Storm Celebrate Homecoming with 43-10 Win

DURANT, Okla. – Daulton Hatley threw for a career-high four touchdowns and the defense added a touchdown and a safety as Southeastern rolled to a 43-10 Homecoming victory over Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon at Paul Laird Field.
 
The win secures the Savage Storm a winning season, the first since 2018, lifting them to 6-1 on the season and into a four-way tie for the lead in the Great American Conference standings.
 
"That was a battle," said head coach Tyler Fenwick. "I mean honestly, they made us work. The preparation we had during the week, it was completely different from an offensive standpoint. So we were scrambling and trying to figure out what they were doing and why they were doing it and checking things off the list on the run and then we got settled in. That's a good football team that is going to win some games at some point. They play hard for where they are at. A testament to our defense, because our defense got after them today.  They were flying around and making plays, it was good to see."
 
"We work takeaways," continued Fenwick, "And scooping and scoring, and getting the ball in the end zone all the time and finally to see it happen in a game was refreshing to see that carry over from practice to games. I think we're flying around, they're playing physical. Our guys were covering. Their quarterback is something else, he can throw it, he can get out of some stuff and make things happen and extend plays in the scramble game which we were worried about. Our guys did a good job down the field."
 
Hatley finished the night with 267 yards passing on a 22-of-30 effort with four touchdowns.
 
His top target on the afternoon was Braxton Kincade who pulled down five catches for 50 yards and a score, while Marquis Gray picked up a team-best 59 yards on three grabs with a score.
 
Katrell Blakely added four catches for 40 yards, while Duce Pittman added three catches and a TD, while Hunter Hawthorne added a score on two catches.
 
SE posted 114 yards rushing on the contest, led by CJ Shavers who had 46 yards on 12 carries, while Deundre Wheeler added 39 on 11.  Ryan Taylor would be the only running back to find paydirt though, picking up a TD along with 30 yards on 13 carries.
 
Defensively, Maalik Hall led the way with eight stops on the day, including a sack with a forced fumble that would lead to a touchdown and another tackle for loss that resulted in a safety.
 
Josh Mulumba added six tackles and an interception, his second of the year, while Jaylen Shaw also added his second interception of the year, returning his for 53 yards.
 
Jalon Freeman added a fumble recovery following the strip sack, but ultimately it was Scooter Baker who would take the ball into the endzone for the team's first defensive TD of the season.
 
After holding NWOSU to a three-and-out, SE was moving the ball down the field before one of Hatley's passes slipped through a receiver's hands and was picked off by the Rangers' Terry Atta-Peters at the Ranger two-yard line.
 
Just one play later through the defense would put SE on the board as Hall and Jaiveon Gardner brought down NWOSU's Calion Baker for a two-yard loss in the endzone and a 2-0 lead.
 
The Storm would then march the ensuing possession 61 yards on eight plays with an 11 yard Hatley to Kincade touchdown pass pushing the SE lead to 9-0.
 
The defense was not done on the scoreboard though as the first play of NWOSU's following drive was blown up by Hall who sacked Tanner Clarkson for a nine-yard loss, forcing a fumble, which was recovered by Freeman who returned it to the two-yard line before losing which allowed Baker to scoop it up and fall into the endzone for the score and a 16-0 lead with 3:26 to go first quarter.
 
The Rangers would open the second quarter with a 33 yard field goal to get on the board, making the score 16-3 with 14:51 to play in the half.
 
After a relatively slow quarter, the Storm would finish strong with an 11-play, 74 yard drive that was capped by as Hatley to Pittman touchdown pass with six seconds to play in the second quarter. The two-point conversion try would fail however and the Storm would take a 22-3 lead into the locker room at the half.
 
SE would strike next on its second possession of the third quarter, taking to the air after five-straight runs with back-to-back passes to Gray, the last of them going 35 yards for a touchdown with 5:02 to play in the third to open a 29-3 lead.
 
Southeastern would bridge the third and fourth quarters with a drive that took 10 plays to cover 84 yards with Hatley finding Hawthorne for the payoff touchdown from 12 yards out to take a 36-3 lead with 12:55 to play.
 
NWOSU would take its ensuing drive 74 yards on nine plays, using three SE penalties, and scoring on a one-yard Clarkson run to close the gap to 36-10.
 
Southeastern would tack on one final score, taking advantage of Shaw's interception, before moving 33 yards on nine plays with Taylor scoring from a yard out to make the final score 43-10.