NATCHITOCHES – The Southeastern Louisiana University football team jumped out to a 28-0 second-quarter lead and never looked back on the way to a 52-21 Southland Conference road victory over Northwestern State Saturday evening in Turpin Stadium.
Southeastern (3-2, 1-1 SLC) evened its league mark with its third consecutive victory. Northwestern State fell to 0-5 overall and 0-2 in SLC action, falling to the Lions for the 16th consecutive time.
NSU cut the lead to 31-14 at the half, but SLU scored 21 straight points to open the second half to end any hopes of a Demon comeback.
“The way we finished the first half wasn’t us and what we expect out of our program,” Southeastern head coach Frank Scelfo said. “We cleaned a lot of things up in the second half, so I was pleased with the response.”
SLU did most of its damage offensively on the ground, as the Lions posted multiple 100-yard rushers in the same game for the first time since 2017. Chad Elzy Jr. (seven carries, 101 yards, 3 TD) and Deantre Jackson (6-104) powered a Southeastern rushing attack that finished with 300 yards. Calvin Smith Jr. also rushed for a pair of scores for SLU.
“We knew going in to the season that we had a lot of talent in our running back room,” Scelfo commented. “We have to continue making sure all those guys are getting enough touches.”
Kyle Lowe threw for 168 yards and a touchdown on 16-of-28 passing, as SLU finished with a season-high 476 yards of total offense. Tight end Lonnie Shinn Jr. hauled in his team-high fourth touchdown of the season, as eight different Lions caught at least one pass.
The Southeastern defense forced NSU into three turnovers. Tanner Spears and Carter Byrd each forced fumbles, while Trace Carter and Conner Nelson were credited with recoveries. Byrd also recorded his first interception of the season.
Kenneth Ford Jr. recorded a team-high 11 tackles for Southeastern and a pair of tackles for loss, while Richard McKneely and Stiles Guidry each recorded sacks.
For the second straight contest, Dkhai Joseph returned a punt for a touchdown, as the reigning Southland Conference Special Teams Player of the Week from Reserve, La. now has four punt return touchdowns in his young Lion career.
Northwestern State quarterback Zach Wilcke finished with 254 yards, three touchdowns and an interception on 23-for-33 passing to lead the Demons.
The Demons took the opening drive of the game into Southeastern territory, but Payne Williams missed a 44-yard field goal to keep NSU off the board.
SLU opened the game with a nine-play, 73-yard scoring march. Elzy Jr. capped the march with a 32-yard touchdown run to give the Lions a 7-0 lead with 6:29 left in the first quarter.
Spears forced a Northwestern State fumble on the ensuing kickoff and Nelson pounced on the loose ball at the Demon 15-yard line. Four plays later, Smith Jr. bulled in from six yards out to put Southeastern up, 14-0, with 4:25 remaining in the opening period.
After a Demon three-and-out, SLU tacked on another touchdown drive. Lowe connected with Shinn Jr. from 25 yards out to give the Lions a commanding 21-0 advantage heading into the second quarter.
Northwestern State moved into Lion territory on its first drive of the second quarter, but Ford Jr. posted a third-down tackle for loss on third-and-one, then McKneely broke through for a fourth-down sack to give SLU the ball at its 45-yard line after the turnover on downs.
Six plays later, Elzy Jr. bulled in from three yards out to push the Lion advantage to 28-0 with 8:48 left in the second quarter.
NSU answered on the ensuing possession, as Wilcke found Brendan Webb from 43 yards out to trim the Southeastern advantage to 28-7 with six minutes remaining in the opening half.
Jackson broke loose for a 65-yard run on the second play of the Lions’ ensuing possession. Three plays later, Drew Talley connected on a 24-yard field goal to push the Southeastern lead to 31-7 with 3:51 remaining in the first half.
Northwestern State answered with a five-play, 75-yard scoring drive. Wilcke found Camryn Davis in the back corner of the end zone from four yards out to pull the Demons within, 31-14, with 1:50 left in the second quarter.
Elzy Jr. broke loose for a 31-yard return into Demon territory on the ensuing kickoff, but SLU was turned over on downs to end the scoring threat and keep the Southeastern advantage to 31-14 at the break.
