For the season opener at least, Henry personally and literally took matters into his own hands.
The junior wide receiver and cornerback caught the Pointers' first two touchdowns, and then intercepted two passes in the second half to help lift Van Buren to a 36-24 road win at Springdale on Friday.
'I was just going up there trying to kick our season off with a win,' said Henry, who was named the Times Record's Athlete of the Week.
'A lot of people don't expect us to do anything this season, and I was out there trying to prove them wrong, trying to help my team win.'
Henry caught five passes for 123 yards, helping out Bryce Perkins, a sophomore who was making his first career start at quarterback. Perkins, who was replacing Army signee Gary Phillips, threw for 174 yards.
'He managed the game
really well for how young he is,' Henry said of Perkins, 'and the future's bright.
'Obviously, Gary threw the ball a little bit harder because Bryce's arm strength isn't fully developed yet, but we're going to get there for sure. But Bryce has shown good signs of a good future; Gary was athletic, and he could move around, and Bryce showed a little bit of that on Friday, so hopefully he'll get there.'
The biggest connection between the duo occurred on the Pointers' opening drive, when Perkins found Henry for a 55-yard gain.
'We designed that to kind of throw off the defense,' Henry said. 'We kind of exploded into a formation to throw them off, and Bryce delivered a good pass and I got a couple of yards.'
That set up Henry's first touchdown, covering 5 yards.
Then on Van Buren's second series, Perkins delivered another touchdown strike to Henry, a 52-yarder which gave the Pointers a 15-3 lead.
'It was on a little slant route across the middle, and I made the corner miss and then it was just straight ahead from there,' Henry said.
Henry, who led the 6A-West
last season with five interceptions, showcased his defensive ability when he successfully picked off a screen pass.
'I feel like I'm a better receiver personally, but I've heard from many people that defense is better than my offense,' Henry said. 'But I personally think it's offense.'
Henry was also moving into a new role as the Pointers' go-to receiver following the graduation of his older brother, Jaiden, now at Oklahoma Baptist.
'I wanted to improve everything; I wanted to improve my overall game,' Henry said.
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