BETHANY, Okla.—September is here, which means football is back as Southern Nazarene kicked off the season on Thursday at the SNU Football Stadium. The Crimson Storm put up a good fight after falling in an early hole, but eventually they fell 40-26 to Arkansas-Monticello to open the season. Just as the game last year in Monticello, the Weevils jumped out to an early lead and were forced to fend off a gritty SNU squad.
Monticello (1-0, 1-0 GAC) got out to a fast start, jumping all over the Crimson Storm (0-1, 0-1 GAC) 21-0 in the second quarter. They used three long drives, all capped off by long runs to build the lead. As a team, Monticello rushed for 310 yards in the game as SNU struggled to contain UAM's backfield duo of Demilon Brown and Jonero Scott.
Despite the hole, Southern Nazarene fought back and quickly put 19 points on the board in a matter of four minutes as they closed out the first half in a flurry. The momentum shifted after Donald May took a kickoff back 59 yards, setting SNU up in great field position. Starting at the Monticello 31 yard line, SNU took just 4 plays to punch it into the endzone on Gage Porter's first of two touchdown runs in the game.
The following possession, SNU's defense forced their second turnover of the game after Josh Johnson collected his first of two interceptions in the game. SNU then settled for 3 points, cutting the deficit to 21-10.
The defense was not finished making plays, though, as the Weevils started at their own 5 yard line and only moved backwards from there, eventually taking a safety and giving the Crimson Storm another two points.
After the free kick, Southern Nazarene was left with just 34 seconds in the half. With the ball on their own 45 yard line, SNU never panicked. They quickly moved the ball to the UAM 20 yard line. As time was winding down, Gage Porter stepped up in the pocket, found his tailback, Angel Ramirez open up the seam and Ramirez scampered into the endzone for another SNU score, trimming the deficit to just two points at 21-19 heading into the halftime locker room.
Southern Nazarene would have loved to skip the halftime break and ride their momentum into the second half. Arkansas-Monticello was able to regroup during the break and once again found their rushing attack. A 32 yard touchdown run from Demilon Brown to open the second half allowed the Weevils to gain some breathing room.
That breathing room was important for Monticello as SNU quickly found the endzone again when Gage Porter secured his third touchdown of the day, second on the ground, after a 23 yard burst down the left sideline. That would be the end of the scoring for SNU, though, as they were unable to finish off some promising drives throughout the remainder of the game.
Monticello sealed the game with just under five minutes remaining in the fourth quarter as a deep 37 yard strike pushed their lead to 14 points.
Arkansas-Monticello's offense ran like a well-oiled machine for the majority of the game. They totaled 538 yards on 67 plays, good for 8 yards per play. On the other side, SNU totaled 322 yards on 61 plays, good for 5.3 yards per play.
Senior quarterback Gage Porter finished with 274 total yards and 3 touchdowns in the game.
Defensively, Elijah Calhoun led the team in tackles with 9, while also breaking up 2 passes.
Trenton Smith was not far behind with 8 tackles, also coming away with an interception.
Josh Johnson snagged two picks in the game, becoming the seventh player in SNU history with a multi-interception game.
It will be a tall-task for Southern Nazarene next time out as they prepare to take on nationally ranked #19 Ouachita Baptist in Arkadelphia. The Storm have never defeated Ouachita Baptist. The Tigers took last season's contest 41-3 over SNU. Kickoff is set for 6:00 p.m. at Cliff Harris Stadium.
