DURANT, Okla. – Southeastern opened its 2025 season by piling up 423 yards of total offense and forcing four turnovers on defense en route to a commanding 44–13 win over Arkansas–Monticello Thursday night at Paul Laird Field at Spend Life Wisely Stadium.
"I thought it was a good team win," said head coach
Bo Atterberry. "Both sides of the ball. Gave a couple of big plays up defensively, but they've got some players over there too. Wish we would have finished just a touch better in some areas. Liked the way we played together, complimented each other in all three phases."
SE will be back on the field when it faces Ouachita Baptist on Sept. 13 at 7 p.m. in Arkadelphia, Ark.
The Savage Storm (1–0, 1–0 GAC) set the tone with a 10-play drive capped by Jonathan Cobb Jr.'s three-yard touchdown run. From there, the defense forced quick punts and kicker
Dylan Cox tacked on a pair of field goals, giving Southeastern a 13–0 cushion.
After UAM's 44-yard touchdown connection from Tavion Faulk to Michael Lott, the Storm answered with a statement.
Luke Hohenberger engineered a 9-play, 88-yard march in the final minutes, finishing with an 8-yard strike to
Matthew Nunez, sending SE into the half up 20–6.
The third quarter was all Storm as
DJ Brown burst in from 10 yards out, and
Levay Duncan added a 5-yard keeper after a UAM turnover.
Even when the Weevils hit a 75-yard touchdown, Southeastern's grip on the game never loosened.
Duncan opened the fourth quarter with a 37-yard touchdown toss to
Victor Taylor Jr.
Taylor's night was electric, catching three passes for 109 yards and a score, while Nunez added 56 receiving yards and his first touchdown of the year. On the ground, the Storm piled up 207 rushing yards on 52 carries, with three different players reaching the end zone.
Chancy Lester led the Storm on the ground with 55 yards on six carries while Brown, Cobb, and Duncan each rushed for a score.
Hohenberger connected on 8-of-12 passing for 156 yards and a touchdown before leaving early, allowing Duncan to come in and hit 3-of-6 through the air for 49 yards and a score.
In addition to Taylor's night, Nunez finished with 56 yards on three catches with a score.
Defensively, Southeastern was relentless, forcing four turnovers — two fumbles and two interceptions — and holding UAM to just 49 rushing yards on 21 attempts.
Andrew Grissom led the way with eight tackles with
Kole McKnight next in line with five stops.
De'Angelo Shanks logged a sack, while
Trevion Butler forced and recovered a fumble, while
Tre Martin added forced fumble with a Soloman Macfoy recovery.
Kamron Fields and
Joseph Jones each snagged an interception, while
Dylan Sebock and
Christian Brumley each had a blocked kick.
Southeastern doubled UAM in first downs (22–10), nearly doubled time of possession (40:17 to 19:43), and converted 6 of 7 trips in the red zone.
