Wheeler Career Day Lifts SE to 35-32 Win over SAU

DURANT, Okla. – Deundre Wheeler turned in a career day on the ground with 139 yards and three touchdowns as Southeastern survived a late rally to top Southern Arkansas 35-32 on Saturday afternoon at Paul Laird Field.
 
The win moves the Savage Storm to 3-3 on the season heading into an Oct. 15 matchup with Northwestern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. in Alva, Okla.
 
"The defense played out of their minds," said Fenwick when asked about the defense performance through the first three quarters, "They were physical, they played fast, and they were flowing. It was fun. It was fun to see them play that way."
 
Wheeler finished the contest with a career-best 139 yards rushing on 19 carries and scored three touchdowns for the second time in his time at SE.
 
As a team, the Savage Storm posted 195 yards on the ground which is the best team rushing effort on the year.
 
Daulton Hatley cooled off his torrid pace through the air, completing 27-of-33 passes for 236 yards with a pair of touchdowns.
 
He would find Marquis Gray for five catches and 85 yards and a touchdown, pushing his streak to seven-straight games with a receiving touchdown.
 
Katrell Balkely was his most frequent target with seven catches for 38 yards, while Gyasi Smith hauled in five for 33 and Duce Pittman turned in three for 41 yards. Braxton Kincade also found the endzone on the day, finishing with three catches for 18 yards and a score.
 
Ja'Lon Freeman led the defense with nine tackles and a forced fumble, while Keelan Chilton, Cameron Tate, and Alexce Marshall added seven stops apiece.
 
Tate would add 1.5 tackles for loss, including the team's only sack, while Chilton would breakup four passes in the contest.
 
Marshall would add two tackles for loss and three QB hurries in the effort.
 
For the sixth-straight game this season Southeastern would take its opening drive and cash it in for points, this time marching 60 yards after Kaleb Whitley returned the opening kickoff 40 yards, and doing so on 11 plays with Hatley finding Kincade for a 14 yard TD toss, and following a missed PAT, the Storm would lead 6-0.
 
That would hold up as the score after a quarter as SE held the Muleriders to a three-and-out, but were unable to score on their second possession.
 
Southeastern would take over with 4:30 to go in the second quarter after an SAU punt left the Storm working from the Mulerider 45 yards line. Wheeler would cash in on this drive, scoring from 127 yards out and after a Hatley to Matthew Nunez two-point conversion was successful, SE took a 14-0 lead with 2:24 to go in the half.
 
SAU would take its ensuing drive and move 64 yards on nine plays with Judd Barton finding Dekendrick Bender for a seven-yard touchdown to cut SE's halftime lead to 14-7.
 
The Storm defense would force SAU to turn the ball over on downs to open the second half before taking the ball 66 yards the other direction on its next drive, taking six plays and aided largely by a 23-yard Jason Ngwu run which set up Wheeler for his second score of the day, a one-yard plunge with 7:19 to play in the third to take a 21-7 lead.
 
Southeastern would then force another three-and-out to get the ball back and six plays later Hatley would find Gray for a 29-yard TD strike, capping a 64-yard drive and giving the Storm a 28-7 lead with 3:32 to play in the third.
 
After the teams traded fruitless possessions, SAU would get back on the board with 8:12 to play when Austin Wilkerson hit a 29-yard field goal to close the gap to 28-10.
 
SE would answer with a steady dose of Wheeler on the ensuing drive as he recorded five carries over the 10-play drive for 60 yards, the last 10 of which accounted for by his third touchdown run of the day, pushing the Storm lead to 35-10 with 2:51 to play.
 
The Muleriders would answer two plays into their next drive as Bender pulled in a juggling catch down the sideline and took it 48 yards for the TD to make the score 35-17 with 2:17 remaining.
 
SAU would try an onside kick, but SE would recover but were only able to burn 26 seconds off the clock on the ensuing drive and five plays later OB Jones would find Kamden Perry for a 56-yard touchdown strike, narrowing the gap to 35-25 following a two-point conversion with 1:04 remaining.  
 
This time, the Muleriders would recover the ensuing onside kick and would take the ball 66 yards on nine plays, scoring on the final play of the contest on a Jones to Jariq Scales 18-yard pass which would push the final score to 35-32.