BETHANY, Okla.—A wild matchup that saw 92 combined points and 29 combined penalties wound up as a 51-41 win in favor of Arkansas Tech over Southern Nazarene.
The difference in the game came in the final few minutes of the first half. The Storm (0-5, 0-5 GAC) had just tied the game at 21 following a Jarvis Davis touchdown run, but the Wonder Boys (1-4, 1-4 GAC) exploded for 23 points in the latter half of the second quarter as they held a 44-21 advantage in the blink of an eye.
The first quarter held plenty of excitement for the Crimson Storm. As they did in the 2019 meeting, Southern Nazarene used defense and special teams to jump out in front. A Tavita Crisp blocked punt would be recovered in the endzone for Southern Nazarene's first score of the game. Just a couple of plays later, Josh Johnson jumped a route and took it 50 yards for a pick-six, SNU's first defensive score of the season.
Things got a bit out of hand for the Storm late in the second quarter. A failed squib kick gave Arkansas Tech possession of the ball at the 50 yard line. Arkansas Tech quickly turned that a touchdown. They would then add a safety and three more second quarter touchdowns on the way to a 37 point outburst in that second quarter.
The Crimson Storm regrouped in the second half, but the deficit would be too much to overcome. They outscored Tech 20-7 in the final 30 minutes, but ran out of time in the fourth quarter.
Jarvis Davis would connect with Dalton Sanders and run one in for a score, while Gage Porter rushed for two touchdowns on the ground as well.
The Crimson Storm were incredibly efficient on the ground, amassing 237 yards on 36 carries for an average of 6.6 yards per carry. They spread the carries around all game, running a variety of jet sweeps around the edge with their receivers. 8 different Storm players recorded a carry in the game.
The schedule only ramps up next week as the Crimson Storm prepare to travel to Searcy, Ark. for a meeting with the 23rd ranked Bisons of Harding University. Southern Nazarene is 1-7 all-time against Harding as they last got a win in 2017. Kickoff is set for Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
