Setting the Scene
The Friday night lights will be shining in Durant, Okla., this week when the Southwestern Oklahoma State University football team travels to face Southeastern Oklahoma State in Great American Conference action. The Bulldogs and Savage Storm have moved their game up to Friday night to coincide with fall break around the state.
SWOSU has faced the top two teams in the GAC standings the past two weeks, taking losses to Ouachita Baptist (14-31) and Henderson State (17-45) to even the Bulldogs record at 3-3. The team is still tied for fifth in the GAC with all four remaining conference foes beneath them in the standings.
Southeastern Oklahoma State defeated Southern Nazarene last weekend to snap a four-game losing skid. The Savage Storm defeated Southern Arkansas in a 56-50 shootout in the season opener before suffering defeats at the hands of Arkansas-Monticello, Henderson State, Ouachita Baptist and Texas A&M-Commerce.
The Series
Friday night's meeting between SWOSU and Southeastern Oklahoma State will be the 82nd in history, making it the third-most played rivalry in SWOSU football history. The two teams first played in 1923, a 16-7 victory for Southeastern.
The Bulldogs and Savage Storm have met in football every season since 1946, once play resumed following the end of World War II. The last time that SWOSU fielded a team and did not play Southeastern was in 1933.
Southeastern Oklahoma State holds the all-time advantage of 43-35-3 and they have dominated the series since both teams joined NCAA Division II. SWOSU won the inaugural D2 meeting in 1997, but Southeastern is 12-4 overall against the Bulldogs since 1997. SOSU has won 10 of the last 11 meetings in the series, with the lone SWOSU win coming two years ago, a 23-30 victory in Durant.
The Coaches
Dan Cocannouer enters his fifth season as the head coach of the Southwestern Oklahoma State University football team in 2013. He returned home to lead his alma mater in 2009 and helped the team better its won-loss record in each of his first three seasons. After finishing 1-10 in his inaugural season, SWOSU improved to 5-6 in 2011, the first season of the Great American Conference. In 2012, the Bulldogs slipped slightly in the win column, finishing 3-7 (2-6 GAC) with three losses of 10 points or less. Overall, Cocannouer is 15-34 overall at SWOSU and 1-3 against Southeastern Oklahoma State.
Ray Richards took over the reins for the Southeastern Oklahoma State football program prior to the 2005 season and quickly built on to SE's successful history. Richards has compiled a 42-47 record at SE and an overall career record of 56-77, with head coaching stints at Southeastern and Southwest Baptist.
The Last Meeting
Southwestern Oklahoma State University was unable to make a late game push as they fall to the Savage Storm of Southeastern Oklahoma State University in GAC action 26-16 on Saturday afternoon.
The Bulldogs, trailing 16-19 in the fourth quarter had a chance to tie the game up at 19 apiece when
Dustin Stenta completed a pass to
Aaron Wilson for a loss of 5 yards at the Southeastern 17-yard line. Two plays later Stenta was sacked for a loss of 7 yards by Derek Ogg of the Savage Storm knocking SWOSU out of field goal range.
The Bulldogs were unable to convert a pass to
Teverick Boyd on fourth down, turning the ball over to the Storm. After focusing Southeastern to a quick three and out SWOSU had another chance to get back in the game to take the lead.
With the ball on there on 9-yard line, SWOSU's Wilson rushed for a 2-yard gain to put the Bulldogs on their own 11-yard line. The next play, Stenta's pass attempt was intercepted at the SWOSU 46 by Jacob Sanders of Southeastern.
Southeastern took advantage of the SWOSU turnover and drove the ball down the field on 7 plays for 46-yard ending with a touchdown to put the game out of reach for a 26-16 victory over the Bulldogs.
SWOSU as a team finished the game with 331 total offensive yards. Wilson lead the Bulldogs with 44 rushing yards followed by
D.C. Walker with 43-yards. Stenta finished the game with 225-yards including 2 touchdown passes while rushing for 19-yards.
Defensively,
Ryan Feller lead the Bulldogs with 10 tackles and
Sean Gordon with one sack for a 12-yard loss.
Last Time Out
Facing an undefeated opponent for the second straight week, the SWOSU football team was again handed a setback, falling 45-17 to No. 8-ranked Henderson State on Saturday afternoon.
Twice early the Bulldogs were able to take the lead, but both were short lived as the potent attack of Henderson State displayed their quick-strike ability.
Kevin Cantrell put SWOSU on the board with a 23-yard field goal – the first of his Bulldog career – with 6:13 to play in the opening quarter. The score was setup by a bad snap on a Henderson State punt which gave SWOSU great field position at the Reddies three yard line.
