TEXARKANA, Ark. – Daulton Hatley picked up the Farmers Bank and Trust Live United Bowl MVP Award, while Trey Keatts got to play the role of hero, hitting a game-winning 29-yard field goal to lift Southeastern to a 37-34 win over Emporia State on Saturday afternoon in Texarkana, Ark.
The win lifts the Savage Storm to 9-3 to end the 2021 season, with the nine wins matching its highest win total since joining Division II and is tied with the 1921 and 1946 season for the second most wins in a season for the Storm.
The win also caps off one of the most impressive turnarounds in Division II history, posting a 9-3 season following the 1-10 outing in 2019, with this season's team tying for fourth all-time on the Most Improved Teams in Division II lead, improving by seven-and-a-half games, with only three teams ever having a bigger improvement form one season to the next.
"The way we did it," said head coach Tyler Fenwick when asked about the team's ninth win of the season, "It feels pretty darn good. What a game, huh. Winning is not easy and our kids just keep fighting and battling. It's pretty cool."
"It's just sticking with it," he continued. "You just keep fighting and keep trying to find something else. We were throwing the ball well, and we were trying to run it and run a little bit of clock. We just had to get back to spreading out and just running the offense."
"I mean c'mon, who does that," continued Fenwick when asked about what this means to his seniors. "Going from 1-10 and these seniors sticking it out and fighting through it and trusting the coaching staff that's new and the process that we're going through. It's so easy to leave these days, and they stuck it out and they worked and they battled and they win because of it. It's a great example of don't leave and just stay the course."
Hatley picked up his Most Valuable Player honors after tossing the ball around for 336 yards on 23-of-38 passing with three touchdowns. Those three TDs also brought his season passing touchdown total to 27, breaking Drew Beard's 2004 single-season record for TD passes which was 25. He also finishes the season with 3,186 yards, becoming just the second SE passer with more than 3,000 yards in a single season.
He would find seven different receivers on the day, but none as often as Braxton Kincade who hauled in seven catches for 111 yards to lead all receivers in yardage.
Katrell Blakely added five grabs for 39 yards and a touchdown, while Marquis Gray added four catches for 84 yards, including the game-long 60 yard TD to open the second half.
Duce Pittman would snag a pair of catches for 42 yards and a touchdown, while Pablo Perini finished with three receptions for 37 yards.
Keatts would punctuate the offense with his best kicking performance of the season, going 3-for-3 on the day while hitting from 28, 29, and 35 yards.
Ryan Taylor would close out the season with his best rushing effort, leading the way with 93 yards on seven carries, including a 51 yard touchdown run.
CJ Shavers had a team-high 16 carries and finished with 85 yards, and the Storm tallied 190 yards total on the ground.
The SE offense led the contest both on the ground and through the air, putting together its 190 rushing yards with 336 passing yards to finish with 526 yards of total offense.
On defense, Ja'Lon Freeman led the way with 11 tackles, while Keelan Chilton was next in line with eight while adding a pair of pass breakups.
Scooter Baker finished with six stops and a fumble recovery and return for 24 yards, while Josh Mulumba had four tackles and a forced fumble.
Full Release at GoSoutheastern.com