Southeastern forced a Demon turnover on NSU’s first possession, as Byrd forced a fumble that Carter recovered at the Northwestern State 40-yard line. SLU could not take advantage of the short field, as Talley’s 43-yard field goal sailed wide left to keep the lead at 31-14 with 10:14 left in the third quarter.
On the ensuing Demon possession, Byrd intercepted Wilcke and the Lions took over at midfield with 7:35 remaining in the third quarter. Southeastern converted a pair of fourth-and-short opportunities on a methodical 11-play, 50-yard scoring drive. Smith Jr. powered in from a yard out to put SLU up, 38-14, with 1:58 left in the third quarter.
After a Demon three-and-out, Joseph caught the resulting punt and raced untouched for a 68-yard punt return touchdown and a 45-14 Southeastern lead heading into the final quarter.
After another Northwestern State punt, Elzy Jr. raced untouched for a 50-yard touchdown – his third of the day. The Belle Rose, Louisiana native is the first Lion to rush for three touchdowns in a game since Lowe scored three on the ground at Murray State last fall. Elzy’s score gave SLU a 52-14 advantage with 13:58 remaining in the contest.
Southeastern emptied the bench in the final period and Northwestern State trimmed into the final margin with a six-yard scoring toss by Wilcke to Davis with 5:28 left in the contest.
With backup quarterback Issac Mooring III in for Lowe, the Lions were able to drain the final five-plus minutes to ice the contest.
The Lions will enter their bye week before closing its three-game road swing with a 7 p.m. contest Oct. 10 at UTRGV. The game with the Vaqueros 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 97.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM).
SLU – 21 10 14 7 – 52 (3-2, 1-1 SLC)
NSU – 0 14 0 7 – 21 (0-5, 0-2 SLC)
1st Quarter
SLU – Elzy Jr. 32 run (Talley kick), 6:29
SLU – Smith Jr. 6 run (Talley kick), 4:25
SLU – Shinn Jr. 25 pass from Lowe (Talley kick), 0:19
2nd Quarter
SLU – Elzy Jr. 3 run (Talley kick), 8:48
NSU – Webb 43 pass from Wilcke (Williams kick), 6:00
SLU – Talley 24 FG, 3:51
NSU – Davis 4 pass from Wilcke (Williams kick), 1:50
3rd Quarter
SLU – Smith Jr. 1 run (Talley kick), 1:58
SLU – Joseph 68 punt return (Talley kick), 0:23
4th Quarter
SLU – Elzy Jr. 50 run (Talley kick), 13:58
NSU – Davis 6 pass from Wilcke (Williams kick), 5:28
SLU NSU
FIRST DOWNS 21 17
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 38-300 27-112 PASSING YDS (NET)
Passes Att-Comp-Int 30-18-0 34-24-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 68-476 61-366
Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards 2-34 5-86
Punt Returns-Yards 3-88 0-0
Interception Returns-Yards 1-20 0-0
Punts (Number-Avg) 1-52.0 4-38.8
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-2
Penalties-Yards 4-46 5-40
Possession Time. 31:56 28:04
Third-Down Conversions 5-for-13 3-for-13
Fourth-Down Conversions 3-for-5 2-for-3
Red Zone Scores-Chances 4-for-4 2-for-2
RUSHING: SLU – Jackson 6-104, Elzy 7-101, Mooring III 3-49, Smith Jr. 13-37, Paul 7-11, Team 2-(-2). Totals – 38-300. NSU – Wilcke 13-38, Davis 6-23, Ingram 5-20, Webb 1-18, Thomas 2-13. Totals – 27-112.
PASSING: SLU – Lowe 18-30-0-163-1, Mooring III 2-2-0-13-0. Totals – 20-32-0-176-1. NSU – Wilcke 23-33-1-254-3, Johnston 1-1-0-0-0. Totals – 24-34-1-254-3.
RECEIVING: SLU – Joseph 5-40, Shinn 3-50, Jackson 3-13, Ibieta 2-22, Goodly 2-17, Jefferson 1-26, Johnson 1-7, Elzy 1-1. Totals – 18-176. NSU – Moreland 6-38, Davis 5-25, Webb 4-72, Duncan 3-21, Davis 2-54, Eugene 2-34, Gower 1-0, Ingram 1-0. Totals – 24-244.
A – 1,792.
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
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