ADA, Okla. – Four forced turnovers from an opportunistic defense, 271 rushing yards on offense including a pair of 100-yard milestones, and a pair of second quarter field goals and third quarter touchdowns helped lift SWOSU Football to a 19-3 road win over East Central on Saturday night.
The win is head coach Andrew Rice's first as a collegiate head coach, and naturally, first as a Bulldog. It also snaps a 13-game program losing streak that dated back to the start of the 2023 season.
SWOSU entered the game with a league-leading six forced turnovers and had that number to double digits by the end of the night. The Dawgs grabbed four interceptions to steal possessions away – one in the first half and another three after halftime. Desmond Greene had two of the four and now has three on the year.
ECU had 10 total possessions, four of which were spoiled by the SWOSU secondary. Another two were squandered in the first half thanks to field goal misses. The Bulldogs held the Tigers to a third quarter field goal, forced two other punts, and were on the field as time expired for the remaining four.
With the defense doing its thing, the offense capitalized. After a scoreless first, SWOSU found success on back-to-back drives (21 combined plays, 118 yards) in the second quarter to jump ahead 6-0. Ethan McBee knocked down 37 and 39-yard field goals to give the visiting Dawgs a halftime lead.
The first touchdown of the night came after both teams turned the ball back to each other after the break. Kai Kunz broke free for a 42-yard touchdown run to push the margin to 13-0. East Central finally answered with a scoring drive right after, but instead of a touchdown, they were limited to three following a defensive stop in the red zone.
Now 13-3, it was SWOSU's turn to answer. Kunz capped off a nine play, 80-yard drive with a 17-yard run for the final score of the night in the early part of the fourth quarter. A missed extra point made the score read a peculiar 19-3, where it remained the rest of the way.
Kunz ended the night 11-for-18 through the air for 129 yards with another 106 yards (13 rush; 8.2 avg.) on the ground and two scores. Running back Malik Roberson added another 114 yards rushing. His 68-yard run in the fourth quarter put him over the century mark, but he fumbled back over to ECU on the play.
Michael Arceneaux II caught three balls for 74 yards to lead the receivers. His 50-yard catch in the third quarter set up Kunz's long TD run a play later.
Other interceptions on the night came from Cadynce Hall and Wyatt Rohmer. Zack Roberts and Felipe Tristan led the way in tackles with eight apiece. Keshaun Jackson secured SWOSU's lone sack on the night.
The team totaled exactly 400 yards of offense in the game and finished 4-13 on third down.
SWOSU moves to 1-2 on the year, heading into a home matchup with Southern Nazarene next weekend on Family Day. Kickoff for that game will come at 6:00 pm on Saturday, September 28 in Weatherford.
