DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern's defense shone on Homecoming by holding Southwestern Oklahoma State to 177 total yards and picking up the win by the non-traditional score of 8-0 on Saturday afternoon at Paul Laird Field.
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 3-2 overall on the year as well as in Great American Conference play and stretched their winning streak to three on the year.
It is the second straight win over the Bulldogs in the all-time series which SE now owns 45-36-3, as well as the second-straight homecoming win for the program.
SE pitched its first shutout since blanking Southern Nazarene during the 2014 season 45-0, but in this contest had the interesting distinction of winning a game in which no touchdowns were scored.
The Storm defense held both sides of the ball in check for the Bulldogs, allowing just 97 yards rushing and 80 yards passing.
SE forced a pair of turnovers on the afternoon as well.
SWOSU only entered Storm territory three rimes, the first ending on an interception in the endzone, the second on downs and the third on a punt. None of those trips came in the fourth quarter.
Southeastern stout third-down defense held the Bulldogs to 4-of-14 converting and 0-for-2 on fourth down tries.
Kevin Jones led the charge and had SE's best tackling outing of the season with 12 stops and a half tackle for loss.
Thomas Curry was next in line with six tackles and a pair of pass breakups, while
Raheem Wilson add three stops and a pair of pass breakups as well.
Jacoby Sanders was busy with his second interception of the seas0on coming in the endzone as SWOSU looked to score and would later collect his first sack of the season, a 13 yard loss.
The Storm broke up seven passes as a team, while
Kent London forced a fumble and
Nicholas Sierra came up with the recovery.
It was
Jaden Moore who put the defense on the scoreboard when he turned one of his two tackles for loss into a safety.
The remainder of the scoring came on the foot of
Joel Carlos who hit from 24 and 30 yards and provided six of the teams eight points.
The offense was overshadowed but still turned in a solid outing with 337 yards on the day.
Ryan Polite was 23-of-32 for 217 yards on the contest, spreading the ball to eight different receivers. He added 14 yards rushing and very nearly gave the Storm a score on a QB sneak which was spotted inches from the goal line, ultimately setting up the safety.
Ronnie Green led the receiving corps with 79 yards on four catches, while
Kaymon Farmer hauled in a game-high six catches for 37 yards.
Franky Okafor added five for 36 yards.
Green also led the rushing attack with 42 yards on 14 carries, while
Nelson Akinwande chipped in 36 on 14 totes and
Devlon Wortham put up 30 on five carries.
SWOSU threatened to score first, driving down to the SE 11 yard line midway through the first quarter before Sanders would pick off a Brooks Robertson pass and bring it out to the 11 yardline.
The first quarter would end scoreless and it would stay that way until the 1:14 mark when Carlos would cap a 12 play, 66 yard drive with a 24 yard field goal and a 3-0 lead.
Thanks to the Bulldogs passing and the use of a timeout, SE would get the ball one more time in the half with 37 seconds left.
Using a pair of completed pass and an illegal participation penalty on SWOSU, the Storm were able to take advantage and Carlos hit another field goal, this one from 30 yards and SE took a 6-0 lead to the break.
Early in the fourth after a scoreless third quarter the Storm would go for it on fourth and goal from the one and were stopped short.
The defense stayed stout and SWOSU was unable to get out of the shadow of its endzone and on third-and-11 Robertson hit Karltrell Henderson on a swing pass which was read perfectly by
Jaden Moore who stopped him four yards deep in the endzone for a safety and an 8-0 lead with 11:29 to play.
It was the first safety recorded since getting one against East Central at the end of the 2014 season.
The Storm defense would finish he contest by forcing a punt and a turnover on downs on SWOSU's final two possessions to preserve the 8-0 win.
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