Savage Storm Tripped Up in Rivalry Matchup

DURANT, Okla. – A pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns fueled a Southeastern rally but it was not enough to stave off the upset in a 30-28 loss to rival East Central in the regular-season finale at Paul Laird Field on Saturday.
 
The loss drops the Savage Storm to 8-3 on the season, giving the team its first eight-win season since 2005.
 
Southeastern will now play the waiting game to discover its postseason opportunities if any as the NCAA announces its Super Regional slate on Sunday while the handful of Division II bowl games will hand out invites following that announcement.
 
The Storm did the majority of its work through the air as Daulton Hatley finished the contest 28-of-52 for 295 yards with a touchdown.
 
Braxton Kincade was his top target on the afternoon, hauling in nine catches for 123 yards and a touchdown, his ninth of the year.
 
Katrell Blakely added 80 yards on seven catches, with Marquis Gray next up with six grabs for 56 yards.
 
Deundre Wheeler led the Storm ground game with 44 yards on seven carries with a pair of touchdowns, bringing his rushing score total to 14 on the year.
 
CJ Shavers finished the game with 35 yards on nine carries.
 
Ja'Lon Freeman led the defense with 13 tackles and added a pass breakup, while Maalik Hall, Kevin Simes, and Conner Swope each added a sack, with Scooter Baker and Rogerick Kirby combining on a sack.
 
Baker was next in line in total tackles with six, while Kirby, Micah Rogers, and Ke'Shawn Somerville added a pair of breakups.
 
Jackson Nalley punted four times on the day, and while he only averaged 34.2 yards per punt, all four of his punts pinned ECU inside their own 20 yard line.
 
The Tigers got on the board first, using chunk plays to move the ball down the field, capping an 85-yard drive with a Kenny Hrncir to Miles Davis 25 yard touchdown pass to take a 7-0 lead.
 
SE was unable to answer and the teams traded possessions twice with ECU getting the ball back at their own eight yard line and using just four plays, the last an 81-yard connection between Hrncir and Greg Howell to take a 14-0 lead with 4:36 to play in the quarter.
 
The Storm would find an answer to that drive, setting up at midfield after a 44-yard Kaleb Whitley return before marching the remaining 51 yards on 10 plays with Caleb High scoring from a yard out to close the gap to 14-7 with 24 seconds to play in the first.
 
SE would force a Tiger punt on the next drive, but after driving the ECU 27 yard line on the ensuing drive would see a fourth-down pass miss its mark, handing over possession with 6:02 to play in the second quarter.
 
East Central then drove to the SE 16 before Garrett Clark capped the drive with a 33 yard field goal with 2:03 to play in the first half.
 
ECU would kick the ensuing kickoff out of bounds and SE would start its drive at its own 40 yardline. Hatley would use a 16-yard connection with Blakely and a 31 yard hookup with Kincade to take the ball into the Tiger redzone and three plays later Wheeler would score from a yard out with 40 seconds to go, making the halftime score 17-14 in favor of ECU.
 
Southeastern would get the second half kickoff but was unable to move the ball on its first drive and the teams again traded possessions twice before the Tiger put together a 13-play drive that covered 93 yards and burned 6:49 off the clock before Hrncir scored on a one-yard run to stretch the ECU lead to 24-14 with 4:02 to play in the third.
 
SE would respond on its next drive though, taking the ball 68 yards on 11 plays, spanning the end of the third and beginning of the fourth quarter before Wheeler scored from two yards out to cut the gap to 24-21.
 
ECU would answer in just three plays, first getting a 61 yard Hrncir to JayQuan Lincoln connection before Hrncir eventually score from seven yards out, but a missed PAT would leave the door open with SE trailing 30-21 with 12:37 to play.
 
The Storm would get into position to get its first score, driving to the ECU 29 yard line, but a Trey Keatts 46 yard field goal was just off the mark.
 
SE would force a punt and take over with 4:01 to play, going 71 yards in 2:08 with Hatley Finding Kincade for a 29 yard TD connection, closing the gap to 30-28 with 1:53 to play.
 
The Storm would get what it needed on defense with three-straight stops while using its timeouts and forcing a punt which resulted in a touchback, giving SE the ball at its own 20 yardline with 1:30 to play.
 
However, after converting one first down the Storm were unable to connect on its final four passes, turning the ball over on downs with 52 seconds to play.