Stout defense once again has Southeast in postseason position

After waiting through two hours of weather delays, Southeast High School’s offense took longer to get in rhythm Friday night. For two drives in Arcadia, the Seminoles were mostly stagnant, leaving DeSoto County with short fields to take an early lead in a crucial Class 5A-District 11 contest.

The Noles’ first drive ended after a bit of movement, but a short punt left the Bulldogs in position for their touchdown. Southeast’s second drive stalled even more quickly. The Seminoles’ defense had an important job in front of it: Keep DeSoto County from stretching its early lead at Bulldog Stadium.

“They actually stood up tall when we were trying to find our footing offense,” head coach Rashad West said. “They didn’t give up anything.”

The Noles’ offense is more balanced than it was a year ago, with a passing attack averaging 197 yards per game entering Friday to go along with its run game, but defense is still what has Southeast (2-2, 2-0) on track for a return to the postseason after two weeks of district play. The Seminoles rallied for a 35-6 win against DeSoto County because of the strong start from its defense.

“We started pretty slow on offense,” West said, “then we got it going a little bit.”

The Southeast defense recorded three takeaways, including a 33-yard pick-six by junior edge rusher Teriq Houston to help push the game out of reach with a 22-point lead during the second half. DeSoto County was stuck playing behind the chains for nearly the entire game: The Seminoles racked up seven sacks and 25 tackles for loss. Senior edge rusher Dequan Williams alone recorded six tackles for a loss and three sacks, plus a forced fumble.

Alex Taylor had margin for error under center as he waited a handful of possessions to finally get locked in. Once he hit wide receiver Bradley Tresalus for the go-ahead touchdown during the first half, he found a rhythm. The junior connected for two more touchdown passes — one to wide receiver Terrance Pryor Jr. and another to Tresalus — and ran for another to turn a game that could have been a defensive slugfest into a Noles’ blowout.

“He’s still getting adjusted to all these things,” West said. “Throw the weather in and that’s another thing he needs to learn to deal with, so it just took him a while to figure everything out.”

And his defense afforded Taylor that time. Southeast made the postseason as the runner-up in Class 5A-11 last season because of a defense that allowed a district-best 11.6 points per game. The Seminoles have allowed six points through two games this year.

“They took the ball away a few times and they let us play with some short fields,” West said. “We just did a good job of getting them off schedule.”

This story was originally published October 1, 2016 at 10:02 PM with the headline "Stout defense once again has Southeast in postseason position."