LAKELAND, Fla.—Three first half takeaways set the tone for a 34-20 win by Southeastern over Thomas to improve to 4-2 on the season and remain unbeaten in Sun Conference play.
Southeastern went down the field on a nine-play, 52-yard drive that was extended by a Thomas (0-5, 0-3 SUN) penalty during a field goal attempt.
Josiah Neos picked up his first of three touchdowns on the night from two yards out with 9:44 left in the quarter.
The defense forced a three-and-out and stuffed the punt which was recovered at the two-yard line.
Nate Hayden scored the first of his two touchdown runs on the night at the 7:27 mark to put the Fire up 14-0.
A fumble forced by
Ja'Kobe Clinton set up the next score with Neos scoring from two-yards out at the 2:08 mark of the first quarter to go up 20-0.
The "Option" offense of the Night Hawks started clicking on its fourth possession and got down to the SEU nine-yard line, but a fumbled pitch backed TU to the 25-yard line and forced a field goal attempt which was blocked by
Carlos Gerardino.
"It was a tough week," said Waugh of defending the option. "The kids worked really hard and I thought the defensive staff put together a nice plan and I felt for the most part did a good job stopping the dive and the quarterback."
Thomas got on the board with 49 seconds left in the second quarter with a 22-yard touchdown pass at the end of a 13-play, 80-yard drive that took 6:38 to complete.
Neos scored his third touchdown of the game with 1:52 left in the third on a six-yard run to put the hosts up 27-7. The junior finished with 88 yards on 19 carries.
"We had some consistency running the ball and had some big plays in the passing game, but really kept shooting ourselves in the foot," said Waugh. "Way too many penalties and we have a lot to clean up."
The Fire were flagged 12 times for 96 yards.
The Night Hawks made it a two-score game with 8:58 left on a six-yard touchdown run, but the Fire answered back on the next drive with Hayden getting shoved into the end zone from a yard out with 5:37 left.
The senior was 12-of-23 passing for 177 yards. Seriah Abram was the top target with 111 yards on six catches.
Thomas blocked a punt and recovered the defection in the end zone with 2:13 left for the final score.
The Fire defense held TU to 240 yards, just below their season average and limited the inside run to 43 yards.
"They hadn't put it on the perimeter much with the pitch, so we wanted to win inside out," said Waugh.
Clinton led the Fire with seven stops with one for loss.
Thomas Ibrahim added six tackles, one for loss, a sack, and an interception.
The Fire will travel to Keiser next Saturday for a 6 p.m. kickoff with the winner holding sole possession of first place in The Sun Conference.
