Southeastern Set to face UCM in Bowl Game

Football | 12/4/2014 6:37:00 PM

DURANT, Okla. – A full 21 days after finishing the regular season with win over it arch-rival, Southeastern will return to the field in the postseason for the first time in a decade when it travels to Texarkana, Ark., to face Central Missouri in the Texarkana Live United Bowl at noon on Dec. 6.
 
The Savage Storm head into the season-closer with a 7-4 record after winning six of the last seven games en route to the first winning season since 2009,
 
The Mules enter the contest with a matching 7-4 record, but closed their season out with back-to-back losses.
 
The Storm and the Mules have never met on the gridiron.
 
SE is making its fifth postseason appearance overall and its third in a bowl game.
 
The then-Savages twice played in the Aztec Bowl in Mexico City, Mexico, first winning 22-10 in 1989 and then playing to a 24-24 tie in 1994.
 
Southeastern has also twice made the playoffs, advancing to the second round in 1988 as a member of the NAIA, and then falling in a first round contest ion 2004 in the Division II playoffs.
 
SE is 2-2-1 in postseason play.
 
Of those five trips, head coach Bo Atterberry has been a part of three of them, first playing in the 1994 Aztec Bowl as a player, then serving as an assistant coach for the 2004 playoff team before taking the Storm to the postseason in his first season at the helm of the program.
 
That feat is made more remarkable considering Southeastern entered the 2014 season off a 2-9 campaign and was picked to finish eighth in the Great American Conference.
 
Instead the Storm posted a 6-4 record in league play and a 7-4 record overall, with two of those losses coming in the final seconds of play, to finish fourth in the conference standings.
 
The Storm are sitting fifth in the GAC in scoring and scoring defense, and will be looking to maintain its relatively balanced attack as it squares off with UCM.
 
Devlon Wortham leads the ground game with 796 yards rushing and 10 touchdowns and following the ECU game, and despite being a sophomore has climbed into SE's top-five in career rushing yards with 1,915 yards rushing over 22 games.
 
He is joined in the effort by Ronnie Green who has piled up 603 yards and five scores.
 
Through the air, Ryan Polite has completed 58.2 percent of his passes for 2,360 yards and 19 touchdowns.  His season is the third best single-season yardage mark since SE joined division II and the fifth best in program history.
 
He has spread the ball around well with four receivers who have at least 28 catches on the year or more. Anthony Foster leads that group with 50 catches and 676 yards with three scores.
 
Kaymon Farmer has added 43 catches for 388 yards and three TD's, Layton Dworaczyk has piled up a team high five touchdowns with 30 catches and 331 yards, while Franky Okafor has 28 receptions for 441 yards and two TD's.
 
Chad Tucker paces the Storm defense in stops with 60 on the year, while Thomas Curry and Raheem Wilson each have more than 50.
 
Trent Hannah leads the team with 7.5 tackles for loss, while Ryan Harkness has a team-best four sacks.
 
Wilson has been the ball hawk in the secondary with a team-best four interceptions alongside a pair of fumble recoveries.
 
UCM will enter the game relying heavily on its rushing attack led by LaVance Taylor who is fifth in the nation in rushing with 1,654 yards and 14 touchdowns.
 
The Mules air attack is led by Hayden Hawk who is completing 56.2 percent of his passes for 2,373 yards and 13 touchdowns.
 
Kyle Echols leads the team in receiving yards and touchdowns with 516 yards and four scores, while Taylor has the most catches with 35.
 
Ricky Spratly paces the defense with 92 stops on the year, while Jason Venckus has a team-best 4.5 sacks.
 
Connor Smith leads the secondary with four interceptions.