Big Fourth Quarter Plays Propel Southeastern to 58-34 Southland Road Win Over SFA

NACOGDOCHES, Texas – Fourth quarter touchdown returns by junior Courtney Rutledge and freshman Jacorey Fuller propelled Southeastern Louisiana to a 58-34 Southland Conference road victory over Stephen F. Austin Saturday afternoon at Homer Bryce Stadium.

 

The win was the first on the road this season for the Lions (3-3, 3-1 Southland) and their first victory over Stephen F. Austin (3-4, 2-3 Southland) since 2013. The Lumberjacks cut a 20-point first half deficit to 37-34 early in the fourth quarter, but Southeastern scored 21 unanswered points in the final period to pull away for its second straight win.

 

With just over seven minutes to play, things looked bleak for the visitors. Starting senior quarterback Justin Alo had been knocked out of the game and the offense had stalled on several drives. A 34-yard punt return by Trae Hart had set up a potential game-tying 44-yard field goal attempt by SFA kicker Storm Ruiz.

 

Senior Jon Taylor blocked Ruiz’s attempt and Rutledge scooped it up racing untouched 72 yards for a touchdown and a 10-point lead. Just over a minute later, Fuller stepped in front of a Hunter Taylor pass and returned it 41 yards for a score to give the Lions a 17-point lead with just over six minutes remaining to end SFA’s comeback hopes.

 

“We didn’t play our best football game and if we eliminated a couple of mistakes we could have put it away earlier,” Roberts said. “But Courtney and Jacorey made some big plays and we found a way to win. We have to continue to grow as a team and take each game one at a time.”

 

The 58 points are the most the Lions have scored this season and represent the highest single-game point total by Southeastern since a 62-3 win over Nicholls on Nov. 20, 2014.

 

Before Alo left the game with an injury, the Lion signal caller had thrown for 270 yards and three touchdowns. Alo’s top target was junior Juwan Dickey, who finished with five catches for a career-high 156 yards and two touchdowns. Senior Brandon Acker caught his team-high fifth touchdown of the season, while freshman Jacq’co Price pulled in his first collegiate touchdown reception from senior D’Shaie Landor. Senior Kaelyn Henderson and sophomore Julius Maracalin each rushed for touchdowns for the Lions.

 

Defensively, Southeastern combined to intercept SFA senior quarterbacks Zach Conque and Hunter Taylor three times. Fuller, junior Torrance Mosley and sophomore Sean Clavelle all recorded the first interceptions of their Lion careers. Mosley also was credited with a recovery on a fumble forced by freshman Kijuan Lee.

 

Juniors Javon Tillman and Lee Spight shared the team lead with eight tackles apiece for the Lions, who used every available body on the defensive side of the ball. Clavelle, senior Anthony Murphy Jr. and junior Abraham Freeman were all credited with sacks for SLU.

 

SFA was led by running back Loren Easley. The sophomore from Houston, Texas finished with 169 yards rushing and three touchdowns on 14 carries.

 

Southeastern took the opening kickoff and embarked on a nine-play, 61-yard scoring drive. Sophomore Jonathan Tatum capped the drive with a 33-yard field goal to give SLU a 3-0 lead with 11:21 left in the opening quarter.

 

On the ensuing kickoff, Lee forced SFA kick returner Trevon Smith to fumble the kickoff. Mosley fell on the loose ball to give the Lions the ball at the SFA 28-yard line.

 

However, before Southeastern could capitalize, Kedrick Harrison stripped Alo on a sack to give SFA good field position, resulting in a 37-yard field goal by Storm Ruiz with 8:48 left in the opening quarter to tie the score at 3-3.

 

Junior Darius Durall set Southeastern up on the next drive with a career-long 47-yard kickoff return. Alo found Dickey for a 35-yard catch and run to move into the Lumberjack red zone. Two plays later, Alo found Acker in the back right corner of the end zone for a 19-yard score with 6:22 left in the first quarter.

