Southeastern Topples No. 5 Tigers, 35-21

ARKADELPHIA, Ark. – The Southeasternoffense used a balanced attack to pile up over 500 yards of total offense, while the defense was dominant in forcing four turnovers en route to a 35-21 win over No. 5/6 Ouachita Baptist on Saturday afternoon in Arkadelphia, Ark.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 8-2 on the season and is the 500^th win in the history of the SE football program.
 
The victory of the fifth-ranked team in the nation is the second win over a ranked opponent this season, and matches the highest ranked opponent beaten by the Storm since joining the NCAA, with the last time coming over then No. 5 Central Oklahoma in 2003.
 
"They don't mess around," said head coach Tyler Fenwick of his team. "They work. They come to practice every day. They're a fun group, they're tough. They believe in what we're doing."
 
"We were trying to figure out who was going to be playing," he continued, discussing the fourth quarter. "You had Baltrip out, and Mulumba went out, and J-Free was out, and Maalik went out and we were trying to figure out what packages we were in. But our guys and our coaches dud a great job of getting the right people on the field, and Micah Rodgers came up with a huge pick there to seal the deal. Hats off to the defense, they put us in great position all night. They stopped the run, which is something to do against these guys."
 
Despite a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns by OBU, the Southeastern defense was dominant, holding the Tigers vaunted rushing attack which averaged 303 yards per game coming into the contest to 177 yards.
 
The Ouachita Baptist offense also entered the weekend tied for the lead in the nation for fewest turnovers with five before the Storm defense forced and recovered a pair of fumbles and added a pair of interceptions.
 
OBU did not cross midfield until late in the second quarter and would not make its second trip into SE territory until the fourth quarter.
 
Scooter Baker led that group with his second-straight double-digit tackle outing, finishing with a game-high 12 tackles, 11 of the solo stops, with three tackles for a loss and a forced fumble.
 
Micah Rogers snagged the game-sealing interception on OBU's final drive and Ke'Shawn Somerville collected his first interception of the season to lead the secondary.
 
Keelan Chilton and Jared Bell each added fumble recoveries, while Kevin Simes and Cameron Tate combined on a sack.
 
While the defense was dominant, the offense was not overshadowed as it gashed OBU through the air and on the ground for 510 yards of total offense.
 
The bulk of that offense came on the ground, and while TJ Cole for OBU leads the conference in rushing, it was CJ Shavers who put on a rushing show on Saturday afternoon as he piled up 151 yards on 14 carries with a pair of touchdowns while averaging 10.8 yards per carry.
 
Deundre Wheeler added 65 yards on 11 carries and Ryan Taylor put up 32 on 15 totes and when the dust settled the Storm had amassed 273 yards rushing as a team, outrushing the Tigers 273-to-177.
 
Daulton Hatley turned in another efficient performance through the air, going 20-of-32 with 237 yards and three touchdowns, spreading the ball around to seven different receivers.
 
Braxton Kincade led that group with seven catches for 59 yards and a pair of touchdowns. Katrell Blakely was next in line with six grabs for 68 yards and a score, while Duce Pittman added two for 43 and Shavers hauled in two for 20.
 
The Southeastern defense forced OBU off the field on its opening drive but was pinned at its own eight-yard line to open its first drive.
 
That did not slow the offense down however as four plays of 15-plus yards, capped by the 18-yard Shavers touchdown to put the Storm on top 7-0 at the 8:42 mark of the first quarter.
 
SE would force a fumble which was recovered by Jared Bell on the first play of the next series, but was unable to capitalize on the short field, turning the ball back over on downs.
 
OBU would move the ball to midfield, but the Storm defense would again get the Tigers off the field, this time on a Baker tackle for a five-yard loss on fourth and two.
 
This time Southeastern would capitalize on the short field, carrying a nine-play drive into the second quarter before Hatley connected with Kincade for a five-yard touchdown and a 14-0 lead with 14:17 to go in the half.
 
Another SE three-and-out would get the ball back at its own 32-yard line before grinding out a 13-play drive that burned 5:45 off the clock and covered 68 yards with Hatley and Kincade connecting for a four-yard score, stretching the lead to 21-0 with 7:04 to go in the half.
 
The Tigers would get its first response of the afternoon on its ensuing drive, going 75 yards on 10 plays with TJ Cole scoring from 33 yards out, closing the score to 21-7 with 2:44 to play in the second quarter.
 
The Southeastern offense would put together one last statement in the half, driving the ball 75 yards on 12 plays with Hatley finding Blakley for a nine-yard strike to push the lead to 28-7 with 26 seconds to play in the half and it would hold up as the halftime score.
 
SE would open the second half with the ball and capitalize on a personal foul penalty by OBU that moved the ball across midfield before Shavers broke free on his longest run of the day, going 45 yards to the house to give the Storm a 35-7 lead with 12:41 to play in the third quarter.
 
After forcing a three-and-out the Storm would again march the field, reaching the red zone before a fumble ended its drive.
 
However, on the first play of the ensuing drive the defense would step up again and Chilton would recover a fumble at the OBU 17.
 
SE would turn the ball over on downs, but the defense would again come up with a big play as Somerville would pick off a Grant Allen pass down the sideline with 4:16 to play in the third.
 
The Storm would then burn 5:53 off the clock and take the ball into the fourth quarter, but a 41-yard field goal would miss the mark and SE still held a 35-7 lead with 13:23 to play.
 
At that point the OBU offense ramped up, using a 40-yard gain and a targeting penalty to get into the red zone before Kendell Givens scored from 11 yards out to make the score 35-14 with 11:31 to play.
 
The following SE drive would take 2:53 off the clock but produced no points and the Tigers would take over at their own 28 yard line.
 
A 30-yard Cole run opened the drive and six plays later a Givens eight-yard run would cap it with a touchdown to close the Storm lead to 35-21 with 5:29 to play.
 
Pablo Perini would secure the onside kick attempt on the next drive, but Southeastern was unable to pick up a first down and punted back to OBU with 3:40 to play.
 
The Tigers then made their way down the field, completing four-straight plays of 10-plus yards to set up at the SE 20 yard line before Rogers ended the threat by picking off Allen at the 10 yard line and returning it out to the 35.
 
A pair of Shavers runs would produce the first down the Storm needed and a pair of Hatley kneel downs would run the final seconds off the clock in the Storm victory.