Southeastern put together its most complete performance of the season despite a delayed start due to weather and rolled past Northwestern, 56-14, in Great American Conference action last weekend.
The victory more importantly snapped a two-game skid and upped the Savage Storm record to 3-4 going into the stretch run of the season. Southeastern racked up a season-best 507 yards offensively while allowing a paltry 150 total yards, including only 42 on the ground.
“I was proud of the way we came out from the start,” head coach Bo Atterberry stated.
“Our defensive game plan was outstanding and we executed consistently all night. We did a good job offensively and both our quarterbacks played well.
“We talked going in about getting back on track today and hopefully finish strong the rest of the way.”
It was the Savage Storm defense that set the tone early with a stifling start and the offense quickly capitalized on a short field with a Levay Duncan 37-yard touchdown burst.
An Andre Williams 25-yard punt return gave the hosts the ball at the Northwestern 29 moments later and Donovan Shannon tallied all of that, snagging a 23-yard pass from Duncan to get it started. He found the end zone two plays later on a five-yard scamper that made it 14-0 barely six minutes into the contest.
Southeastern added three more touchdowns in the second stanza, including a pair of those in the final 65 seconds.
Duncan capped a 66-yard scoring march with his third touchdown run with 1:05 remaining and the defense immediately got the ball back at their own 33 yard line only 30 seconds later. A couple of Luke Hohenberger completions got them in position, and he then connected with Victor Taylor Jr. on a deep 45yard bomb with no time left.
That flurry pushed the margin to 35-0 at intermission thanks largely to a defensive effort that allowed just one first down and 11 total yards over the first two frames. Only one of the Rangers’ seven first half possessions covered more than three plays.
The two teams traded touchdowns in the third period with Duncan adding a six-yard scoring toss to Jacob Brewer.
Hohenberger found Jax Sternberger for another score only 43 seconds into the fourth quarter and Bryant Watts capped the point production with a 23-yard pick six following an interception deep in Northwestern territory.
Duncan rushed 12 times for 122 yards and threw for another 79 while Hohenberger completed 12 of 17 attempts for 160 yards through the air.
Eleven different players caught at least one pass as Taylor had four receptions for 67 yards while Kobe Jennings added 46 yards on a pair of catches.
Christian Brumley had six tackles to pace a balanced defensive charge. Joseph Jones and Josh Dobbins also intercepted passes with Tevin Hohenberger covering a Northwestern fumble.
The Savage Storm travels to Oklahoma Baptist Saturday night for a 6 p.m. kickoff before returning for Homecoming on November 1.