Henderson State quickly responded with a six-play, 74-yard drive that was capped off by Kevin Rodgers connecting on a 38-yard touchdown to Robert Jordan, giving HSU a 7-3 lead with just under four minutes remaining in the quarter.
The Bulldogs then embarked on a 12-play drive that used up just under five minutes on the clock. On that 12th play,
Dustin Stenta found
Brad Smithey in the back of the end zone from eight yards out, putting SWOSU back on top 10-7 with 14:12 to play in the second quarter.
It took the Reddies just two plays to reclaim the lead as Rodgers hit Darius Davis for a 72-yard touchdown that turned the game in favor of Henderson State. HSU finished the second quarter with 17 unanswered points, taking a 24-10 lead to the break.
The run for HSU continued as they scored on two more touchdown passes from Rodgers in the second half before a rushing touchdown from Kevin Nichols with 4:58 to play in the game made it 45-10.
In the first extended action of his SWOSU career,
Ryley Claborn led the Bulldogs on a 12-play drive to close out the game, culminating with a nine-yard touchdown pass to Smithey which made the final margin 45-17.
Offensively, SWOSU finished with 328 yards of total offense, including 120 yards on the ground against the GAC's best rush defense. In his first start of the year,
Karl Hodge carried the ball 21 times for 68 yards while
D.C. Walker rushed 14 times for 47 yards.
Stenta bounced back from last week's performance by going 16-of-29 for 147 yards and a touchdown. Claborn was 8-of-9 for 61 yards and a touchdown in relief action.
Ryan Corbin was the top target of the SWOSU quarterbacks, catching seven passes for 52 yards while Smithey made five receptions for 35 yards and reached pay dirt twice.
The SWOSU defense relented 457 yards of offense to the nation's leading offense but did hold Henderson State to 79 rushing yards, marking the fifth straight game the Bulldogs held their opponent under 100 yards rushing.
Kale Sawatzky finished with a team-high eight tackles (five solo, three assist) in the game while five players –
Abram Piggee,
Cliff Nyagesiba,
Steven Townsley,
Terrance Franklin &
Devin Benton – each recorded seven. Benton also recorded the Bulldogs lone sack of the game.
Checking the Standings
Last weekend's loss dropped SWOSU one spot in the Great American Conference standings to fifth, where they currently stand tied with Arkansas-Monticello and Southern Arkansas. Henderson State and Ouachita Baptist are atop the standings with perfect marks of 5-0, while Harding is third at 4-1 and Arkansas Tech fourth at 3-2. Southeastern Oklahoma State is tied with East Central for eighth place in the GAC with a 2-3 conference record.
Four Straight in Durant
On Friday night, the Bulldogs and Savage Storm will be meeting for the 68th straight season and 82nd time overall. However, very few current players on the SWOSU team have been around long enough to remember the last time Southeastern made the trip to Weatherford. The 2013 matchup between SWOSU and SOSU will be the fourth consecutive meeting between the two teams in Durant. In 2010, both teams played in Durant as members of the Lone Star Conference and realignment within the GAC has made it so the Bulldogs have had to make the road trip in each of conference's first three years of the existence.
Another Under 100
The SWOSU defense held the potent offense of Henderson State to 79 rushing yards on 29 attempts Saturday, marking the fifth straight opponent the Bulldogs have held to under 100 yards of rushing.
SWOSU currently ranks third in the GAC in rushing defense, allowing 109.3 yards per game. The Bulldogs defense is led by leading tackler
Ryan Feller, whose 51 tackles (16 solo, 35 assist) ranks fourth in the conference.
Jacolby Robinson leads the team with six tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks.
Scouting Southeastern Oklahoma State
After surviving a shootout with Southern Arkansas in the opener, Southeastern Oklahoma State dropped four consecutive games before picking up a 31-14 win over Southern Nazarene last Saturday. In addition to the SAU win, the Savage Storm have played close with Henderson State and Texas A&M-Commerce at home.
Running back Devlon Wortham is one of three in the conference averaging over 100 yards per game on the ground, while SWOSU has not allowed a team to eclipse the century mark since the opener against Harding. Quarterback Nick Sioson ranks third in the GAC in passing, averaging 294.7 yards per contest.
Defensively, the Savage Storm rank 10th in the GAC by allowing teams to gain 479.7 yards per game.
Looking Ahead
Homecoming awaits the Bulldogs next Saturday when East Central comes to Fast Lane Field for a game kicking off at 6 pm.