 

After the two teams traded punts over the next several possessions, it was a Southeastern special teams error that set up SFA’s next scoring opportunity. Henderson roughed SFA punter Caleb Lewallen to extend the SFA drive. However, the defense stiffened and forced a 30-yard field goal attempt by Ruiz that hooked wide left in the opening seconds of the second quarter.

 

On the second play of the ensuing SLU drive, Alo found Dickey along the left sideline. Dickey spun out of a tackle and raced 69 yards to the SFA 11-yard line. Two plays later, Dickey caught a pass in the back right corner of the end zone from 10 yards out to give Southeastern a 17-3 lead with 13:46 remaining in the opening half.

 

Stephen F. Austin quickly answered on its ensuing drive. Easly busted through the line untouched for a 61-yard touchdown run to cut the Lion advantage in half with 12:31 remaining in the opening half.

 

After the two teams traded punts, the Alo-to-Dickey scoring connection struck again. Alo connected with freshman Javon Conner for passes of 24 and 13 yards on the seven-play, 63-yard scoring drive. Dickey made a sliding catch from 27 yards out to cap the scoring march. Tatum’s extra point was blocked by Gary Sampson and the Lion lead sat at 23-10 with 7:21 left in the first half.

 

A forced turnover on the ensuing Stephen F. Austin possession allowed the Lions to pad its lead. Mosley intercepted a pass by Conque to give the ball to SLU at its own 42-yard line. Alo connected with junior Joe Pack (21 yards) and Price (17 yards) on passes to highlight the eight-play, 58-yard scoring drive. Sophomore Julius Maracalin powered in from two yards out to cap the march and give SLU a 30-10 lead with 1:55 remaining in the opening half.

 

After forcing a SFA three-and-out, Southeastern was poised to add to its lead in the waning minutes. However, Alo made his first mistake of the game, as George Stone III stepped in front of a short pass by the Lion signal caller and returned the interception 50 yards for a score to cut the SLU lead to 30-17 going into the break.

 

The momentum carried over into the opening drive of the third quarter. Taylor found Trae Hart for a 43-yard catch and run to highlight an 11-play, 83-yard drive. Easly powered in from two yards out to cap the drive and pull SFA within, 30-24, with 12:10 left in the third quarter.

 

After the two teams traded three-and-outs, Southeastern benefitted from a 19-yard punt that gave the Lions the ball on the SFA side of the field. Henderson busted threw the line on the drive’s opening play, racing 45 yards to give the Lions a 37-24 lead with 9:18 left in the third quarter.

 

After SLU forced another three-and-out, another Henderson special teams mistake gave SFA a prime scoring opportunity. Blocking on another short punt, Henderson inadvertently had the ball hit off his back and SFA’s Trey Ramos recovered the loose ball at the Lion 24-yard line. The SLU defense stiffened and were able to hold the ‘Jacks to a 32-yard Ruiz field goal that cut the lead to 37-27 with 5:10 left in the third quarter.

 

Another busted play allowed Stephen F. Austin to cut further into the lead. Easly burst through the line and raced untouched 74 yards to cut the Lion lead to 37-34 with 3:28 remaining in the third quarter.

 

On the ensuing drive, Alo was knocked out of the game on a big hit by SFA defensive end Mitchel Zimmerle and the Southeastern offense began to falter. However, the Lion defense answered the call. After SFA moved into Lion territory, Freeman and Clavelle collected consecutive sacks to put the Lumberjacks into a punting situation.

 

After another Lion three and out, Hart returned freshman Ivy Wall’s punt 34 yards to set up SFA at the SLU 31-yard line. The Lion defense stiffened again and Taylor blocked Ruiz’s 44-yard field goal attempt and Rutledge scooped it up for a 72-yard touchdown return and a 44-34 lead with 7:17 left.

 

On the ensuing drive, Fuller jumped a short pass from Taylor and raced untouched for 41 yards to push the Lion lead up to 51-34 with 6:06 left. After a Clavelle interception of Taylor, Landor found Price for a 35-yard touchdown to provide the final margin.

