By TRAVIS HARMON-SMITH
Sports Editor
Northwestern took a devastating defeat last weekend on the road against the Savage Storm of Southeastern Oklahoma State University, falling 45-7.
Throughout recent match-ups this season, Northwestern (1-7, 1-7 GAC) has struggled dramatically to find structure offensively to produce the momentum and scoring needed against Great American Conference opponents.
Southeastern came out a bit slow early during the first quarter of play, as the Savage Storm turned the ball over on a three-and-out situation. Shortly after, Northwestern obtained first possession at the 14:05 mark in the first quarter, but could not get anything going offensively as Ranger quarterback Ty Hooper had his troubles under center finding any open receivers. Hooper started against the Savage Storm after being the backup quarterback to Reid Miller, who returned from an injury against the Tigers of East Central University on homecoming.
Southeastern quickly retaliated on a Northwestern turnover as Delvon Wortham of the Savage Storm took a handoff from the 49-yard line and scampered into the end zone to give Southeastern an early 7-0 lead.
With the Savage Storm running the ball effectively early in the first quarter, Northwestern needed to return the favor. On the next possession, Hooper lined up under center for the Rangers as he took the snap and handed it off to Northwestern running back Zachary Doyle for a long 25-yard gain. Despite Northwestern’s offensive struggles, Hooper and Doyle led the Rangers in a 75-yard drive that resulted in an early score for the Rangers to tie Southeastern 7-7 at the end of the first quarter. Doyle scored the only Ranger touchdown with a run from the Northwestern 21-yard line.
While Northwestern only contributed seven offensive points for the day, Southeastern took advantage of Ranger mistakes on defense as the Savage Storm played phenomenally at the secondary and linebacker positions. During the first possession of the second quarter, Southeastern did not take long to get back on the board as they scored again on a short pass play to gain a quick 14-7 lead. Hooper fumbled the snap at the 33-yard line, giving the Savage Storm another opportunity for a score. With only three minutes left in the second quarter, Southeastern capitalized with another touchdown, giving the Savage Storm a 21-7 lead. Plays later, Southeastern gained more momentum on its next three drives scoring three more touchdowns, making it 42-7 at intermission.
Coming out to start the second half, the Northwestern defense were able to cause some catastrophe at the line of scrimmage to slow down Southeastern’s offense. Unfortunately, the Savage Storm were able to make its adjustments on offense during the third quarter, but the Ranger defensive unit provided a late spark in the third and fourth quarters to slow down the Savage Storm offense. However, toward the end of the fourth quarter, Southeastern scored once more on a field goal attempt, which gave the Savage Storm a winning 45-7 score.
Four Northwestern defenders had marvelous performances against Southeastern. Linebacker Alex Hemberger had a career-high 19 solo tackles on the day, while Devin Peyton, Theodis Williams and Teofilio Freeman Jr each recorded 10 tackles.
Northwestern’s offensive numbers were insignificant once again, as the Rangers only combined 236 yards of total offense against the Savage Storm. Southeastern ended the game dismantling the Rangers with 422 yards of total offense.
Northwestern will have a bye this weekend, but will take the field one last time at home against conference opponent Southern Nazarene University.