SE Stays Unbeaten With 41-35 win at OBU

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – Thanks to an offense heavy first half and big defensive plays in the second half Southeastern held on for a 41-35 win over Ouachita Baptist on the road in Arkadelphia, Ark., to move to 3-0 on the season.
 
The 3-0 start to the year is the best since the 2002 season which also included a close win over OBU. It is also the 11^th time in the last 13 meetings in the series that was decided by a touchdown or less.
 
The Savage Storm will be back in action on Sept. 23 with a 2 p.m. kickoff against Arkansas-Monticello at Paul Laird Field.
 
"Hats off to OBU's football team'" said SE head coach Bo Atterberry after the win, "I like that team, they're resilient. We made some plays and got it back in our favor, and there were a lot of huge plays.  Love these guys, it was a great game." 
 
"They came up big in some special teams spots," he continued, "But our guys stayed strong and resilient."
 
"We work like this Monday through Friday," said linebacker Brickey Reed. "We don't expect to come out here and do anything but this.  It's always good to go 3-0, but we're just going to keep working day in and day out. Coach put together a great game plan and we executed."
 
"The preparation was the biggest part for me," said quarterback Rollin Kinsaul who got his first career start in the game. "I have to give a lot of the credit to the QB coach who had me ready coming in.  Got off to a hot start and maybe didn't move the ball like we always wanted to, but still came out with the win."
 
Kinsaul finished the night with 231 yards passing and a touchdown through the air while connecting on 18-of-30 attempts.
 
He also added a pair of rushing touchdowns and 19 yards on the ground on four carries, while it was Kenneth Burks who carried the rushing attack to the tune of 144 yards on 29 carries with a touchdown, his second-straight 100-yard rushing outing.
 
Kinsaul's top target was Jaylen Sims who hauled in six receptions for 54 yards, while it was Ryan Ronces who cashed in on a 79 yard TD catch and finished with two grabs for 93 yards.
 
In all the Storm put up 423 yards of total offense by spreading it across 182 yards on the ground and 241 through the air.
 
Joel Carlos finished with a big night on special teams, connecting on 5-of-5 PAT and hitting field goals of 35 and 20 and finishing with 11 points scored in the game. He also pinned his final two punts of the night inside the 10 yard line late in the fourth quarter, first on the two and then on the six yard lines.
 
On defense Reed finished the night with seven tackles to lead the way, while Jacob Harper added four tackles but came up with a 43 yard interception return for a touchdown and a pair of pass breakups.
 
Hunter Treadwell and Troy Parker would each force fumbles, while Seu Luafatasaga would add a fumble recovery.
 
SE opened the game by kicking off and the Tigers wasted no time getting on the board by marching 61 yards in seven plays and taking a 7-0 lead on an Austin Warford 16 yard run at the 11:43 mark.
 
The Storm found an answer on its ensuing drive, converting a pair of third downs and burning 6:07 off the clock before Kinsaul scored from four yards out to even the score at 7-7.
 
OBU would follow by again driving the field in quick fashion, covering 72 yards in five plays to open up 1 14-7 lead after a Warford pass to Allie Freeman for 57 yards.
 
Southeastern answered immediately on the first play of its ensuing drive when Kinsaul found Ryan Ronces over the top for a 79 yard TD strike to even the contest at 14-14 where it would stand at the end of one quarter.
 
The Storm would stop late in the first when Seu Luafatasaga recovered a Kris Oliver fumble which was forced by Hunter Treadwell and start its third possession and proceed to cash in at the 13:13 mark of the second quarter when Burks scored from 24 yards out to cap a five play, 59 yard drive.
 
SE's defense would hold on the following OBU drive and the offense would take over at its own 37 yardline and proceed 63 yards on eight plays with Kinsaul scoring his second rushing touchdown from nine yards out to go up 28-14 with 6:58 to go in the half.
 
After another defensive stop the Storm would burn 5:08 off the clock to set up Joel Carlos with a 35 yard field goal attempt which he drained to open up a 31-14 lead.
 
The Storm would allow OBU into field goal range in the final seconds of the half, but Cole Antley's 50 yard try would miss short and SE would hold a 31-14 lead at the break.
 
SE got the ball first in the second half but was unable to extend its lead which allowed the Tigers to close the gap with a 14 play, 73 yard drive that was capped by a Drew Harris two yard rushing touchdown to make the score 31-21.
 
The next Storm drive would end with points as Carlos connected on his second field goal of the night, hitting from 20 yards out to cap a 13 play, 76 yard drive and make it 34-21 with 37 second to go in the quarter.
 
The SE defense would be the next unit to score points as Jacob Harper would pick off a Warford pass and return it 43 yards as time expired on the quarter to give the Storm a 41-21 lead heading to the fourth quarter.
 
OBU answered in the fourth with a pair of scoring drives, the first covering 52 yards in four plays and the second coming after a punt return set the Tigers up in SE territory and going 35 yards in seven plays to close the Storm advantage to 41-35 with 10:17 to go in the contest.
 
The Storm defense would tighten up down the stretch though, with a Carlos punt pinning OBU inside the 10 yardline twice and the defense holding on back to back drives to get the ball back with less than two minutes to play and the SE would end the game on kneel downs to preserve the 41-35 win.