WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (September 29, 2018) – The No. 22 Webber International University football team put up an impressive showing against Southeastern University in its 2018 Mid-South Conference Sun Division opener on Saturday night inside Denison Stadium, but in the end, the Warriors' valiant effort came up just three points short as Webber fell 20-17 to the Fire after a successful 35-yard field goal with no time left on the clock.

After a 42-yard field goal by Marcus Mannerstedt and a huge 86-yard touchdown run by Kwamaine Brown toward the end of the first quarter helped Webber erase a 10-0 deficit and tie the game, the patent Warriors' defense settled in and began to do what it does best.

In the second quarter, the Webber defense stopped Southeastern three times within Warrior territory to force a punt, and then the Warriors forced a three-and-out on Southeastern's first drive after halftime.

Despite a rushing touchdown by the quarterback on Southeastern's next possession to make it 17-10 Fire, Webber took advantage of a muffed punt return by Southeastern to maintain possession in Fire territory.

Webber followed with a long, methodical drive that was seemingly destined to end with a 27-yard field goal by Mannerstedt, but a defensive offsides call again gave the Warriors new life, a benefit they would not squander as Brown finished it off from two yards out for his second game-tying touchdown of the night.

That, is where things would get very interesting as on Southeastern's ensuring possession, the Webber defense yet again came up huge, blocking a go-ahead 36-yard field goal attempt with 7:28 on the clock and giving Webber the ball at midfield with a chance to go ahead for the first time in the game.

Unfortunately, the Warriors did not make the most of their opportunity, fumbling the ball away on third down; but yet again, the Webber defense showed just how great it can be, stuffing the Fire on fourth-and-goal from the one-yard line to keep it tied.

With the Warrior offense backed all the way up next to its own end zone, a quick three-and-out placed punter Joe Ebel in the end zone with the task of trying to reverse the field with a big boot. Ebel proceeded with a 34-yard punt to the Southeastern 43, but another muffed punt by the Fire moved the ball forward to the 36-yard line where Southeastern would land on the ball and take over possession with only 1:52 left to play.

Needing only one or two first downs to get into field goal territory, Southeastern did just that with a 14-yard pass and catch on first-and-five to set up the eventual game-winner. After a six-yard pass to get the Fire to the Webber 18-yard line, Southeastern proceeded to run the clock down to five seconds before calling its final timeout. From there, David Larson did the rest of the work, converting on his second field goal attempt of the evening to end the game after opening the scoring with three points back during the first possession of the ballgame.

Head Football Coach Kelly Scott said, "I am proud of our team's effort. A play or two here or there could have changed the outcome of the game. We will go back to work tomorrow. The Warriors' motto is 'I never lose, either I win or learn."

In all, Webber would rush for a very impressive 271 yards on the ground as Brown would finish with 163 rushing yards on 19 carries, good for an average of 8.6 yards per rush, to lead the Warriors' offense. Davonte Williams added 58 rushing yards on 15 attempts while Brady Ooten finished with 39 yards on 10 attempts.

Ooten also finished with 51 passing yards through the air on 6-of-17 passing. Four of Ooten's completions went to Williams for 27 yards while the other two went to Christian Acevedo.

The Webber defense saw Davion Bailey lead the way with eight tackles, followed by Aaron Givens with seven, Travonte Haynie with six, and Antonio Brown and Dequan Harvin both with five. Brown was terrific, adding a forced fumble, 3.5 tackles for loss and two sacks to his resume on the night. Harvin added another sack while he and Bailey also both finished with 1.5 tackles for loss.

In the punting game, Ebel finished with seven punts for an average of 36.3 yards per punt, a long punt of 42 yards and two punts inside the 20.

After starting 4-0 for the first time in program history, Webber fell to 4-1 overall on the season and dropped to 0-1 in the Sun Division of the Mid-South Conference. Southeastern, which was receiving votes in the NAIA's national coaches poll this past week, improved to 3-2 overall and 1-0 in the Sun Division.

After its second bye week of the season, Webber will head to West Palm Beach, Florida, to play first-year football program Keiser University at 12 p.m. on Saturday, October 13. Then, the Warriors will set their sights on another important Sun Division matchup, squaring off against No. 21 Faulkner University under the Friday night lights at 7:30 p.m. on October 19 at home inside Denison Stadium.