LAKELAND, Fla.—A dominant rushing performance helped Southeastern defeat Warner for the fourth straight year.
The Fire totaled 373 rushing yards on 59 attempts to average 7.6 yards per carry in a 55-14 win over the Royals.
Seven different players registered a rushing attempt for the Fire (4-1) with freshman
Kamario Bell leading the way with 18 carries for 89 yards and picked up a 2-yard touchdown run with 8:02 left in the second quarter.
After Southeastern turned the ball over on downs on the first possession of the game, Warner got on the board first, finishing a nine-play, 69-yard drive with a 20-yard touchdown from D.J. Davis to Jeff Suarez on third down.
The Fire answered on their next four drives with touchdowns.
"I thought we came out a little bit rusty on both sides of the ball," said coach
Keith Barefield. "You lose continuity when you're not playing week to week, but I thought once our guys got their minds right and played well."
Quarterback
Jonathan Pearce picked up a nine-yard touchdown run on the next drive to cap a nine-play, 81-yard drive to tie the game.
Jarrell Reynolds picked up the first of his three touchdown runs on the night at the 14:36 mark of the second quarter to give SEU the lead.
With 11:19 left in the first half,
Railond Garrett found Richy Anderson for an 81-yard touchdown pass. Bell's touchdown gave the Fire a 28-7 advantage.
Caleb Winter added a 22-yard field goal with 1:29 left in the half, then the Fire turned a late Warner fumble into Reynolds' second TD run of the night with 35 seconds left to give the Fire a 38-7 lead at the intermission.
Reynolds final TD run was from two yards out that completed an 11-play, 80-yard drive with 3:41 left in the third quarter to put SEU up 45-7.
The redshirt senior finished with 67 yards on 15 carries.
Andre Tommie put an end to the Fire run with a four-yard touchdown pass to Theo Hammonds on fourth and goal.
Simmian Mitchell scored his third touchdown of the season with 9:23 to play on a 34-yard run, and
Caleb Winter connected on his second field goal of the game from 28 yards out with 83 seconds left.
Pearce was the second-leading rusher with 86 yards on six carries, and was 6-of-10 passing for 90 yards.
"We just try to take what our opponent gives us; if they're taking something away, it's going to open up something for someone else, and Jonathan was able to take advantage of it," said Barefield.
The Fire defense limited Warner to 207 total yards, with just 106 on the ground at an average of 3.3 per carry.
Tyson Kee was at the top of the tackle chart with nine.
Blade Denmark added seven tackles, with a sack and three behind the line of scrimmage.
As a team, Southeastern recorded four sacks and 14 tackles for loss.
The Fire are back on the road next Saturday for their next Sun Division game against Faulkner.
