Savage Storm football wins 36-31 over Arkansas Tech

Cameron Schuessler

Southeastern+defense+attempts+to+stop+the+Wonder+Boys+drive+late+in+the+first+half.

By Cameron Schuessler

Southeastern defense attempts to stop the Wonder Boys drive late in the first half.

Cameron Schuessler, Contributing Writer

Southeastern came into this contest against Arkansas Tech with a 4-3 record, hoping to get things back on track after a loss last week at Harding. The two-headed rushing attack fueled the Savage Storm as they would come out with a 36-31 win to move their record to 5-3 with three games left in the season.

Ronnie Green led the team with 182 rushing yards and Devlon Wortham added 100 of his own. Wortham added two rushing touchdowns and a receiving touchdown. CB Cantwell passed for over 250 yards, with three touchdown passes. Bryce Steele and Kaymon Farmer each brought in a touchdown reception.

The Savage Storm started off the game with some trickery, using a flea-flicker to set up Steele with a 35 yard grab from Cantwell. However, the drive ended when Arkansas Tech intercepted a pass and ran it back inside the five yard line. Tech then punched it in on the ground for an early 7-0 lead. Southeastern drove down the field, using wide receiver Ty Miller to get the Storm in the red zone. Farmer had a great stretch to the pylon to score the touchdown and tie the game at seven apiece. Three consecutive three-and-outs leading to punts followed before the Storm picked up some first downs late in the first quarter. Steele hauled in an incredible one-handed grab to put Southeastern up 14-7 early in the second quarter.

Tech drove down the field, aided by a penalty, and finished it off with a nice grab of their own to pull even at 14. Southeastern quickly moved the ball inside the twenty before Cantwell pitched the football to Wortham while falling down for a touchdown to reclaim the lead at 20-14. Tech found an answer, again aided by penalty, to finish off the drive with a quarterback keeper and take the lead at 21-20 with 3:24 left to play in the first half. Southeastern benefited from a penalty against the defense, moving the ball into field goal range for Joel Carlos to tack on three points and give the Storm a 23-21 lead at the half.

Arkansas Tech used their own rushing attack to move the ball down the field after halftime, but was stopped inside the ten, as the Savage Storm defense held them to a field goal and a 24-23 deficit. The next Southeastern drive ended in a lost fumble before the teams traded three-and-outs once again. Tech then put together a long drive, aided by a 54 yard pass, and finished it off with a rushing touchdown for a 31-23 lead for the Wonder Boys. Southeastern would quickly drive down the field through the air before Wortham punched in a one yard rushing touchdown to cut the deficit to 30-31. Three more punts moved us into the fourth quarter.

The Savage Storm leaned on Wortham to move the ball on the ground and put together a scoring drive that ended with a short touchdown run, his second of the game. After a failed two point conversion, the Storm had a 36-31 lead with eight minutes left in the game. After a short Tech drive ended with a punt, Southeastern was able to eat a lot of time off the clock before punting the ball back to the Wonder Boys. With less than 90 seconds remaining and no timeouts left, the Southeastern defense forced four straight incompletions and sealed the victory for the Savage Storm.