WEATHERFORD, Okla. –
Rollin Kinsaul posted his first-career 300-yard passing outing to fuel Southeastern to a 31-20 road victory over Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon in Weatherford, Okla.
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The win is the third-straight for the Savage Storm who improve to 4-2 overall and in Great American Conference play. The win is also the second-straight for SE in the series and gives the Storm a 47-37-3 lead in the series overall, the second-longest running series on Southeastern's schedule.
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"Man," said head coach
Bo Atterberry, "They are never easy to get in Weatherford. We overcame a lot and we were able to battle through. I'm proud of these guys, they were able to finish it off."
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"It starts up front with the o-line," he continued. "Kinsaul to Sims looked good. We didn't execute as well as we can, but we'll just go back to work."
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Kinsaul finished the contest 24-for-37 through the air for 324 yards and three touchdowns across from no interceptions. It is the first 300-yard passing outing since
CB Cantwell passed the mark against Ouachita Baptist on Sept. 10, 2016.
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His favorite target on the day was
Jaylen Sims who turned in his third 100-yard receiving performance of the season, finishing with 11 receptions for a season-high 144 yards and two touchdowns.
Felton Hatcher added 94 yards on six catches with a score as well, with
Braxton Kincade chipping in 60 yards on six catches.
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Kenneth Burks turned in his third 100-yard rushing outing of the year, finishing with 108 yards on 20 carries and scoring once.Â
Ryan Taylor added a score and 37 yards on nine carries, while Kinsaul rushed 10 times for 41 yards.
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The defense was paced by
Conner Swope,
Daquawn Brown and
Andrew McBeth, with each of them picking up four tackles and a pass breakup.
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Quincy Dotson added a pair of tackles for loss, while
Luke Craddock snagged an interception.
Rogerick Kirby recorded the team's lone sack.
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Southeastern recovered from a fumble on the opening kickoff return and the defense forced a turnover on downs on the ensuing Bulldog drive to keep the home team off the board.
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The teams would then trade fruitless drives before the Storm got the offense moving the ball 80 yards on nine plays before Burks cashed in with a 17-yard TD run, and following a blocked PAT SE held a 6-0 lead.
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After the defense forced a three-and-out, Kinsaul would open the next drive with a 23-yard connection to Hatcher and would then end the drive with another 17-yard toss to Hatcher for a touchdown and a 13-0 lead with 14:10 to play in the second quarter.
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The Storm defense would force another three-and-out, but the offense was unable to capitalize and a special teams fumble on a fake field goal try would backfire in a big way as SWOSU's Jalen Carr scooped up the loose ball and returned it 46 yards for a touchdown, and after a missed PAT the Storm lead was cut to 13-6.
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The quarter was quiet after that until the final minute with SE taking over at the Bulldog 47 yardline with 56 second to play, but wasted little time with a 20-yard Kinsaul pass to Kincade followed by a 27-yard Kinsaul TD toss to Sims to go up 19-6 with 24 seconds to play which would hold to be the score at the halftime break.
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SWOSU struck first in the second half with a four-play, 53-yard drive that was capped by a Kedron Banks 27-yard TD run to cut into the Storm lead at 19-13.
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Southeastern answered on the ensuing drive, going 71-yards on nine plays and taking advantage of a Bulldog personal foul on a field goal try to get second life before Taylor reached the corner to score from a yard out and push the lead to 25-13.
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However, the home team responded with a 52-yard kick return on SE's ensuing kickoff and would then march the remaining 48 yards on six plays with Casey Freeman hitting JR Omigie for a 27-yard TD pass to trim the Storm lead to 25-20 with 1:52 to play in the third quarter.
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Southeastern would then take over and use a pair of big plays going for 25-plus yards and the Storm would ultimately take the drive 65-yards on 10 plays with Kinsaul hitting Sims for the second TD connection of the afternoon, this one for 10 yards and a 31-20 lead with 12:34 to play.
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The Bulldogs would hold the ensuing drive for 12 plays and 6:47, driving into Storm territory before Craddock snagged his fourth-career interception at the SE 15 yardine.
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Southeastern would take over with 5:38 to play and run out the clock, picking up three first downs and moving 67 yards to seal the 31-20 victory.
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