Can Southeastern rise in the GAC?
Savage Storm out to regain their momentum in league
DURANT — The Great American Conference formed in 2011, with six Arkansas schools and Oklahoma schools Southwestern State, Southeastern State and East Central. A couple of years later, Northwestern Oklahoma State joined.
Then came Southern Nazarene and Oklahoma Baptist to give the GAC a 6-6 split between the states.
The GAC has staged nine football seasons. No Oklahoma school has won the championship. No Oklahoma school has a winning record in Great American play.
But Southeastern has been the most competitive, with a 38-53 league record.
The Savage Storm had five straight winning seasons, 2014-18, before falling to 1-10 in 2019. Then the pandemic hit.
We continue our series on state-college football by checking in with Southeastern and its bid to regain Great American momentum has been delayed.
“That was probably one of the toughest things I've had to go through,” said Savage Storm coach Tyler Fenwick, whose first season in Durant was that 2019 season. “You wake up every morning and you can't go out and prove yourself to fix the problems. That was tough.
“I think they're definitely anxious to play again. They're hungry to get back out and prove that we're better than what we showed the last time we played.”
Fenwick played a bunch of young players in 2019. Attrition was minimal through the pandemic.
The Savage Storm got in two spring scrimmages, against Midwestern State of Texas and Emporia State of Kansas.
So Fenwick now has some experience.
Quarterback Daulton Hatley returns, after a freshman season in 2019 in which he completed 50.4% of his passes with 12 touchdowns and 10 interceptions.
Also back are 2019 tailbacks Ryan Taylor (485 yards on 72 carries) and C.J. Shavers (202 yards on 54 carries), plus receivers Braxton Kincade (49 catches), Katrell Blakely (52 catches) and Duce Pittman (31 catches).
“So you're going to see a lot of the same faces, just older and more experienced,” Fenwick said.
Defensively, the veterans are defensive backs Josh Mulumba, Jeremiah Baltrip, Ja'Lon Freeman and Keelan Chilton; linebackers Conner Swope, Maalik Hall and Scooter Baker; and linemen Rogerick Kirby, Alexce Marshall and Kevin Simes.
So how will this crew stack up in the Great American Conference?
“Good question,” Fenwick said. “Right now, it's hard to tell. We haven't seen ‘em in a year. That's one of the big questions.”