guys coming up from small levels that have a chip on their shoulder and have had some production. Matt certainly had that.”
As WIU (3-4 overall, 2-1 Big South-Ohio Valley Conference Football Association) prepares for its Saturday, Oct. 26 conference game at Lindenwood (2 p.m., ESPN-Plus), Henry is producing on a new level. The junior has 26 receptions and leads the team with 463 yards and 66.1 yards a game.
“I’m from Florida and he came and found me,” Henry said of Davis. “I told him, ‘If you give me everything you have, I’m going to give you everything I have.”
Is he glad Western discovered him in the portal?
“Yessir. It changed everything around,” he said.
Slow start at WIU
In two years at Livingstone, Henry caught 100 passes for 1,251 yards and 13 touchdowns.
But when he got to Macomb as a mid-year transfer in January, he got off to a slow start.
“We knew that we needed a lot of help in the wide receiver room,” said Davis, whose staff added 14 new players at the position this off-season. “We didn’t get a chance to see him very much in the spring.”
Henry sustained a hamstring injury in one of the team’s first practices and wasn’t available for most of the spring.
“He was very limited, and he came into a pretty crowded room of new receivers this fall,” Davis said. “It took us a while to sort through.”
Catching on quickly
Henry didn’t start the team’s first two games this fall, but he caught seven passes for 124 yards in Week 3, a start against Illinois State.
In four of the team’s past five games, he has had at least five receptions. Last weekend, in a win against Tennessee Tech, he caught six passes for a career-high 181 yards and a touchdown, a 27-yard connection with quarterback Nate Lamb less than a minute into the game.
“To see him have that performance wasn’t surprising,” Davis said. “We saw some of those flashes earlier in the season against Illinois State. We’ve been trying to put him in some different spots and positions to see where he could maximize his talents.”
Henry said he has worked diligently with Lamb to make up for lost time.
“We’ve been practicing our technique, working every day on ball skills and everything, (building) the connection with Nate,” he said.
Coming north
While most people prefer to head south in January, coming north to the cold weather was unique for a Floridian, especially considering Henry’s family situation.
“Matt’s a father. He has a 1-year-old son who lives in Florida,” Davis said. “So, to get him to come up to Western Illinois was a challenge. He looked at it and said, ‘Wow, am I going to move all the way up to the Midwest? I’ve got a young son at home.’
“But he bet on himself. He bet on us,” Davis said. “It’s a cool story to see him have some success. Hopefully, we can continue to build on that because Matt works very, very hard at his craft.”
When he was considering WIU, Henry said he wasn’t concerned about the past few years of Leatherneck football, which included a 27-game losing streak.
“Things hadn’t been going well here,” he said. “But I told Coach, ‘We’re going to win games.’”
After three wins over the last four weeks – including a streak-breaking victory Sept. 28 against McKendree – there are plenty of positive vibes in Macomb.
“We have a lot of confidence right now,” Henry said.
The offense also has benefited from committing only two turnovers in the past 16 quarters. Winning the turnover battle is one of three keys posted around the WIU locker room and football facility.
“A massive emphasis for us is protecting the football,” Davis said. “We start every week with a ball security circuit. It’s good to see the kids buying into that.”
This week’s opponent
Despite a 3-5 overall record, Lindenwood (2-2 Big South-OVC) has a three-headed attack in the backfield, an elite wide receiver in junior Jeff Caldwell (34 receptions, nine touchdowns) and a veteran quarterback in McNeese State transfer Nate Glantz (56% completion rate, 11 TDs). … With a three-man running back rotation, Lindenwood leads the Big South-OVC in rushing attempts (302) and rushing yards (1,359) while ranking second in rushing yards per game (169.9). “They’ve made a commitment to it,” Davis said. … Linebacker Vincent King, a senior transfer from Northern Colorado, leads the team and the Big South-OVC with 77 tackles. … Sophomore defensive end Donnie Wingate, an Oklahoma State transfer, leads the Lions with 4.5 sacks. … Against the run, Lindenwood ranks eighth in the nine-team conference, allowing 182.3 yards a game.
Kickoff: 2 p.m.; TV: ESPN-Plus; Radio: Q981fm.com
Key matchup to watch
WIU run defense vs. Lindenwood rushing attack: The Lions have rushed for 200 or more yards in back-to-back games. Their three-man rotation of senior Cortezz Jones (445 yards, five TDs), freshman Steve Hall (416 yards, one TD) and junior Robert Giamo (246 yards, one TD) have combined for more than 1,100 yards. This week, Hall was named as one of 30 players to the Jerry Rice Award Watch List. The honor is given to the top freshman in FCS. … QB Nate Glantz also has three rushing touchdowns. Stopping the run has been a sore spot for WIU. The Leathernecks rank 121st nationally, allowing 246.6 yards a game.
What’s at stake?
A victory would even Western’s overall record at 4-4, improve their conference record to 3-1 and give them four wins in their past five games.
Quick hits
With five sacks against Tennessee Tech, the WIU pass rush had its best day of the season, led by Jalen Riven’s 1.5 sacks and one each from Mayo Bola, Brian Bruce and Keshawn Harrington-McKinney. The result was surprising since the Leathernecks were shorthanded at defensive end because of injuries. “D.J. (Taylor) was down. Marcus Morris was down,” Davis said, who noted that Riven, Tommy Brunner and Peyton Bradford had to “pull a lot of extra reps” against Tennessee Tech. “I’m excited for those guys. They had a lot to do with our success.” Taylor is day-to-day with a shoulder injury, according to WIU’s head coach. … On the offensive line, Western has started the same five for five games in a row, with Dagen Miller at left tackle, Izaya Vimahi at left guard, Joey Treccia at center, Isaiah Foote at right guard and Ryan Merklinger at right tackle. “Continuity is something you’re always looking for on the offensive line,” Davis said. “When the same guys can consistently play together, their communication improves, their technique improves and their trust in each other improves.” … Lindenwood, located in St. Charles, Mo., has proven to be a good regional fit for both Western Illinois and Eastern Illinois. “There’s a natural rivalry with Lindenwood being less than three hours away,” Davis said. “Lindenwood comes into Illinois to recruit and we certainly go into Missouri to recruit. Both programs have a blue-collar, tough, Midwest mindset to them.” The Lions’ roster has 15 Illinois players, while WIU’s roster includes five players from Missouri.
Barry Bottino is a co-founder of Prairie State Pigskin and a 19-year veteran of three Illinois newspapers. He has covered college athletics since 1995.
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