Fire Defense Stymies Limestone
Donnie Smith
LAKELAND, Fla.- Southeastern completed a 6-0 home season with a 44-20 win over NCAA Division II Limestone College.
It was the Fire defense that helped defend Victory Field in the home finale, limiting the Saints (2-8) to 304 total yards of offense, and just 71 on the ground. They finished the night with eight sacks and 13 tackles behind the line of scrimmage.
Meanwhile, the Southeastern (6-3) offense racked up 508 yards on 70 plays en route to the 24-point win.
“I thought our guys really bounced back after last week,” said Coach Keith Barefield, referring to a 7-point loss at Webber International. “Nobody felt sorry for themselves, they came out and worked hard, and were determined to put on a good farewell show for the fans in their final home game of the season.”
The Fire opened up the scoring with an 11-play, 73-yard drive that chewed up the first 4:21 of the contest, culminating in a 10-yard touchdown run by quarterback Jonathan Pearce to give SEU a 7-0 lead. Caleb Winter connected on the first of his three field goals on the night with 7:19 to play from 22 yards out to make it 10-0.
With 1:03 to play in the quarter, the Fire dug into their bag of tricks with a triple lateral turning into a 54-yard touchdown pass from Jayce Barber to Jake Archer to put the Fire up 17.
Jonathan Clark put the Saints on the scoreboard for the first time with the first of his two 1-yard TD runs with 13:21 to go in the second quarter. Mark Myers blocked the extra point to keep Southeaster up 11.
Winter added 39 and 40-yard field goals, and Clark added a touchdown run before the intermission, giving the Fire a 23-13 advantage at the break.
Quenton Harris recorded his second interception of the game on the first play of the third quarter, leading to a DeVonte Mack 15-yard touchdown run five plays later to put Southeaster up 30-13. A 19-yard touchdown pass by the Saints brought them back within 10, but two touchdown runs by Jarrell Reynolds of 70 and six yards put the game away.
Reynolds finished the night with 137 yards and two touchdowns on 20 carries. Barber added 49 yards on the ground on eight rushes. Barber was also 9-of-13 passing for 166 yards and a score. Pearce was 9-of-15 for 70 yards. Mack was the top target, grabbing five passes for 98 yards.
Southeastern will close out their inaugural season on the road next Saturday in Rome, Georgia as they take on NCAA Division III Berry College.