Published: November 09, 2009 11:21 am      

Savage Storm hold off East Central, 27-26

Johnson-led comeback falls just short

ADA — In a game that resembled the old times, quarterback Marcus Johnson nearly brought the East Central University Tigers to their first victory of the season, a fantastic near come-from-behind effort Saturday at Norris Field.

But a missed 2-point conversion, enabled Southeastern Oklahoma State to escape with a 27-26 Lone Star Conference North football victory in the season finale for both teams.

The Savage Storm jumped out to a 27-0 first-quarter advantage, but was held scoreless the rest of the way as Johnson rallied ECU with three touchdown passes, including a 39-yard scoring strike to Zack Patteson with :29 to go, pulling the Tigers within 27-26.

ECU opted for the 2-point conversion, but the converted pass was one yard short of the goal line.

The Tigers tried an onside kick, but SOSU covered the bouncing kick and then ran out the clock.

Johnson, who spent most of the season as the Tigers’ receiver, was 15-of-35 passing for 252 yards and the three touchdowns and Patteson ended up with seven receptions for 123 yards and the two scores. Euwins also had four grabs for 71 yards and one TD. Johnson ends his ECU career as the all-time leading passer as well as setting several school records.

The Tigers, who concluded the season at 0-11 and 0-5, battled back and pulled within 27-7 at the half on Johnson’s 4-yard scoring pass to Joe Joe Euwins with 2:02 left in the half. The drive was set up by a J.P. Oliver interception and return to the Savage Storm 23.

The deficit was sliced to 27-14 when Johnson passed to Zack Patteson from 15 yards out to make it 27-14 with 9:22 to go in the third quarter. That score capped a seven-play, 59-yard drive

ECU then pulled within 27-20, after a missed extra point, as Alvin Barnett scored from two yards out with 8:46 remaining to conclude a five-play, 69-yard series. Barnett finished the day with 57 yards rushing on 11 carries and also caught one pass for 18 yards to finish with 75 all-purpose yards.

Johnson then engineered the Tigers on a 10-play, 92-yard drive which ended with Johnson’s 39-yard scoring strike to Patteson to cut it to 27-26 with :29 to go.

Key plays on that late drive were a 12-yard completion by Johnson to Jason Stephenson and a 23-yard connection from Johnson to Euwins, down to the Savage Storm 49-yard line

Josh Johnson ran for 114 yards on 20 carries and scored three touchdowns while quarterback Justin Pitrucha threw for 171 more yards as the Savage Storm wrapped up the season at 7-4 and 4-1

SOSU took an early 7-0 advantage after a 54-yard punt return for a touchdown by Jerome Hewitt.

Then, Josh Johnson  added TD runs of 9, 36 and 6 yards before the quarter ended as SOSU built up a 27-0 lead with 2:04 left in the opening period.

Pitrucha was 19-of-36 passing for 171 yards, with the interception by Oliver.

The Tigers actually had more offensive yards, 317-259, but SOSU limited ECU to 32 rushing yards on 31 tries. Those 259 total yards by the Savage Storm were the lowest output by a Tiger opponent since the 2006 season. SOSU had 119 of those yards in the opening quarter.

It was an outstanding defensive effort by ECU after the first quarter as Oliver, a junior linebacker led the way. He finished with a game-leading 13 tackles, including five solo efforts, to go with a quarterback sack and his interception and return for 10 yards.

Defensive end Travis Buchanan posted eight tackles, including one solo-stop, with two quarterback hurries and blocked a Savage Storm point-after kick. Erik Howell also posted two tackles for lost yardage, including a QB sack for a loss of seven yards. Tyler McGrew also finished with seven stops, including one unassisted.

Also for the Tigers, Amos Cherry forced a fumble and Mike Ogunleye made the recovery while Norris Wrenn and Alex Woodley each broke up a pass.