LAKE WALES, Fla. -- No. 17 SEU Football powered through a sluggish first half and surged after the break to earn a 24-7 victory at Webber International on Saturday afternoon. The Fire improved to 5-1 overall and 2-1 in Sun Conference play behind a balanced offensive attack and a stifling second-half defensive stand that sealed the victory.
After trading punts through the opening quarter, SEU struck first when
Joel McGrath capped a 12-play, 71-yard drive with a 26-yard field goal for a 3-0 lead. Webber answered midway through the second period on a 32-yard touchdown run by quarterback Trent Grotjan, giving the hosts their only advantage of the day at 7-3. The Warriors threatened again before halftime, driving inside the Fire 30, but a 44-yard field-goal try missed wide to preserve the four-point margin at intermission.
The Fire regrouped and dominated the final 30 minutes. On the first possession of the third quarter,
Jocquet Jiles broke loose for a 24-yard touchdown run to reclaim the lead 10-7. SEU struck again minutes later when
Nate Mikell connected with
Kamonte Grimes on a 10-yard scoring pass that pushed the margin to 17-7. In the fourth, a
Jamil Jones interception set up a short field, and
Curtis Kimmons capped the ensuing drive with a 13-yard touchdown rush to complete the 24-7 final.
Southeastern finished with 345 yards of total offense on 60 plays, averaging 5.8 yards per snap, while the defense held Webber to 316 yards across 73 plays and blanked the Warriors over the last 35 minutes. The Fire produced points on all three red-zone trips and recorded six sacks for 43 yards lost.
Individually, Mikell completed 20 of 29 passes for 217 yards and a touchdown, finding
Joseph Key (6 rec., 75 yds) and
David Pomales (3 rec., 55 yds) as his top targets. On the ground, Kimmons (9 att., 53 yds, TD) and Jiles (9 att., 50 yds, TD) shared the load for a rushing unit that averaged 4.4 yards per carry. McGrath added a 26-yard field goal and averaged 41.3 yards on six punts.
Defensively,
Brady Nowlan paced SEU with 13 tackles (1 TFL, 1 sack), while
Thomas Ibrahim and Ehigie Aliu-Oto combined for three sacks. Jones notched the game's lone interception, and
Michyl Shaw forced a fumble early to swing momentum.
Webber was limited to 153 rushing yards on 41 attempts and 163 through the air. Grotjan led the Warriors with 53 rushing yards and 117 passing, but SEU's defensive front applied constant pressure to stall drives late.
The Fire return to action on Saturday, October 25, traveling to face No. 8 St. Thomas at noon at AutoNation Field in Miami Gardens.
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