SE Holds on For Road Win Over Rangers

ALVA, Okla.– The Southeastern defense staves off a late push to preserve a victory as Southeastern makes the long trek to Alva, Okla., and comes away with a 27-21 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State on Saturday night.
 
The win is the team's second in-a-row and lifts the Savage Storm to 2-2 on the season heading into Homecoming week when SE hosts No. 16 Ouachita Baptist at Paul Laird Field at 2 p.m.
 
"Always tough in Alva," said head coach Bo Atterberry. "Always good to escape. An ugly win is better than a pretty loss."
 
"We didn't handle it very well," he continued. "We gave them some momentum at their place. They did a good job stacking the box and we didn't capitalize on some things, but we found a way to win so we'll enjoy this. Future opponents will capitalize on every mistake we make, and the unforced errors will just be a wrap."
 
The win gives Atterberry his 40^th win at the helm of the Savage Storm, moving into a tie for fifth on SE's all-time coaching wins list with Duke Christian.
 
The offense found its yards tough to come by but took advantage of them when available as Cergio Perez completed 15-of-28 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown but was picked off twice.
 
Victor Taylor Jr. led the receiving corps. With 60 yards and a touchdown on four catches, while Kobe Jennings had a team-high four receptions for 50 yards.
 
Andre Williams would pick up 46 yards on a pair of catches as well.
 
The ground game had a tough time getting traction, but was led by an unlikely leading rusher as Joshua Horlick would pick up 40 yards on a well-timed fake punt, and his yardage tally would hold up as the team's top mark.
 
Jonathon Cobb picked up 22 yards and a touchdown on 14 carries, while three other SE backs combine for 20 yards on 16 totes.
 
The defense pitched a first-half shutout and survived a late push in a hostile road environment and was led by Braeden Winters who racked up seven tackles on the game, three of them for a loss, and two of those coming as sacks.
 
Kole McKnight and Horlick added five stops apiece, while Michael Hookfin, William Wallis, and Jordan Hood had four tackles each.
 
Hookfin would also snag his third interception of the year, returning it for a touchdown, is was his second defensive touchdown on the season and the second in as many weeks, marking the third time since 1997 that a player has scored two defensive touchdowns in a season, and the first in that timespan to do it in back-to-back games.
 
Dylan Cox would suffer his first miss of the season but still finish the contest with a pair of made field goals, hitting from 30 and 27-yards while also going 3-for-3 on PATs.
 
Jackson Nalley would help set the defense up strong all night in the punting game, averaging 42.0 yards per punt and putting five of his six punts inside the opponents 20 yard line.
 
For the first time on the season Southeastern did not put points on the board on its first possession, but would still get on the board first, this time on defense as Hookfin would jump a route to the sideline and return it four yards for a touchdown to take a 7-0 lead.
 
The defensive score by Hookfin was his second on the season and the second in as many weeks, marking the third time since 1997 that a player has scored two defensive touchdowns in a season, and the first in that time to do it in back-to-back games.
 
The defense would come back on the field and get a stop, with the SE offense moving the ball back into Ranger territory on its next drive before Cox connected on a 30-yard field goal to push the lead to 10-0 which is where it would sit at the end of the first quarter.
 
On the second Storm drive of the second quarter, Horlick would take the snap on a fake punt and rumble 40 yards into Ranger territory. After a penalty and a pair of short gains, Perez would connect on a 43-yard connection to Williams down to the NWOSU two-yard line.
 
One play later Cobb would punch it in for his first TD of the season, putting SE in front 17-0 with 5:40 to play in the first half.
 
Cox would tack on a 27-yard field goal with 31 seconds to play in the first half to stretch the halftime lead to 20-0 in favor of the Storm.
 
NWOSU would respond with a two-yard rushing score by Giorgio Spiropoulos in the third before adding a pick-six by Muftah Ageli early in the fourth to shrink the Southeastern advantage to 20-14.
 
The Storm would get some breathing room back on its ensuing drive as Perez connected with Taylor for a 44-yard touchdown strike, pushing the lead to 27-14 with 12:18 to play.
 
SE defense would hold on the next Ranger drive, but a mishandled punt would give NWOSU a short field and they would take advantage when Brodey Johnson hit Travis Romar for a 27 yard touchdown, closing the score to 27-21 with 7:03 to play in the contest.
 
The Storm defense would have to hold off a final drive with under a minute to play and was able to preserve the victory.