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DURANT, Okla. - Southeastern’s 2011 season will come to an end Saturday with a 2 p.m. contest against Harding in Searcy, Ark.</p><p>The Savage Storm slipped to 2-7 on the year and 1-6 in Great American Conference play with a 21-18 loss to Ouachita Baptist, while Harding comes into the final week of the season with a 3-7 record overall and a 2-3 mark in GAC play after a 23-16 overtime loss at East Central.</p><p align="center"><strong><a href="http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/sosu.portal#">LIVE AUDIO</a><br /><br /><a href="http://www.sidearmstats.com/harding/football/xlive.htm">LIVE STATS</a><br /><br /><a href="http://gosoutheastern.athleticsite.net/football/gamenotes/2011/SOSU-HU.pdf">GAME NOTES</a></strong></p><p> <br />Against the Bison… Saturday marks the 23rd meeting all-time between Southeastern and Harding. The series dates back to a 1978 meeting which ended in a a 30-8 SE win. HU followed that game with a seven-game winning streak which stands as the longest winning streak int he series. All 22 ofr the meetings between the schools came consecutively between 1978 and 1999. The GAC marks the second time these schools have faced off as conference opponents as HU spent a short tenure int he Lone Star Conference. </p><p>Notes from last time out… dropped its seventh-straight game since opening the season 2-0, falling 21-18 to Ouachita Baptist... all seven of SE’s losses have come by two touchdowns or less, with five of them being 10 points or less, with the largest margin of defeat being 16 points... CJ Kirk turned in his second 100-plus yard game of the year with 122 yards on 21 carries... SE outgained OBU 424-to-378... Izzy Eziakor and Houston Slemp each posted double-digit tackle totals... The OBU contest was the first game all year the SE defense did not force a turnover in and just the seconde game where SE committed more turnovers than its opponent.</p><p>About the Coaches… Ray Richards (Northern Michigan, 1981) took over the reins for the Southeastern Oklahoma State football program prior to the 2005 season and quickly built on to SE’s successful history. Richards has compiled a 34-29 record at SE and an overall career record of 48-59, with head coaching stints at Southeastern and Southwest Baptist University. His 2010 team boasted Co-Offensive Back of the Year in the Lone Star Conference North Division Baylen Laury as well as seven first team all-LSC-N picks to go with 12 overall all-conference honorees. In Six seasons at SE, Richards’ teams have produced 24 first team all-Lone Star Conference North Division honors as well as 35 all-LSC-N second team honors. His teams have also won eight specialty awards in the LSC, including his own Coach of the Year nod following the 2005 season.<br /> Ronnie Huckeba (Harding, 1978) is entering his fifth season as head coach of the Harding Bison football team in 2011. He was named Harding’s fifth head football coach in the modern era in October, 2007. In 2010, Huckeba directed the Bisons to two of the greatest wins in program history en route to earning the Gulf South Conference Coach of the Year award. Huckeba, in his 26th season on the Harding sidelines, will begin the 2011 campaign with an 18-22 career record. Huckeba served two years (2005-06) as offensive coordinator after spending the previous 11 seasons as the Bisons’ defensive coordinator. He has also served as secondary coach (1981-85), defensive front-seven coach (1988-93) and defensive coordinator (1994-2004). During his stint as a Harding defensive coach, Huckeba coached 30 All-Conference performers and 11 All-America honorees, including Tim Polk in 2003. In 1979, Huckeba began his coaching career as an assistant at Carlisle High School in Carlisle, Ark. The next year he moved on to Fort Worth Christian School in Fort Worth, Texas where he served as an assistant under Randy Tribble, winning the TAPPS state championship.</p><p>Turner Named Daily Oklahoman POW... Southeastern quarterback Logan Turner has been named the State College Football Player of the Week by the Daily Oklahoman following the Savage Storm’s 30-23 win over in-state rival Central Oklahoma. Turner was efficient in that win, completing 23-of-36 through the air for a 63.9 percent completion percentage, and connected on three touchdowns. He finished with 235 yards passing and twice guided SE on 90-yard drives which helped the Storm own a massive advantage in the time of possession, 43:34 to 16:26.