 

Southeastern will now play its next two contests at home. Next Saturday, the Lions will welcome Southland foe Houston Baptist for Homecoming with a 4 p.m. contest in Strawberry Stadium. The game can be heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (KSLU 90.9 FM, Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM, WFPR 1400 AM) and LionVision subscribers will be able to access a live video stream of the SLU-HBU contest at www.LionSports.net/watch.

 

The first 300 SLU students in attendance will receive free t-shirts courtesy of Southeastern Athletics Marketing and Promotions. The 2016 Homecoming King and Queen will be announced at halftime of the SLU-HBU contest.

 

The Homecoming parade is scheduled for 12 p.m. and will make its way through Friendship Circle as part of the parade route. There will be no parking in Friendship Circle on Saturday and Friendship Circle will be closed to vehicular traffic on Saturday. Friendship Circle parking passes will be honored at Lot B. For more information, contact Southeastern Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing and Development Tom Dawsey at (985) 549-5226 ortd*****@se**.edu.

 

SLU – 10 20 7 21 – 58 (3-3, 3-1 SLC)

SFA – 3 14 17 0 – 34 (3-4, 2-3 SLC)

 

Scoring Summary

1^st Quarter

SLU – Tatum 33 FG, 11:21

SFA – Ruiz 37 FG, 8:48
SLU – Acker 19 pass from Alo (Tatum kick), 6:22

2^nd Quarter

SLU – Dickey 11 pass from Alo (Tatum kick), 13:46

SFA – Easly 61 run (Ruiz kick), 12:31

SLU – Dickey 27 pass from Alo (Tatum kick blocked), 7:21

SFA – Stone III 50 interception return (Ruiz kick), 0:52
3^rd Quarter

SFA – Easly 2 run (Ruiz kick), 12:10

SLU – Henderson 45 run (Tatum kick), 9:18
SFA – Ruiz 32 FG, 5:10

SFA – Easly 74 run (Ruiz kick), 3:28
4^th Quarter
SLU – Rutledge 72 field goal return (Tatum kick), 7:17

SLU – Fuller 41 interception return (Tatum kick), 6:06

SLU – Price 35 pass from Landor (Tatum kick), 0:39

 

SLU        SFA

FIRST DOWNS                                                 18           22
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)                                  128         208

PASSING YDS (NET)                                       317         252

Passes Att-Comp-Int                                          32-15-1   56-22-3

TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS.                              72-446    89-460

Fumble Returns-Yards                                        0-0          1-16

Kickoff Returns-Yards                                       7-152      10-181

Punt Returns-Yards                                            3-7          4-44

Interception Returns-Yards                                 3-41        1-50

Punts (Number-Avg)                                           9-41.9     8-35.9

Fumbles-Lost                                                      2-2          1-1

Penalties-Yards                                                   8-61        7-72

Possession Time.                                                 31:14      28:46

Third-Down Conversions                                    5-of-18   6-of-20

Fourth-Down Conversions                                  1-of-1     0-of-0

Red Zone Scores-Chances                                  4-4          3-4

 

RUSHING: SLU – Henderson 7-58, Harrell 8-40, Alo 8-18, Maracalin 5-8, Durall 5-7, Thomas 1-4, Bethea 2-3, Rogers 1-0, Landor 3-(-9). Totals – 40-129. SFA – Easly 14-169, Conque 3-22, West 4-12, Whitaker 1-4, Amous 2-3, Taylor 9-(-2). Totals – 33-208.

 

PASSING: SLU – Alo 13-29-1-270-3, Landor 2-3-0-47-1. Totals – 15-32-1-47-1. SFA – Taylor 17-38-2-213-0, Conque 4-16-1-28-0, Cottingame 1-2-0-11-0. Totals – 22-56-3-252-0.

 

RECEIVING: SLU – Dickey 5-156, Conner 3-43, Price 2-52, Acker 2-34, Pack 1-21, Maracalin 1-12, Ingraffia 1-(-1). Totals – 15-317. SFA – Hart 6-76, Pace 4-63, Liggins 3-28, Williams 3-15, Sam 2-37, Askew 2-20, Hill 1-12, Easly 1-1. Totals – 22-252.

 

A – 8,314.

 

Credit: Kemmler Chapple, SLU SID