BETHANY, Okla.—Despite amassing their most offensive yards in a game since 2018, Southern Nazarene fell 44-21 to East Central on Saturday afternoon at the SNU Football Stadium.
Southern Nazarene (0-3, 0-3 GAC) moved the ball well all afternoon, totaling 416 yards on 59 plays, but they struggled stopping the East Central offense, who gained 471 yards on 62 plays.
The Tigers (1-2, 1-2 GAC) scored touchdowns on their first three possessions of the game. After ECU went up 14-0, SNU got on the board with a 70-yard touchdown strike from Gage Porter to Asa Robertson on the first play of the drive. East Central quickly regained momentum with a methodical 7-play, 75 yard touchdown drive to regain a two-possession lead.
SNU attempted to respond with their own methodical drive, moving 66 yards over 14 plays and taking 9:26 off the clock. Down to the ECU 9 yard line, SNU would settle for a field goal attempt, but it was pushed wide-left, leaving SNU with no points.
After forcing a punt, the Storm were able to take some of the sting out of the missed field goal when Angel Ramirez found the endzone for a three yard touchdown run, capping off a 54 yard drive and cutting ECU's lead to just 21-14.
With just 40 seconds remaining before halftime, SNU had an opportunity to go into the break trailing by only one score, but the Tigers were not content with allowing the clock to just run out. They completed passes of 29 yards and 27 yards that quickly brought them to the SNU 8 yard line. Two players later, ECU found the endzone with just three seconds remaining in the half, allowing them to take a 28-14 lead into the break.
The Tigers extended their lead to 21 points in the third quarter, essentially putting the game out of reach. A seven yard touchdown pass from Gage Porter to Kolbe Branch midway through the fourth quarter put SNU on the board once more, but ECU added nine points after a touchdown, missed extra point, and a field goal with just seconds remaining in the game.
Along with achieving their highest total yards since Nov. 11, 2018, SNU achieved their highest rushing output since October 12, 2019 when they rushed for 302 yards against Arkansas Tech. On Saturday afternoon, the Crimson Storm rushed 38 times for 256 yards, averaging 6.7 yards per carry. The majority of that damage came from the legs of quarterback Gage Porter, who ran 21 times for a total of 150 yards. Angel Ramirez also added 10 carries for 56 yards and a touchdown.
Asa Robertson was the leading receiver for SNU, hauling in 3 catches for 95 yards and the one score.
Dylan Bauer, Elijah Calhoun, and Trenton Smith tied for the team-lead with 8 tackles each.
The Crimson Storm will turn to the road for the next two games as they travel to Durant, Oklahoma next Saturday to take on Southeastern Oklahoma State before traveling to Russellville, Arkansas on October 1st for a meeting with Arkansas Tech. SNU is back at home on October 8th to host Harding.
