SE Athletics
RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Southeastern’s offense never caught traction in its final road game of the season as the Savage Storm fell, 14-7, to Arkansas Tech on Saturday afternoon in Russellville, Ark.
Sports presented by Indian Nation Wholesale.
The loss drops SE to 4-6 overall on the season heading into the season finale against rival East Central slated for 2 p.m. on Nov. 11 at Paul Laird Field.
“There’s no excuses or explanations in this game,” said head coach Bo Atterberry, “Other than it’s my fault. We’ve got one more week and we’ve got to flush this one as fast as we can and move on and try to beat the Tigers this week.”
“We just couldn’t execute on offense,” he continued, “And ultimately that’s my fault. Swe haven’t played much complimentary football all year and it was at its worst tonight.”
Weston Conaway connected on 19-of-33 passes for 174 yards, but was picked off twice and sacked four times.
He would hit Kaleb Whitley five times for 51 yards while Hunter Hawthorne had five grabs four 48 yards.
Marquis Gray added 48 yards as well on four catches.
DJ Brown finished the contest with 68 yards rushing on nine carries, while Ryan Hirt had 18 on eight totes with a touchdown.
Braeden Winters and Caleb High had nine tackles each to lead the defense, while Jaiveon Gardner added seven stops with a pair of sacks.
Josh Horlick would also add a sack, while Joseph Jones added an interception.
Andre Williams would return the opening kickoff 57 yards and the Storm would drive the ball inside the 10 but would be held on fourth down at the ATU four-yard line to turn the ball over on downs.
That was the closest either team would get to scoring the first quarter, ending the frame in a scoreless tie.
Twi plays into the second quarter the Onder Boys would get on the board with a Taye Gatewood touchdown run for a 7-0 lead.
Southeastern would drive the ensuing drive inside the five yard line again, but again would be held on fourth down.
The Storm defense would then force a three-and-out and the offense would march the ball 43 yards on six plays with Ryan Hirt punching it in on fourth down from a yard out to knot the game at 7-7.
Jones would pick off Gatewood on the following drive, but SE was unable to get points before the half, leaving the game tied at 7-7.
ATU would take its first drive of the second half and cover 75 yards on 11 plays with Hunter Loyd hitting Dayton Keller for a 19-yard touchdown toss with 10:21 to play in the third.
The Storm would go three and out on its first drive of the second half, but a missed ATU field goal would leave the difference at 14-7 after three quarters.
Southeastern would open the fourth quarter by driving into Wonder Boy territory before turning the ball over on downs at the ATU 31 yard line.
The defense would answer on the ensuing drive, with Horlick ending the drive with a huge 12-yard sack, but the next Storm drive would end just two plays in with an interception.
SE would get the ball twice over the final 5:14, but was unable to put points on the board on either of them, with the Wonder Boys taking over with 1:45 to play and holding the ball to end the game, making the final 14-7.