Football Rallies for Win

November 3, 2007

James Vei

WEATHERFORD, Okla. – Southwestern Oklahoma State University staged one of its most stirring comebacks in recent memory scoring 21 unanswered fourth quarter points for a 24-18 win over visiting East Central University.

The victory improved SWOSU to 5-5 on the year and 2-2 in the Lone Star Conference North Division and kept its hope alive of finishing the 2007 season with a winning record. ECU fell to 2-8 and 0-4 in the LSC North.

Steve Ihekona’s 15-yard touchdown run with 5:35 to play put the Bulldogs ahead for good at 24-18 and capped a fourth-quarter flurry that saw SWOSU come back from an 18-3 hole.

Quarterback Steve Day threw two scoring tosses to Kyle Wimberly of 22 and seven yards as SWOSU shook off three sluggish quarters and began to move the ball against a wilting Tiger defense.

Day finished the game completing 11-of-22 passes for 160 yards and two touchdowns.

ECU played well early and appeared in control of the game through the first three quarters. Quarterback Marcus Johnson kept SWOSU on its heels with his scrambling and throwing ability. He ended the game with 294 yards of total offense, 261 by passing and another 33 by running. He completed 18-of-32 passes and had one touchdown.

The Tigers were their own worst enemy at times. ECU had several momentum killing penalties and once fumbled the ball through the back of an endzone for a touchback when Brandon Wicks poked the ball free from a Tiger receiver as appeared ready to score a touchdown.

Joe Castle

The Bulldog defense twice stopped ECU late in the game to preserve the win. The Tigers moved to the Bulldog 20 but a fourth-down pass by Johnson fell incomplete. Minutes later Johnson had the ball again at midfield but was tackled as time expired.

ECU outgained SWOSU by a 454-to-327 margin and ran 42 more offensive plays than the Bulldogs and kept the ball 17 minutes longer. SWOSU was penalized just four times for 30 yards while ECU was whistled 12 times for 120 yards.

Defensively, SWOSU was led by Greg Franklin with 13 tackles while teammate and fellow linebackerRuzell McCoy had 11 stops.