Defense, Rushing Attack Lead SE past OBU

DURANT, Okla.– DJ Brown led a season-best rushing effort and the Southeastern defense pitched a shutout in the second half en route to a 29-10 victory over Oklahoma Baptist on Saturday night at Paul Laird Field.
 
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 1-2 on the year heading into a Sept. 28 road matchup with Northwestern Oklahoma State in Alva, Okla.
 
"We talked about it all week," said head coach Bo Atterberry, "Being able to find a way to run the football and those guys did a really nice job. The offensive staff and of course the big boys up front, you can't forget those guys, its where it all starts."
 
"I thought those running backs complimented each other really well," he added, "And it's a good team win. Been a long week…but I'm proud of these guys."
 
Brown turned in a season-best 116 yards on the ground with a touchdown on 17 carries to lead the Storm rushing attack which piled up 224 yards and averaged nearly five yards per carry.
 
Jonathan Cobb posted a career-high 78 yards, while Donovan Shannon picked up 39 yards and a touchdown on the first five carries of his career.
 
Cergio Perez would finish the night with 118 yards through the air on 10-of-19 passing, with five of his 10 completions going to Gabe Corona who led the way with 42 yards receiving.
 
Braeden Winters paced the Storm defense with 12 tackles on the night, while William Wallis added six and Tre Martin chipped in five.
 
Martin would snag his first interception of the season as well, while Michael Hookfin would recover a fumble in the endzone for a touchdown and add a pass breakup.
 
De'Angelo Shanks and Dylan Sebock would each record sacks in the contest.
 
Brown would put the Storm on the board first with a four-yard touchdown run at the 8:41 mark of the first quarter to take a 7-0 lead and capping a six-play, 58-yard drive.
 
The Bisons would answer with a 19-yard field goal in the closing seconds of the first quarter and added a Kenny Rosenthal 13-yard rushing score at the 12:51 mark of the second quarter to take a 10-7 lead.
 
SE would get the last word in the first half by putting together a nine-play, 80-yard scoring drive, helped along by two big passing plays to Jennings and Tayor before Shannon scored from four yards out to cap the drive and give the Storm a 14-10 lead with 5:24 to play in the half.
 
The defense would hold OBU and keep the 14-10 difference as the halftime score.
 
SE would be forced to punt on the first possession of the second half, but after a Jackson Nalley punt pinned the Bisons at the seven, a Rosenthal backwards pass would get away from his receiver and roll into the endzone where Hookfin would recover it and put the Storm in front 21-10 with 10:33 to play in the quarter.
 
His recovery it he endzone if the first defensive touchdown since the 2021 season.
 
The Storm would close the third quarter with a seven-play, 24 yard drive that saw Dylan Cox connect on a 22 yard field goal to extend the lead to 24-10 which is where is would sit heading to the fourth quarter.
 
After forcing an OBU punt, Cox would again cash in the end of a drive, this time connecting from 44 yards out to push the lead to 27-10 with 7:29 to play.
 
SE would add one final score when Sebock would bring down OBU's Jason Thomason in his own endzone for a safety with 1:38 to play to make the final score 29-10.