SE Piles Up 355 yards on the Ground in 40-14 Win over SNU

DURANT, Okla. – The Southeastern offense ran its way to season-highs in rushing yards and total offense en route to its highest scoring effort of the year in a 40-14 victory over Southern Nazarene on Saturday afternoon at Paul Laird Field.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 4-3 on the season as they prepare for the first leg of a two-game road swing beginning next Saturday when it travels to Weatherford, Okla., to take on Southwestern Oklahoma State at 2 p.m. on Oct. 26.
 
The SE offense piled up 355 yards on the ground, its fifth-best effort in the Division II era, led by 131 yards on 13 carries from DJ Brown who also scored on the offense's longest play of the day, a 66-yard run.
 
Jason Ngwu was next in line with 80 yards on 15 carries, while Luke Hohenberger added 63 yards on 10 totes.
 
Jonathan Cobb Jr followed with 43 yards on 10 carries with a touchdown while Donovan Shannon added 38 on four carries with a score.
 
All five SE ball carriers had a run of 12 yards or longer, and the Storm did not suffer a single lost yardage play on the contest.
 
Hohenberger would also add a 6-of-12 effort passing for 162 yards and two touchdowns.
 
His top target on the day was Kobe Jennings who had 84 yards on two catches with a 47-yard touchdown grab, while Matthew Nunez also had two receptions, his totaling 63 yards with a 32-yard touchdown.
 
The defense held SNU to less than 100 yards rushing and less than 100 yards passing, allowing a season-low 146 yards of total offense by the visitors.
 
Braeden Winters led the charge with seven tackles, including one sack, while Michael Hookfin and William Wallis added six stops each.
 
Jordan Hood and Dylan Sebock would each record sacks, while Jalen Hughes would grab his first interception of the season and return it 18 yards.
 
Dylan Cox would finish 2-of-3 on field goal tries, connecting from 31 and 39 yards out, while going 3-of-4 on PATs.
 
Southeastern would take its opening possession and cover 75 yards on seven plays with Hohenberger hitting Nunez on a 32-yard strike to take a 6-0 lead.
 
SE would throw an interception on its next possession but force a three and out which set up a 29-yard punt return from Andre Williams which set the Storm up at the Crimson Storm 21-yard line.
 
After a SNU pass interference penalty in the endzone put Southeastern at the two-yard-line, it was Cobb who would punch it in for the 13-0 lead which is where it stood at the end of one frame.
 
SNU would put together an 11-play drive into the second quarter, but the Storm defense would hold on a fourth-and-five attempt to force a turnover on downs.
 
The offense followed up almost immediately, going 92 yards on four plays, the bulk of it coming on the 66-yard Brown TD scamper to push the lead to 20-0.
 
After forcing a three and out the Storm would again put together a scoring drive, moving 83 yards on six plays, with a 31-yard Hohenberger to Nnez pass moving the ball to midfield before Hohenberger would find Jennings on a 47-yard touchdown strike to extend the lead to 27-0 which would hold up ad the halftime score.
 
The teams traded possessions to open the second half, but SNU would break up the shutout on its second drive, taking advantage of an SE turnover by scoring on a 44-yard Bryson Evans to Anthony Cox pass down the middle, cutting the Storm advantage to 27-7.
 
It would not stay that way long as Southeastern would take the ensuing drive 78 yards on nine play with Shannon capping the drive on a 19-yard touchdown run to extend the lead to 34-7 with 4:30 to play in the third.
 
SNU would follow up with a score on special teams as Dezmond Williams returned a punt 70 yards for a score, the first punt return TD allowed by the Storm since Oct. 15, 2016, a run of 79 games.
 
The fourth quarter would go by quickly, with SE capping a pair of scoring drives with field goals ,the first at the 7:33 mark when Cox connected from 31 yards out and the next with 3:27 to play from 29 yards which set the final score at 40-14.