HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana University football team scored 23 straight points on the way to a 30-25 comeback victory on Hall of Fame and Solid Gold Saturday in Strawberry Stadium.
Southeastern (1-2) outscored visiting North Alabama, 16-0, in the third quarter on the way to its first victory of the season. UNA fell to 1-2 overall, as SLU was able to rally from an 11-point second quarter deficit.
“It was important to get the win, but what was more important is that we showed improvement as the game went on,” Southeastern head coach Frank Scelfo said. “We were able to clean up some of the mistakes we made in the first half, bounce back in the second half and that’s why we left with a positive result.”
Kyle Lowe completed 13-of-25 passes for 229 yards and three touchdowns, while also leading SLU with 73 rushing yards on 11 carries. Lowe’s top target was Dkhai Joseph, who caught seven passes for 141 yards and two touchdowns.
The Southeastern defense forced two turnovers, as Trace Carter intercepted a pass and Evan Aubrey recovered a fumble. Carter Hanberry led SLU with 10 tackles, while Peyton Anderson collected a sack for Southeastern.
Destin Wade completed 19-of-30 passes for 265 yards, one touchdown and one interception to lead the North Alabama offense. Xavier Johnson pulled in eight catches for 175 yards and a score as UNA’s top weapon in the passing game.
Both teams fumbled inside the opposing team’s five-yard line on the first drives of the game. After UNA took over at the SLU two-yard line, the visiting Lions went three-and-out and were forced to punt.
Southeastern took over at its own 47-yard line and on the first play, Lowe connected with Joseph for a 53-yard touchdown pass, giving SLU a 7-0 lead with 3:48 left in the opening period.
North Alabama took the ensuing drive 65 yards on 11 plays with Chris McMillian powering in from a yard out to get UNA on the board. North Alabama successfully converted a two-point conversion to take an 8-7 lead with 14:20 left in the opening half.
After a Southeastern three-and-out, UNA went on a 75-yard drive that took 10 plays to extend its lead. The visiting Lions extended their lead to 15-7 when Wade found Johnson from 17 yards out with 7:57 left in the second quarter.
After a SLU three-and-out, UNA tacked on a 39-yard field goal by Ian Vachon to extend the lead to 18-7 with 4:05 left in the first half.
Southeastern ended the North Alabama run on the ensuing possession, marching 80 yards on eight plays. Calvin Smith Jr. swept in over the right side from nine yards out to cut the visiting Lions’ advantage to 18-14 heading into the halftime break.
North Alabama moved into Southeastern territory on the first drive of the third quarter, but Carter intercepted Wade to end the threat. Two plays later, Joseph took a quick screen from Lowe and housed it from 52 yards out to put SLU up, 21-18, with 11:45 left in the third quarter.
After the SLU defense forced UNA to punt, Joseph broke loose for a 56-yard return that set up a 40-yard Drew Talley field goal and gave the host Lions a 24-18 cushion with 8:23 left in the third quarter.
After forcing a North Alabama punt, Southeastern continued its third-quarter onslaught. Kyree Paul got loose on a screen pass for a 34-yard gain to set up a six-yard scoring toss from Lowe to Lawson Dixon to extend the SLU lead, though Southeastern failed to convert the two-point conversion, keeping the advantage at 30-18 with 3:08 remaining in the third quarter.
North Alabama cut into Southeastern’s lead late in the fourth quarter, as Jalen Fletcher dove in from two yards out to pull UNA within, 30-25, with 2:46 left in the contest.
SLU was able to pick up a pair of first downs on the game’s final drive, drain North Alabama of its timeouts and close out the first victory of 2026.
Southeastern will hit the road for three straight games, starting with next Saturday’s nonconference finale at ULM. The 3:30 p.m. contest with the Warhawks will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM, The Boss 103.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM).
UNA – 0 18 0 7 – 25 (1-2)
SLU – 7 7 16 0 – 30 (1-2)
1st Quarter
SLU – Joseph 53 pass from Lowe (Talley kick), 3:48
2nd Quarter
UNA – McMillian 1 run (Sisson pass from Bowen), 14:20
UNA – Johnson 17 pass from Wade (Vachon kick), 7:57
UNA – Vachon 39 FG, 4:05
SLU – Smith Jr. 9 run (Talley kick), 1:34
3rd Quarter
SLU – Joseph 52 pass from Lowe (Talley kick), 11:45
SLU – Talley 40 FG, 8:23
SLU – Dixon 6 pass from Lowe (Lowe pass failed), 3:08
4th Quarter
UNA – Fletcher 2 run (Vachon kick), 2:46
UNA SLU
FIRST DOWNS 22 17
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 39-149 36-138
PASSING YDS (NET) 265 238
Passes Comp-Att-Int 19-31-1 14-26-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 70-414 62-376
Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0 1-6
Kickoff Returns-Yards 4-57 3-57
Punt Returns-Yards 0-0 3-64
Interception Returns-Yards 0-0 1-12
Punts (Number-Avg) 5-45.0 5-40.6
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 1-1
Penalties-Yards 11-91 5-66
Possession Time. 33:16 26-44
Third-Down Conversions 3-for-12 5-for-11
Fourth-Down Conversions 1-for-1 0-for-0
Red Zone Scores-Chances 4-5 2-3
RUSHING: UNA – Taylor Jr. 8-56, Wade 15-47, Fletcher 5-19, Johnson 2-18, McMillian 6-13, Watkins 1-9, Abberger 1-6, Team 1-(-19). Totals – 39-149. SLU – Lowe 11-73, Smith Jr. 9-33, Jackson 4-23, Paul 4-9, Elzy 4-4, Team 4-(-4). Totals – 36-138.
PASSING: UNA – Wade 19-30-1-265-1, Team 0-1-0-0-0. Totals – 19-31-1-265-1. SLU – Lowe 13-25-0-229-3, Mooring 1-1-0-9-0. Totals – 14-26-0-238-3.
RECEIVING: UNA – Johnson 8-175, Reed 5-34, Fletcher 3-13, Sisson 1-22, Holmes 1-16, Gregg 1-5. Totals – 19-265. SLU – Joseph 7-141, Jackson 2-41, Paul 2-34, Goodly 2-16, Dixon 1-6. Totals – 14-238.
A – 4,054.
TICKETS
For ticket information, contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net. Southeastern will continue offering mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. All tickets will be available via e-mail or text message in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet.
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on X, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and follow @lionupfootball on Instagram.
TOUCHDOWN CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the football program are encouraged to join the Touchdown Club. Lion football alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
All membership fees and donations to both the Touchdown Club and S Club (football) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern football program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics observes a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.
