SNU kicked off their 2023 football season last Thursday with a GAC matchup against the #15 Harding Bisons. SNU battled hard against the nationally ranked Bisons but came up short in a 53-20 loss to open up the new season.
The game started with Harding scoring a touchdown on their opening drive. SNU tried to respond, but was held to a quick three-and-out, resulting in a punt away and the ball back to the Bisons. The SNU defense held Harding to one touchdown for most of the first quarter, keeping the game competitive. However, an interception deep in SNU territory quickly led to another Bison score, ending the first quarter with the Crimson Storm down 14-0.
From that moment, the Bisons never lost momentum and the Crimson Storm couldn’t seem to find a rhythm offensively and couldn’t contain the Bisons. Harding would score early into the second quarter to go up to 21-0. They quickly forced an SNU fumble regaining possession of the ball. The Harding offense and defense would continue to control the game, and the Crimson Storm went to the locker room down 35-0 at halftime.
The Crimson Storm starts the second half in possession of the ball, hoping to spark some fire in their offense in the second half. Unfortunately, the first drive of the second half only resulted in a punt for the Crimson Storm. On Harding’s first drive of the second half, the SNU defense had an answer and forced Harding’s first turnover of the game in a fumble, resulting in SNU receiving the ball deep in Bison territory. Porter didn’t waste any time rushing the last 18 yards to the endzone to give SNU their first score of the game. Due to a missed extra point, SNU is down 35-6.
The SNU defense was unable to stop the Bisons, who scored another touchdown, two-point conversion, and a field goal to end the third. The Crimson Storm went into the 4th quarter down 46-6. In the 4th, the Crimson Storm were able to put some points on the board to help soften the blow, starting withGage Porter rushing another touchdown to bring the score to 46-13. However, Harding returned the favor, putting up another rushing touchdown bringing the score to 53-13. The Crimson Storm were able to cap off the game with a passing touchdown from QB Jarvis Davis to Angel Ramirez to bring the score to 53-20. The SNU Crimson Storm walked away from their home and season opener with a tough loss to the Harding Bisons.
Junior defensive lineman David Omosigho speaks on the tough loss and the defense, saying, “Our defense was put in bad spots, but we didn’t stand up when we should have.” He spoke highly of the Bison’s defense too. “Our opponent did a good job in the turnover battle” said Omosigho, but he’s still hopeful about the future saying, “We plan to keep momentum by minimizing turnovers and playing better defense.”
With week one in the books, the Crimson Storm look to turn things around as they travel to Russellville, Arkansas, on Saturday, September 9th to take on the Arkansas Tech Wonderboys.
Photo by SNU Creative