Battling the second-ranked team in the nation, you definitely need just about every break including turnovers to pull off an upset.
The Southeastern defense forced a couple of those miscues but the offense gave it back three times which proved crucial in a 35-7 Harding victory last week.
Coach Bo Atterberry’s unit took a page out of the Bison playbook in holding the football for 34 minutes and 21 seconds of the game’s 60 total minutes but only found the end zone one time on the night.
Kameron Lockhart scored on a 23-yard run to cap a 75-yard, eight play drive on the opening series of the second quarter. A 47-yard pass from Levay Duncan to Kobe Jennings was the key play of that drive.
Southeastern’s offense definitely found some rhythm on the series just before the score and the series after. The first stalled on downs at the Harding 30 while the second advanced all the way to the Harding 19 before running out of downs.
Harding only led 21-7 at halftime but three consecutive turnovers by the Savage Storm (two interceptions and one fumble) spoiled any chances of a Southeastern comeback.
The Bison piled up 400 yards rushing with the nation’s leading attack compared to 181 for the hosts.
Duncan ran for 60 yards on 21 carries and also threw for 89 yards while hitting four of 14 passes. Donovan Shannon put together a nice rushing effort with 53 yards on seven carries. Jennings caught three passes for 84 yards.
Defensively the Savage Storm were led by William Wallis’ nine tackles with Prince Dweh contributing eight as well.
Atterberry’s club will attempt to get back on track and snap a two-game losing skid at 2 p.m. Saturday when they play host to winless Northwestern, which sits at the bottom of the Great American Conference in both offensive and defensive categories. The Rangers allow almost 42 points per outing while scoring only eight per game.
