Savage Storm Open Season with 38-20 Win over ATU

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. – Southeastern piled up 531 yards of total offense and the defense forced three turnovers as the Savage Storm opened the 2021 season with a 38-20 road victory over Arkansas Tech on Thursday night in Russellville, Ark.
 
The win moves SE to 1-0 to open the season overall and in league play, with Harding set to visit Paul Laird Field on Sept. 11 for a 6 p.m. home opener.
 
"So much hard work has been put into it," said head coach Tyler Fenwick. "It's a long game, with a lot of ups and downs. We haven't played in so long and there's just so much that has been poured into it that it just feels good to come out of it 1-0 with a win like that. I'm proud of our guys. I'm proud of how hard they worked."
 
"It goes to the fact that we've improved in the run game," he continued speaking on the team's final two drives. "We were able to sustain drives and put together drives. We had some ugly stuff in the first quarter with some turnovers, but we overcame it and that's a big deal for us coming from the last time we played. Shooting ourselves in the foot, but we dug out of it. We've got a lot to work on, there is no doubt, but the first game getting out of here 1-0, that's a good start."
 
Daulton Hatley completed 16-of-26 for 321 yards and three touchdowns to lead the offensive charge. It is his second-career 300-yard outing, and technically is second in-a-row having passed the mark in his last outing versus East Central in the final game of 2019.
 
He spread the ball around, targeting eight different receivers, but favoring Braxton Kincade who would haul in seven receptions for 93 yards and a pair of scores.  Marquis Gray had the long play of the night, going 91 yards for his lone TD and finishing the night with three catches for 110 yards, while Duce Pittman followed with three catches for 78 yards.
 
CJ Shavers finished the contest with 116 yards rushing on 10 carries, while Deundre Wheeler added 12 carries for 73 yards and a touchdown. Ryan Taylor also added a score on the ground with 20 yards on eight totes.
 
The defense forced a trio of turnovers, with Maalik Hall forcing a fumble that was recovered by TJ Davis, while Jaylen Shaw and Keelan Chilton each snagged interceptions.
 
Hall and Josh Mulumba each finished the game with six tackles to lead the way, while Ja'Lon Freeman, Scooter Baker, and Ke'Shawn Somerville each had four.
 
Hall also recorded the team's lone sack while posting three tackles for loss.
 
Wheeler put the Storm on the board first after a pair of defensive stops, scoring from a yard out to cap SE's second drive of the game, a six play, 68-yard drive that took up 2:47 and left Southeastern up 7-0 with 6:45 to go in the first quarter.
 
After the teams traded possessions, ATU would cash in on a Storm penalty to convert on third and long before Jack Lindsey connected on a 36-yard TD pass to Adam Cousins to knot the score at 7-7 with 3:303 to go in the first.
 
SE would score again on the ground in the second quarter as Taylor scored on an eight-yard run with 8:59 to play in the second quarter on a play set up by a Hatley to Pittman pass a play before for 31 yards.
 
After forcing a three-and-out on defense, the offense needed just three plays one a 20-yard Wheeler run and the scoring play going in as a 21-yard Hatley to Kincade TD toss with 7:21 to play in the half to go up 21-7.
 
The defense would follow by forcing another three-and-out before driving to the ATU 18-yardline before Trey Keatts connected on a 28-yard field goal to push the lead to 24-7 at halftime.
 
Southeastern wasted no time in adding to that lead early in the second half as Hatley would find Gray on the second play from scrimmage for a 91-yard touchdown connection for a 31-7 lead less than a minute into the third quarter.
 
That 91-yard hookup goes down as the third-longest passing score in the Division II era for the Storm and ties for the fourth longest all-time in SE history.
 
The Wonder Boys answered with an 11-play, 84-yard drive that was capped by a Jordan Eddington TD run, but Connor Swope would pick off the two-point conversion try to keep the score at 31-13.
 
Neither team would get back on the scoreboard in the third quarter, but ATU did cut the SE lead to 31-20 with a three-yard Lindsey pass to Caleb Batie for a score on the first play of the fourth quarter.
 
After a Storm three-and-out, the Southeastern defense would come through with a big stop of fourth-down on the ensuing drive to get the ball back with 11:07 to play.
 
SE would march down the field from its own 47-yard line, taking advantage of a 24-yard Shavers run and a 10-yard Wheeler scamper before Hatley would find Kincade for a five-yard TD toss with 6:43 to play, capping a 9-play, 53-yard drive that burned 4:24 off the clock and gave the Storm a 38-20 lead.
 
ATU would get the ball back and push it out to near midfield before Keelan Chilton picked off a Lindsey pass to give the offense the ball back with 4:21 to play.
 
The Storm offense would not leave the field again, converting on third-and-five with a 23 yard Hatley run before running out the clock for the 38-20 victory.