</p><p>SE picked Eighth in Preseason Poll... The Southeastern football team will be in the unfamiliar position of playing the underdog role after being picked to finish eighth in the inaugural Great American Conference preseason football poll as released by the conference office on Wednesday.<br /> The Savage Storm had 17 points in the poll, finishing one point ahead of Arkansas-Monticello.<br /> Henderson State was picked to win the league with 61 points and seven of the nine first place votes.<br /> Harding was picked second and earned one of the remaining first place votes, while Arkansas Tech and Ouachita Baptist finished in a tie for third. East Central was picked fifth, but also received the final first place vote, followed by Southwestern Oklahoma State and Southern Arkansas. The poll is voted on by the league’s nine head coaches.<br /> GAC Preseason Poll 1st TOTAL <br /> 1 Hendersion State (Ark.) 9 61<br /> 2 Harding (Ark.) 1 51<br /> 3t Arkansas Tech 44<br /> 3t Ouachita Baptist (Ark.) 44<br /> 5 East Central (Okla.) 1 38<br /> 6 Southwestern Oklahoma State 34<br /> 7 Southern Arkansas 19<br /> 8 Southeastern Oklahoma State 17<br /> 9 Arkansas-Monticello 16</p><p>SE Players earn Preseason All-American honors... Southeastern tight end Ryan Shelley earned first team Preseason All-American honors from D2Football.com, as well as honorable mention by Consensus Draft Services. He was joined in the CDS selections by Ryan Sullivan and Eric Walker who earned second team and honorable mention, respectively.</p><p>GAC schools to use commemorative coin... The Great American Conference has produced a commemorative coin to signify the inaugural season of athletic competition in the league that was officially accepted as the 23rd NCAA Division II conference in March of 2011. The coin features the stacked secondary logo of the GAC on the heads side and the logos of the now-defunct Arkansas Intercollegiate Conference and Oklahoma Intercollegiate Conference on the tails side.</p><p>Thanks for Stopping by the Booth... Southeastern color commentator Joey McWilliams is in his 11th season in the booth for SE football and celebrated his 100th game called against Arkansas Tech. His first broadcast was on Sept. 1, 2001 when Southeastern hosted Missouri Western in a game the Storm lost 16-12. SE finished 3-7 that season and McWilliams has seen the Storm compile a 62-49 record over that span of time. McWilliams usually misses one game a season, taking the first weekend in October to celebrate his anniversary with his wife.</p><p>Inside Southeastern Sports every Saturday Morning... Southeastern and KXII have teamed up to give Savage Storm fans a new place to get their Southeastern sports fix, a new half hour show entitled Inside Southeastern Sports that will air on KXII stations.<br /> The 5 a.m. showing will be available on channel 12 and channel 12.1 for viewers with newer digital televisions. It is also available on channel 2 (or channel 84 for digital cable subscribers) on Durant Cable, as well as channel 12 on DISH Network. MyTexoma can be found over the air on channel 12.2 for viewers with newer digital televisions, as well as channel 53 for Durant CommuniComm Cable subscribers. The show will feature Southeastern coaches and players and will cover the full range of sports that SOSU offers.<br /> “This is a great opportunity for Southeastern,” said Athletic Director
Keith Baxter, “Having our coaches and student-athletes on television will give fans a chance to get to know them better, while the exposure will be good for the university as a whole.”</p><p>Savage Storm on the Air… All Southeastern Oklahoma football games will be broadcast on either KLBC 106.3 FM or KSEO 750 AM out of Durant. Michael Westbrook, the “Voice of the Storm”, will serve as SOSU’s play-by-play announcer with Joey McWilliams joining him in the booth. This week’s game will be broadcast on KLBC. Tune in thirty minutes prior to each game for the “Ray Richards Show” as Westbrook sits down with the Savage Storm head coach each week.</p>
