SE tops ECU in Great American Classic

ADA, Okla. – Southeastern forced five turnovers, and Ryan Polite threw for a pair of touchdowns as Southeastern topped rival East Central 18-15 in the Great American Classic presented by Landmark Bank on Saturday afternoon in Ada, Okla.
 
The win gives the Savage Storm a 7-4 record to end the season and a 6-4 mark in Great American Conference play, while also snapping a four-game losing skid in the series and knotting the overall series record at 46-46-6.
 
Raheem Wilson was named the Landmark Bank Player of the Game for Southeastern, while Carson Hyles earned the honor for the Tigers.  Each school will have a donation made to the general scholarship fund in the name of the players.
 
Wilson paced the defense with 13 tackles on the contest and a pair of interceptions.
 
Eddrick Loften added 11 stops, an interception and a forced fumble, while Chad Tucker added a pick and a forced fumble, and Malique Earl recovered a fumble.
 
The Storm offense rushed for 144 yards on the day, led by 62 yards form Devlon Wortham, while Ronnie Green added 50 yards and Polite ran for 30.
 
Polite did not have one of his best days passing, completing 10-of-22 for 81 yards, but he did connect on a pair of touchdowns.
 
The first score was to Nick Sioson and the second was to Kaymon Farmer who each had two catches.  Anthony also had a pair of catches and a team-best 26 yards receiving.
 
SE led 18-9 heading into the fourth quarter, but ECU would rally behind backup quarterback Hyles in the fourth quarter as the Tigers would march 96 yards on seven plays as Hyles went 5-of-6 on the drive, ending on a two yard TD toss to David Moore.  The PAT would miss wide left and the Storm would hold onto an 18-15 lead.
 
The Tigers would use its timeouts on the ensuing SE drive, and would put the Storm defense to the test one last time with 52 seconds to play.
 
ECU would drive to the SE 21 yard line and attempt a kick which was blocked, but the Storm was hit with a running into the kicker penalty which moved the ball to the 17 yard line and gave the Tigers another chance at the field goal.
 
The second attempt would be blocked by Thomas Curry which would preserve the 18-15 Southeastern victory.
 
ECU got the ball to start the game and would pick up a pair of first downs, but the defense would stiffen with Troy Parker sacking Spencer Bond for a 10 yard loss to force ECU into a punt.
 
The Storm would turn the ball over on downs in Tiger territory, but the defense would step up again with Raheem Wilson picking up his third interception of the season.
 
Neither team would be able to get anything moving on offense, but it was special teams where the Storm picked up its first points as the Tigers lined up to punt with 17 seconds left in the first quarter when the snap sailed over the punter's head and was kicked out of the back of the endzone for a safety to stake SE to a 2-0 lead.
 
Chance Grayson would return the ensuing free kick across midfield and an ECU personal foul would set the Storm up at the Tiger 34 yard line.
 
Eight plays later Southeastern put the ball in the endzone when Polite hit Sioson for a six yard TD strike and a 9-0 lead with 12:44 to play in the second quarter.
 
Both team's defenses firmed up from that point, with the teams trading punts before Chad Tucker picked off Bond in ECU territory.
 
The Storm would take the ensuing drive 31 yards and capped the drive with a nine yard Polite to Farmer connection, but the PAT was blocked which left the Storm with a 15-0 lead with 3:17 to go in the half.  
 
ECU would get on the board in the waning seconds of the first half when David Massuere connected on a 35 yard field goal to make the score 15-3 in favor of SE at halftime.
 
Southeastern was unable to produce any points on its opening possession of the second half, but the defense answered the call on the Tigers' first possession as Loften picked off Bond and the SE 39 yard line.
 
SE would drive deep into ECU territory, but come up one yard shy on fourth down at the Tiger 11 yard line, only to have the defense bail them out on the following drive when Chad Tucker forced a fumble that Malique Earl recovered at the East Central 15 yard line.
 
The Storm would not move the ball on the following drive, but Jake Walters would connect on a 31 yard field goal to extend the Storm lead to 18-3 with 3:15 to play in the third quarter.
 
ECU would answer on the ensuing drive when Bond would score from 18 yards out with 36 seconds to play in the third quarter, but a pass attempt for a two point conversion would be no good and the Storm would lead 18-9.