Narrow decisions the previous two weeks had not turned out well for the Southeastern Savage Storm and Saturday’s football season finale with East Central at Paul Laird Field seemed headed in the same direction.
Breaks finally went Southeastern’s way at the end however as sophomore Kamron Fields stepped in front of an East Central pass with a minute remaining to thwart the Tigers and preserve a 24-19 Savage Storm victory. Coach Bo Atterberry’s squad wrapped up the season with a 5-6 record for the third straight season.
“It felt good to finish it at the end,” said a relieved Atterberry afterward. “Our defense stood up big at the end and came up with the turnover when we had to have it. We felt like we could contain them but gave up a couple of scores on explosive plays in the first half. The defense kind of settled in after that and performed well.
“I was proud of the way we played during the course of the game and am extremely grateful to these seniors and what they have done for us.”
It looked a little dicey for the Savage Storm at the outset as East Central grabbed the early momentum with a 74-yard touchdown pass on just the second play of the game.
Atterberry’s unit rose to the challenge though, yielding a grand total of 32 yards on the next four Tiger possessions, each of which ended with a punt. That allowed the Southeastern offense time to get its feet under it after not gaining a positive yard through the opening three series.
Things started clicking when quarterback Luke Hohenberger scrambled for a 10-yard gain and Southeastern’s initial first down on the following possession. A pair of key passes to Jonathan Cobb out of the backfield were instrumental and Cobb capped a 65-yard march with a one-yard touchdown run that knotted the score with 1:18 left in the period.
The momentum continued onto the second stanza and a methodical 18-play, 91-yard drive that ate nearly 11 minutes off the clock before stalling to set up a Dylan Cox 22yard field goal.
East Central answered with a long pass in the closing minutes of the half that eventually set up a game-tying 34-yard field goal to even the score at 10 heading into intermission.
Southeastern opened the third quarter with a strong 65-yard scoring drive that gave them the lead for good. That series was highlighted by a huge 29-yard pass from Hohenberger to Jax Sternberger that converted a third-and-long as well as D’Teaurean Johnson’s fourth down run out of the jumbo package that kept the march alive deep in the red zone.
One play later Hohenberger bolted to paydirt from six yards out with 9:29 remaining in the third frame.
It remained 17-10 until a Tiger field goal four minutes into the final stanza narrowed the gap, but Southeastern responded quickly.
Hohenberger had a pair of strong runs and also hit Colton Simpson for a pivotal 33-yard strike that helped set up Cobb’s five-yard touchdown run which extended the lead to two scores.
East Central would not fold, scoring a touchdown with 1:56 left before recovering two straight onside kicks, one of which was nullified by a penalty.
The Tigers were threatening at the Southeastern 37 when Fields came up with the game-saving interception and the Savage Storm ran out the clock from there.
Hohenberger went all the way at quarterback for the first time this season, completing nine of 17 passes for 128 yards while also contributing 47 yards on nine rushing attempts. Donovan Shannon chipped in 17 carries for 73 yards and Cobb added 30 yards on 13 totes.
On the defensive side, Will Wallis piled up 10 tackles with senior Braeden Winters contributing eight.
“We’ve kind of had a revolving door at quarterback, but decided to go with Hohenberger and told him that we wanted him to start, finish and end the game on his terms,” Atterberry added. “He knew what this game was all about, and he accomplished that. I’m proud of him.”
Southeastern’s Kameron Lockhart lunges for an East Central player.
