BETHANY, Okla. - The Crimson Storm returned to the SNU Football Stadium to host the Rangers of Northwestern Oklahoma State. Both squads looked to earn their first win of the season, but a defensive battle went in the way of the Rangers as they left Bethany with a 14-7 victory.

The Storm (0-3, 0-3 GAC) struggled to find their footing offensively early on after the Rangers (1-2, 1-2 GAC) shut down the Storm three quick plays.

The first quarter was dominated by defense as the clock ran down and the scoreboard continued to read 0-0. 

Northwestern used their first drive of the second quarter to get their offense going. A four play drive was all it took for the Rangers to get on the board first with a 19-yard touchdown. An extra point followed, giving NWOSU a 7-0 lead with 12:51 left to play in the first half.

The Rangers continued to put the pressure on the SNU offense forcing them to punt. Adam Atwell sent a 60-yard punt deep for Northwestern to take over on the SNU40. 

NWOSU kept their momentum offensively putting together a 10 play drive for 80 yards to find the endzone once again. This time a 24-yard pass was all it took to get the Rangers back on the scoreboard. 

The Storm struggled to find a response in the first half as the time ran down and Northwestern held their lead 14-0 at the half.

Defense was the name of the game as the Storm struggled to string together some offense. The Crimson Storm's defense was locked down as they went to work holding the Rangers off the scoreboard.

SNU looked for a way to get on the board in the final quarter of the game, but Northwestern continued to make things difficult. 

The Storm took over the ball with 10:21 left to play, putting together a 91-yard drive. Rasheed Noel kept the ball and found the endzone on a 15-yard run to put the SNU on the board. Kameron Van Prooyen followed with an extra point to make the score 14-7.

The defense proved themselves once again for Southern Nazarene as they shut out the Rangers forcing them to punt.

SNU took over on their own 26 with just 1:48 on the clock. Noel was able to find Donavaughn Hill and Jarrell Farr moving the Storm to the NWOSU46.

A sack on Noel pushed the Storm back 13 yards as they had just 19 seconds remaining to tie the score. Noel found Hill once again moving the ball up the field to the NWOSU44. 

Another pass to Hill put SNU on the NWOSU23 with one second left on the clock. Forcing the Storm to make a hail mary play, the Rangers were able to deny the throw from Noel in the endzone securing their 14-7 victory in Bethany.

Next Up

The Storm will travel to Southwestern Oklahoma State to take on the Bulldogs on Saturday, September 28 at 6:00 pm. SNU took down the Bulldogs last season in Bethany, 41-7.