BETHANY – It was a tale of two halves for Southern Nazarene's football team on Saturday afternoon as they were ousted 35-21 on Homecoming at the SNU Football Stadium.
 
All 56 points scored in the game came in the first half as both defenses flexed their muscles in the final 30 minutes in a beautiful afternoon on 50^th Street. The Crimson Storm (2-8, 2-8 GAC) scored all 21 of their points in the first quarter and as they couldn't find the endzone after that. The Rangers (3-7, 3-7 GAC) went for 291 yards in the game, 149 on the ground and 142 in the air as they forced SNU into three fumbles in the ballgame, which turned out to be the deciding factor for the Storm.
 
SNU finished with 243 total yards, 147 on the ground and 96 in the air. NWOSU controlled the tempo all game as they had 17 first downs compared to 13 for the Storm. Gage Porter had his most efficient passing game of the 2019 season as he went 13-for-15 for 96 yards. He also carried the ball 21 times for 66 yards and a touchdown. Nate Walker battled through an injury and finished with 51 rushing yards and 13 receiving yards on 16 total touches in the game.
 
Angel Ramirez carried the ball two times and finished with 15 yards and a touchdown, while Dalton Sanders led the way in the receiving category with 47 yards on four catches. On the defensive side of the ball, Josh Jordan led the way with nine tackles while Noah Campbell finished with eight and one tackle for loss. Jake Hanson also added eight tackles and Dylan Meador chipped in six.
 
Jakel Davis had another spectacular day in the special teams game as he had 225 total return yards on five attempts. He took back a 90-yard kickoff for a touchdown, his second TD of the season.
 
It looked like Southern Nazarene was on a mission to run away with the game in the first 15 minutes as they took an early 7-0 lead on a 3-yard run from Porter with 11:11 to play. Northwestern came down the field on the next drive and tied the game up on a 3-yard pass from Tanner Clarkson to Kentrez Bell. On the ensuing kickoff, Davis high-stepped his way through the Ranger coverage untouched to the promise land to give the Storm the lead back at 14-7.
 
After another defensive stop, Southern Nazarene struck again as Ramirez scored on a 14-yard touchdown run to extend the SNU lead to 21-7 with 4:05 left in the opening period. On that ensuing kickoff, the Rangers took it 99 yards to the house to cut the Storm lead to 21-14. After that scoring onslaught in the first quarter, Northwestern would go on to score three more times over the next three periods.
 
The Rangers tied the game early in the second quarter at 21-21 and later took their first lead of the game 28-21 with 7:11 left in the half. NWOSU added one more score with 14 seconds to play in the half as they took a 35-21 lead into the break. That would be the final time anybody would score.
 
SNU had a couple of chances down the stretch to capitalize with some points, but the Ranger defense stopped the Storm on fourth down twice in the last quarter. From there, SNU was unable to put any pressure on Northwestern as they killed the clock on the ground.
 
Southern Nazarene will be back in action next week for their final game of the 2019 season as they take on rival Oklahoma Baptist on Senior Day at SNU Football Stadium. Kickoff is set for 1:00 p.m.