BETHANY, Okla. – SWOSU Football scored on its opening drive but did not find the end zone the rest of the afternoon on Saturday, falling to Southern Nazarene 41-7 on the road.
SWOSU moves to 0-4 on the year. Southern Nazarene, 3-1, which is the best start for them in the program's Division II history.
Things looked good early on. SWOSU opened the game by forcing SNU to punt and then the offense proceeded to drive 70 yards down the field on 10 plays, capped off by a 14-yard Ethane Hyche touchdown run which gave the Dawgs a 7-0 lead halfway through the first quarter.
After SWOSU's defense held SNU scoreless in the first quarter, the home side finally got on the board with a touchdown following a methodical 16-play drive that spanned across the end of the first and into the second quarter.
Later in the second quarter, a short punt gave the Crimson Storm great field position, and they regained the lead three plays later with a 34-yard rush to get in the red zone, followed by a seven-yard rush to cross the goal line. SNU tried adding more points right before halftime, but an Elijah Reyes interception deterred the threat. SWOSU trailed 14-7 at the half.
SWOSU couldn't move the ball on offense in the second half, and it was coupled with additional SNU scores to break open the once close margin. The Crimson Storm added one touchdown in the third quarter before pulling away in the final 15 minutes.
The offense managed just 36 yards in the second half and finished with 154 for the game. That number is the lowest total yardage the Dawgs have accumulated this season.
SNU entered the game ranked second in the league by averaging 475 yards per game and nearly got that by finishing with 456.
The bright spot was Hyche. He ran the ball 21 times for 106 yards and his score. It's his first 100-yard rushing game as a Bulldog.
Calvin Cloud finished 6-of-16 for 53 yards through the air at quarterback and threw one interception. Taylor Tosches caught three of those for 38 yards including two on the first drive when the offense put up points.
Logan Monroe, SWOSU's leading tackler, did so again on Saturday. He finished with nine tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss.
SWOSU is on the road again next weekend where they'll travel to face Harding (Sept. 30) who currently sits undefeated and No. 10 in the national poll. They'll be back home October 7 for Homecoming against Arkansas Tech.
