SE Set for Great American Classic vs. ECU

Football | 11/13/2015 3:38:00 PM

DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern will wrap up the 2015 season when it hosts rival East Central on Nov. 14 at 2 p.m. on Paul Laird Field in the Great American Classic.
 
The Savage Storm and the Tigers will be squaring off on the gridiron for the 99^th time since their first meeting in 1909 which SE won 49-0.
 
Since then the series has been as even as any rivalry can be with the team currently tied at 46-46-6 in the series after Southeastern picked up the dramatic 18-15 win in Ada, Okla., a season ago.
 
The Storm enter the contest at 5-5 after a 37-0 win over Arkansas-Monticello on the road, while the Tigers come to town at 6-4 and are coming off a 35-26 loss at Southern Arkansas.
 
Saturday will also be Senior Day for 18 Savage Storm seniors who will be playing in their last game.
 
SE has won back-to-back games, winning by a combined score of 72-13 and have held their opponents scoreless in seven of the last eight quarters.
 
The SE defense enters with the league's top passing defense, allowing just 150.1 ypg through the air, and they are third in total defense, allowing 329.4 per outing.
 
SE is averaging 33.0 ppg, while holding opponents to 26.3 ppg.
 
Kevin Jones paces the defense with 64 tackles and picked up a defensive touchdown last week with an 11 yard fumble return.
 
Raheem Wilson leads the team in takeaways with five interceptions coming into the final week of the season where he faces an ECU club against which he snagged a pair of interceptions a season ago.
 
In all SE has forced 28 turnovers and is plus-seven in the turnover margin, going on to score 87 points off those miscues.
 
Offensively, with one game to play Ryan Polite has already posted the third-best passing yardage mark since SE made the transition to the NCAA.  He is completing 60.4 percent of his passes for 2,638 yards and 18 touchdowns.
 
His top-targets all season have been Kaymon Farmer and Franky Okafor who are first and second, respectively, in receptions per game in the Great American Conference.  Okafor leads the team in yards with 758 and touchdowns with seven, while Farmer has hauled in a team-best 58 catches.
 
Ronnie Green has paced the SE running game which has bounced back in recent weeks and is averaging 179.3 ypg as a team, with Green posting 69.5 ypg which is good for eight in the league.  He has also become a receiving threat and is eighth in the conference in all-purpose yards with 105.0 per game thanks to 27 catches for 355 yards and a touchdown.
 
The Tigers come into the game averaging 32.9 ppg while allowing opponents to score 28.1 per contest.
 
The offense is putting up 446.5 yards per game of total offense, but relying heavily on the arm of Rocky Moore who has thrown for 306.9 yards per game for 32 touchdowns.
 
His top target on the year has been David Moore who leads the conference with 97.4 yards per game receiving and has scored 12 TD's.
 
The running game is paced by Jamal Hall's 53.1 ypg, while the team averages 133.3 on the ground.
 
Jameel Whitney has racked up an ECU best 101 tackles, while Karmah Yates is a sack threat with six on the season.
 
The Tigers have forced 21 turnovers on the season, with 17 of those being interceptions, but are still giving up 427.8 yards per game of total offense.