ODESSA, Texas – The Southern Nazarene football team opened their 2021 Spring slate of games on Saturday afternoon, as they traveled south to battle the Lone Star's University of Texas Permian-Basin. SNU battled all afternoon but fell short 33-14 in their opening action of the pandemic season.
The Crimson Storm (0-1) outgained the Falcons (1-0) in total yards with 343 and ran 13 more offensive plays. SNU out rushed UTPB 169-167 and tallied three more passing yards, but the two Storm giveaways turned out to be the difference maker. Junior quarterback
Gage Porter led the SNU offensive attack as he finished 16-of-30 for 149 yards and one passing touchdown. He also added a game-high 121 yards on the ground while also scoring with his feet.
Angel Ramirez carried it four times for 28 yards and caught one pass for 57 yards while
Reid Roelofs hauled in eight receptions for 68 yards.
Kolbe Branch and
Christian Shelmire each had multiple catches as the duo combined for five catches for 28 yards.
Jaren Alvarado caught the Storm's only touchdown through the air from the 7-yard line.
On the defensive side of the ball, junior defensive back
Trenton Smith led the way with a team-high nine tackles.
Josh Lopez and
Joshua Johnson each recorded eight tackles while
Cole Cizek and
Demarcus Hawkins each tallied two. Johnson also finished the game with two pass breakups in the secondary.
Elijah Calhoun,
Angel Hernandez,
Dylan Bauer,
James Love, and
Marcus Sowell each had a couple of tackles as well.
UTPB got things going in the first quarter as they struck first on a 9-play, 65-yard drive to take a 7-0 lead with 11:19 left in the opening frame. Later in the second quarter, the Falcons added to their lead on a 9-play, 75-yard drive to push their lead to 14-0 with 9:04 remaining in the first half. After facing a 14-0 halftime deficit, Southern Nazarene got on the board a few minutes into the third, as Porter found Alvarado on a 7-yard connection that capped a 5-play, 65-yard drive to cut the Falcon lead to 14-7.
The home team UTPB connected on another score with 5:29 left in the third to extend their lead to 20-7, before Porter diced his way into the endzone on a 3-yard scamper to cut it to 20-14 with 8:47 left in the fourth quarter. Porter's score capped an 11-play, 97-yard drive. The Falcons offense got loose and added two more touchdowns in the final eight minutes as they closed out the Crimson Storm on their home field.
Southern Nazarene will be back in action on Friday, March 12 as they gear up to host East Central in Bethany at the SNU Football Stadium. Kickoff with the Tigers is set for 3:00 p.m.
