Following a lackluster first half performance, Southeastern turned it on in a big way during a dominant third quarter on the way to a 30-15 victory at Southwestern last weekend to extend their winning streak to three straight.
That impressive run will get put to the test this week when the Savage Storm visit defending national champ Harding University.
Southeastern, which improved to 5-3 on the season, took a slim 9-7 lead to the halftime break but came out with a new attitude from the start in the third quarter.
The Savage Storm offense scored touchdowns on three possessions in the game with Southern Nazarene.
period and the defense allowed only a pair of first downs in easily the team’s most impressive quarter of the season. That pushed the advantage to 30-7 and Southeastern coasted home from there.
“We talked about needing to come out in the third quarter and get some momentum,” head coach Bo Atterberry stated. “We flinched a touch defensively there in the second period and gave up a touchdown but hats off to our staff and players for finding a way to get it done and win our third in a row. It was a great team win.”
Atterberry’s defense wasted little time in getting his team the lead in the contest, scoring a safety on the game’s opening play.
The Savage Storm offense then strung together a seven-play, 65-yard march to paydirt as Cergio Perez connected with Kobe Jennings for a 12-yard touchdown toss. That made it a 9-0 edge just over four minutes into the game and it looked like Southeastern might run away with it before halftime.
While the Savage Storm defense continued its dominance until a busted coverage late in the second frame cost them a 72-yard touchdown pass by Southwestern, the offense sputtered in the red zone.
Three times Southeastern had the ball in scoring position but threw an interception once and turned the ball over on downs twice leaving it at 9-7 at intermission.
The momentum turned squarely in Southeastern’s favor after the break as the Savage Storm cashed in three times for touchdowns while limiting the Bulldogs to 37 total yards in the stanza.
Perez hit Victor Taylor for a 19-yard scoring toss to cap the first 80-yard drive and added a nine-yard touchdown pass to Gabe Corona that wrapped up an 88-yard march. They only needed one play and one yard to account for the third score following a Joseph Jones near pick six on an interception return to just outside the Southwestern goal line.
Southeastern had two more scoring chances in the fourth, moving inside the Bulldog 30 both times but Dylan Cox missed a 50-yard field goal on one and the Savage Storm turned the ball over on downs on the other.
Perez had his best game at Southeastern, hitting 14 of 25 passes for 264 yards and three touchdowns. Jennings caught six for 89 yards, Taylor added four grabs for 107 yards and Corona had three receptions for 57.
The Savage Storm ground attack had balanced carries while totaling 172 yards.
D.J. Brown had 50 yards on 12 attempts, Jonathan Cobb chipped in 13 totes for 41 yards, Donovan Shannon carried 12 times for 37 yards and Jason Ngwu had six for 33.
William Wallis spurred the defensive performance with nine tackles as they amassed five tackles for loss, three sacks and intercepted three passes. Dylan Sebock and Kamron Fields added the other picks.
