SE Downs Bulldogs 30-15 for Third-Straight Victory

WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Cergio Perez connected on a trio of touchdowns and the Southeastern defense forced three turnovers as the Savage Storm scored 21 third-quarter points en route to a 30-15 win over Southwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday afternoon in Weatherford, Okla.
 
The win is the third-straight for SE who improves to 5-3 on the season heading into a short week where it will square off with nationally-ranked Harding at 7 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 31 in Searcy, Ark.
 
"We talked about the middle eight [minutes]," said head coach Bo Atterberry, "And we gave them the last four minutes of that second quarter and we needed to come back and win the next four minutes and got some momentum there. They're stingy against the run and we knew that, and the last couple weeks we've found a way to run the ball and we were able to find it late. We had to throw it to open it up, but we did a nice job and hats off to the staff and ultimately the players for finishing and getting three in a row. It's not easy to do."
 
Perez would turn in his best all around effort through the air on the season, hitting 14-of-25 passing for 264 yards and three scores.
 
Victor Taylor would put up the first 100-yard receiving performance of the season, hauling in four catches for 107 yards and a touchdown.
 
Kobe Jennings would snag six catches for 89 yards and a touchdown, while Gabe Corona picked up 57 yards on three catches and scored his first TD of the season.
 
SE once again used a four-horseman approach to the running game, finishing with 172 yards on the ground combined, led by DJ Brown's 50 yards on 12 carries.
 
Jonathan Cobb was next in line with 41 yards on 13 totes, while Donovan Shannon posted 37 on 12 carries. Jason Ngwu rounded out the group with 33 yards on six rushes.
 
The defense would hold the Bulldogs to 34 yards of rushing on the afternoon and kept a sixth-straight opponent to under 300 yards of total offense for the game.
 
William Wallis led the charge with nine tackles, while Michael Hookfin and Tyveon Williams were next in line with five apiece.
 
Dylan Sebock would finish with a sack and an interception with a 25-yard return on the day, while Joseph Jones had a pick and a 39-yard return. Kamron Fields would end the contest with a pick in the final seconds.
 
Despite starting the contest on defense, SE would need just one play to get on the board as Hood would lead the defensive rush and force an intentional grounding penalty by Kai Kunz in the end zone for a safety and a 2-0 Storm lead.
 
SE would take over on the free kick and drive 65 yards on seven plays with Perez hitting Jennings for a 12-yard touchdown toss and a 9-0 lead at the 10:39 mark of the opening quarter.
 
The Storm would take that 9-0 lead into the quarter break and on the first play of the second frame, Sebock would snag a batted ball and return the interception 25 yards down to the Bulldog 13-yard line, but a penalty would erase a touchdown and push the Storm out of field goal range on that drive.
 
Neither team could find the endzone for the majority of the second quarter until SWOSU connected on a 72-yard touchdown toss with eight seconds to play in the half, cutting the SE lead to 9-7 at the break.
 
On the opening drive of the second half the Storm would see Perez connect on big pass plays to Kennings and Corona before a final 19-yard connection with Victor Taylor in the endzone to push the lead to 16-9 at the 11:30 mark.
 
The defense would hold and the Storm offense would capitalize as Perez would use big connections to Taylor and Jennings to set up a nine-yard TD toss to Corona at the 2:23 mark of the quarter to extend the advantage to 23-7.
 
Jones would end the ensuing drive with a pick and a return all the way down to the one yard line, setting up a one-yard TD plunge from Horlick to make the advantage 30-7 which is where it would stand at the end of three quarters.
 
SWOSU would put together a 67 yard drive midway through the fourth quarter before scoring from a yard out on fourth down and following a two-point conversion, trimmed the Storm lead to 30-15 with 6:28 to play.
 
SE would take the ensuing drive and burn 5:22 off the clock before giving the ball back to the Bulldogs with 1:06 to play.
 
Kamron Fields would then cap the contest with an interception with five seconds to play to secure the 30-15 victory.