THOMASVILLE, Ga. – The Fire ground game has been their key all season and Saturday evening was no different. Josiah Neos rushed for 251 yards and two touchdowns to power No. 19 Southeastern University past Thomas University, 45-17, in the regular season finale for both teams.
After a Night Hawks' 25-yard field goal tied the contest at 17, the Fire went on a more than seven-minute drive, as Neos carried seven times of the 10-play drive for 32 yards before Daniel Parker ran into the end zone from nine yards out to put the Fire up to stay. The SEU touchdown started a run of 28-straight points over the remainder of the game, including all 21 points of the second half.
Neos was an equal-opportunity rusher, as he surpassed the century mark in both halves – 14 carries for 102 yards in the first half and an even stronger 16 rushes fro 149 yards in the second half for 251 yards on 30 totes, an 8.4-yard per carry average. The senior running back scored two of the three Fire second-half touchdowns, running it in from 17 and 20 yards out.
As a team, SEU amassed 302 yards rushing on 46 carries and added another 100 yards through the air for 402 yards of total offense. The Fire defense held the Night Hawks to 95 yards rushing.
Along with Neos, quarterback Nate Mikell rushed six times for 47 yards and scoring runs of four and 26 yards in the second quarter. Parker covered 22 yards on four carries and a 9-yard touchdown.
Henry Austad took to the air 12 times and completed six for 100 yards and one touchdown, a 21-yard strike to Desi Lester, who had three catches for 74 yards. David Pomales, Lucas Williamson and Dominic Larry pulled in three passes for 11, six and seven yards.
Defensively, the Fire registered a balanced front. Vincent Brown garnered top tackle honors with six, one for a loss. Curtis Williams was right behind with five stops and one for a loss as well. Brady Nowlan picked off the one Thomas pass, while Aaron Walton and Chris Sharpe each had a pass breakup and all three contributed five tackles. Thomas Ibrahim anchored the line with four stops, three tackles for loss and a sack, while Berton Venter added a sack.
Thomas' quarterback Charles Britt passed for 147 yards on 12-of-16 attempts.
The Night Hawks had upset on their minds early, as a bad five minute stretch put them up 14-3. Following a SEU 25-yard field goal by Joel McGrath, Thomas posted back-to-back touchdowns. The home team fired a 75-yard scoring strike on its first play after the Fire field goal and picked off the visitors' pass on the following drive. Thomas turned the interception into a second touchdown from nine yards two plays later and enjoyed a 14-3 lead with 9:56 left in the first frame.
SEU answered with a similar turn of events to reestablish itself. The Fire drove 65 yards on six plays, capped by a Mikell 4-yard run, to cut the lead to 14-10. Nowlan picked off the Thomas offense on the next possession and Mikell raced in from 26 yards out to give the Fire a 17-14 lead.
With the victory, the Fire improve to 7-2 on the season. The team awaits word on whether they will be receiving an at-large bid to the NAIA National tournament, which starts next weekend at campus sites around the country. The selection show is at 7 p.m. on Sunday, November 17th, and can be found by clicking here.
