Storm Stay Perfect with 37-28 Win over SWOSU

DURANT, Okla. – Katrell Blakely posted a touchdown rushing and another receiving along with 161 all-purpose yards to help Southeastern hold off Southwestern Oklahoma State for a 37-28 victory on Saturday night at Paul Laird Field.
 
The win improves the Savage Storm to 3-0 on the season, matching the team's best start since the 2017 season when it opened with six-straight wins.
 
Southeastern will be back in action Sept. 25 when it hits the road for Bethany, Okla., to take on Southern Nazarene at 2 p.m.
 
"None of them are easy," said head coach Tyler Fenwick after the victory. "This is a tough conference and a good football team. They threw it all over the place and you never know what you were going to get and you're just constantly trying to make adjustments and they're constantly giving you new things to defend. We kept hanging on and making plays where we needed to make plays."
 
"The big thing was when we had the lead in the fourth quarter," he continued, "And being able to run the football down their throats and just be physical and run the ball. It's just so good to finish the game with the ball in your hands."
 
The Storm offense would grind out 481 yards of total offense on the night, with Daulton Hatley completing 23-of-36 for 303 yards with a pair of touchdowns and a pick.
 
He spread the ball around to seven different pass catchers, but it was Blakely and Marquis Gray who combined for most of the damages as Blakely logged 127 yards on 10 grabs with one TD, while Gray finished with 109 yards on five catches.
 
Braxton Kincade would snag two for 25 yards, one of them going for a score.
 
On the ground, the Storm finished shy of having any 100-yard rushers, but the trio of CJ Shavers, Deundre Wheeler, and Ryan Taylor would combine for 148 yards on 26 carries, with Shavers and Wheeler each striking pay dirt.
 
Blakely would get in on the rushing action as well with a 34 yard touchdown run, helping lift the Storm team rushing effort to 178 yards on the evening.
 
The defense had a trio finish with seven tackles each in Ke'Shawn Somerville, Maalik Hall, and Conner Swope.
 
Swope would tack on the biggest defensive play of the night, helping seal the Storm victory with an interception on the final Bulldog drive of the night. He also logged a forced fumble and half a tackle for a loss.
 
Hall would record the team's lone sack, while Josh Mulumba would add a pair of pass breakups and Keelan Chilton would register a blocked PAT.
 
SWOSU would open with the game's first points, marching its opening possession 75 yards on 12 plays with Tanner Griffin finding Patrick Lee for a 19 yard TD and a 7-0 lead just over five minutes into the game.
 
SE would waste little time in answering as Hatley would fins Gray to convert on third down on the ensuing drive with a 47 yard pickup and two plays later Hatley would connect with Kincade for a 17 yard strike to even the game at 7-7.
 
After the Stoprm defense forced a three-and-out the offense would get rolling again, converting two third downs before a 31 yard Hatley to Gray connection on fourth down would set up a Shavers TD run with 46 seconds to play in the first quarter, taking a 14-7 lead.
 
SE would stop the Bulldogs in their own territory again to open the second quarter, and again the offense would take advantage, this time cashing in a 62 yard, five-play drive with a Blakely 34-yard touchdown run on the reverse to take a 21-7 lead with 11:47 to play in the first half.
 
SWOSU would get its offense moving on the ensuing drive, going 73 yards in eight plays with a Griffin to Torin Justice 16-yard pass providing the scoring and cutting SE's lead to 21-14 with 8:11 to go in the second quarter.
 
Southeastern would again respond, moving the ball 70 yards on five plays with Hatley finding Blakely through the air this time for a 29 yard touchdown to open up a 28-14 lead with 6:01 to play in the half.
 
The Storm defense would get a stop on the next drive but would turn the ball over on its own ensuing possession.
 
SWOSU would take advantage, connecting on an 87-yard TD pass from Griffin to Deshon Moreaux, but Chilton would block the PAT and the Storm would nearly return it for a defensive two-point-conversion but were stopped, leaving the halftime score at 28-20.
 
The teams would trade fruitless possessions in the third quarter, and it was not until the Storm took over on its first drive of the fourth that the scoreboard would get some work as SE drove 45 yards to the Bulldog 11 before Trey Keatts connected on a 28 yard field goal to stretch the lead to 31-20 with 10:26 to play.
 
SWOSU would close the gap on its ensuing drive, converting on a fourth-down play before capping the 11-play, 81-yard drive with a Nate David five-yard TD run and a two-point conversion would trim the Storm lead to 31-28 with 5:05 to play.
 
SE would respond thanks to the heavy running of Shavers and Wheeler and a timely connection from Hatley to Blakely, with Wheeler cashing in from 11 yards out, but a missed PAT would leave the score at 37-28.
 
SWOSU would move the ball into Southeastern territory to the Storm 39 yard line, but Swope would snag the defense's first turnover of the night at the most opportune moment, picking off a Griffin pass at the SE 31 yardline and returning it 24 yards to the Bulldog 45 yard line where the Storm would take three knees to run out the clock on the 37-28 victory.