by Nick Growall
Staff writer
The Southeastern Savage Storm has continued to struggle in its past two weeks, losing on Oct 29 to the University of Arkansas-Monticello 24-20 and to Ouachita Baptist 21-18 on Nov 5 in their final game at home, dropping to 2-7 on the season.
The Storm, despite losing efforts, has had its running game return to form, rushing for 159 yards against UAM and 205 against OBU. This snapped Southeastern’s two-game streak of being held under 100 yards rushing.
Freshman running back CJ Kirk rushed for 122 yards against Ouachita Baptist, while sophomore quarterback Jercolby Bradley, who filled in for injured junior Logan Turner against UAM, lead the team in rushing with 76 yards, throwing for 140 yards.
Turner returned to start against Ouachita Baptist, throwing for 219 yards and two touchdowns, connecting with freshman wide receiver Tiquarrio Combs and junior tight end Ryan Shelley.
“Logan played well,” said head coach Ray Richards. “He came in off an injury and played with great composure.”
In both games, however, Southeastern had to fight back late in the game but were unable to complete the comeback on both occasions. Trailing 17-3 against UAM late in the third quarter, the Storm took advantage of a Boll Weevil fumble on the one-yard line with a touchdown run by senior Don Brown. But after another touchdown by Brown, the Storm was unable to hold the UAM offense, which scored on the ensuing drive.
A similar situation occurred during Southeastern’s home game finale when the Storm trailed 14-3 late in the third quarter. Turner found Combs for a five-yard touchdown pass to make it 14-10, but the Tigers answered with a touchdown pass of their own, making it 21-10.
Southeastern went on to score with a touchdown pass and two-point conversion to Shelley, but were unable to convert on the onside kick, which didn’t cross the 10 yards necessary for Southeastern to have a chance at recovering it.
The Storm then let the Tiger offense run out most of the game clock, giving the Storm offense only five seconds at the end of the game to cover 97 yards down the field.
“We had some passes on defense that we should’ve knocked down, and we weren’t able to hold them on third down,” said Richards, “but it was disappointing that we didn’t allow ourselves a chance to cover the onside kick. That’s was critical.”
The Savage Storm will play their final game of the season at Harding University in Searcy, Ark. on Nov 12 at 2 p.m.
