SE Athletics
Matt Thomas
BETHANY, Okla. – Southeastern jumped out to a 17-0 lead and would survive a sloppy second half en route to a 31-10 victory over Southern Nazarene on Saturday afternoon in Bethany, Okla., as the Savage Storm moved to 4-0.
Sports presented by Indian Nation Wholesale.
The win keeps the team undefeated, maintaining the best start since the 2017 season heading into home matchup on Oct. 2 against Henderson State at 2 p.m. at Paul Laird Field.
“It was sloppy,” said head coach Tyler Fenwick of the second half of Saturday’s game. “I think we got a little comfortable with the lead that we had. We were moving the ball and then stopping ourselves. I think it’s a little bit of a wake-up call where we need to make sure we know how to finish games and all that. But we’ll get there, we’ll learn from it.”
The Southeastern offense had its lowest yardage totals of the season despite cracking the 30-point plateau for the fourth-straight game, posting 257 yards overall.
Most of that offense came on the ground as Ryan Taylor racked up 78 yards rushing, followed by CJ Shavers with 51.
Deundre Wheeler put up 48 and a score, his fifth of the year, while Daulton Hatley collected a net of one yard rushing due to sacks but was able to score his first rushing touchdown of the year.
Hatley finished the contest 11-of-20 through the air for 79 yards and a pair of touchdowns without giving up an interception.
He would connect with Duce Pittman on four of those for 53 yards and a score, while six other receivers hauled in at least one catch, with Braxton Kincade snagging the other touchdown, his fourth on the season.
Despite the low yardage marks, the Storm offense was able to take care of the ball, not allowing a turnover.
The defense would force one as Maalik Hall would scoop up his first fumble recovery of the year and nearly score it, bringing it back 81 yards to the SNU four-yard line.
Scooter Baker would lead all tackler with eight stops, while Kalim Baldwin would add seven and a forced fumble.
Ja’Lon Freeman tacked on 2.5 tackles for loss, while Ke’Shawn Somerville broke up a pair of passes.
Southeastern got on the board first as Wheeler scored from 25 yards out, hurdling a defender in the process, and capping a six-play, 50-yard drive for the 7-0 lead with 5:10 to go in the first quarter.
The Storm would take over after a SNU missed field goal late in the first and taking advantage of a 57-yard Taylor run would add a 35-yard Trey Keatts field goal to stretch the lead to 10-0 with 14:09 to play in the first half and capping a six-play, 59-yard drive.
The Crimson Storm would answer with a drive down to the SE 15 yard line where Hall would recover a Jarvis Davis fumble and return it 81 yards before being caught at the SNU four yard line.
Three plays later Hatley would connect with Kincade for a three-yard touchdown strike with 10:02 to play in the second quarter, stretching the lead to 17-0.
Southern Nazarene would get its first points of the contest on the ensuing drive, moving 57-yards over eight plays before Ryan Reid connected from 36 yards out to close the gap to 17-3 with 4:58 to play in the half.
SE would answer with the final full drive of the half, taking the ball 84 yards on 12 plays with Hatley finding Pittman with a 16-yard lob to the back corner of the endzone, stretching the lead to 24-3 with 12 seconds to go in the half, with that score holding up as the halftime margin.
Southeastern extended that lead to open the second half, marching its first drive of the third quarter 77 yards on 14 plays, milking 4:45 off the clock when Hatley would scamper 14 yards up the middle for the score to take a 31-3 lead.
SNU would answer on its ensuing drive, using six plays to move 67 yards with Davis connecting with Jaren Alvarado for a 32-yard touchdown, cutting SE’s lead to 31-10 midway through the third quarter.
Both teams would put together fruitless drive over the remainder of the third quarter.
That trend carried into the fourth quarter as the teams traded possessions with no points en route to a 31-10 Southeastern victory.