HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana University wide receiver Darius Lewis hauled in a three-yard touchdown pass from Eli Sawyer with two seconds remaining to give the Lions a thrilling 24-23 Homecoming victory over Stephen F. Austin Saturday evening at Strawberry Stadium.
Lewis’ catch capped a game-winning, 13-play, 75-yard scoring march that helped Southeastern (4-4, 3-0 SLC) remain unbeaten in Southland Conference play. The visiting Lumberjacks fell to 4-3 overall and 2-2 in conference action.
“These were two good teams facing off tonight and it was a back-and-forth game,” Southeastern head coach Frank Scelfo said. “Tonight’s effort was a testament to the toughness of this team and our ability to be resilient.”
After an SFA field goal put the Lumberjacks up, 23-17, SLU took over at its own 25 with 1:56 remaining and one timeout. Southeastern kept the drive alive early when Errol Rogers Jr. made a leaping 17-yard reception at the SLU 44-yard line on fourth-and-eight.
Later in the drive, facing a third down and long, Sawyer connected with Lewis on a quick slant and the speedster from New Orleans took it down to the SFA 39-yard line. After a couple of quick, short completions, Sawyer took a shot down the left sideline and Lewis made a leaping 19-yard catch to set SLU up with goal-to-go at the nine-yard line with 15 seconds left.
On the next play, Sawyer found Cade Collier down to the Lumberjack three-yard line and SLU burned its final timeout with five seconds left. On the winning play, Lewis found the soft spot in the SFA defense and Sawyer found him to knot the score. After an SFA timeout, SLU kicker Riley Callaghan drilled the all-important extra-point to give the Lions the lead.
“We practice our two-minute drill every Thursday,” Scelfo commented. “Our execution and play calling were excellent on that last drive. It was a team effort that saw everybody on our offense do their jobs.”
Lewis had a career night receiving, finishing with a career-high 11 catches for 96 yards and the game-winning score. Sawyer was again efficient under center, completing 24-of-35 passes for 234 yards and a touchdown, while also scoring his first career rushing touchdown. Antonio Martin Jr. led SLU on the ground, finishing with 87 yards and a touchdown on 21 carries.
The Lion defense held the high-powered SFA offense that came in ranked in the top three in FCS in total and scoring offense to 19 points and 155 yards under its season averages. KK Reno led SLU with 14 tackles, while Khamron Ford was credited with 10 stops. Warren Peeples paced the Southeastern pass rush, finishing with two sacks.
SFA quarterback Sam Vidlak completed 29-for-38 passes for 244 yards and a touchdown with Kylon Harris (13 catches, 116 yards) serving as his top target. Jerrell Wimbley led the Lumberjacks on the ground with 83 yards on 11 carries.
SFA scored on its opening possession, driving 73 yards on 12 plays. Jordan Nabors took a short pass from Vidlak and weaved his way in from 22 yards out to give the Lumberjacks a 7-0 lead with 7:29 remaining in the opening quarter.
Southeastern answered with a scoring drive of its own on the ensuing possession. Martin Jr. bulled in from nine yards out to cap a nine-play, 75-yard march to tie the score at 7-7 with 2:36 left in the first quarter.
After the teams traded punts, SLU took its first lead in the latter part of the second quarter. Sawyer snuck in from a yard out to close out a 10-play, 56-yard scoring drive that put the Lions ahead, 14-7, with 4:13 left in the opening half.
The Lumberjacks moved all the way down to the Lion 10-yard line on the final drive of the second quarter. However, a Peeples sack forced SFA to settle for a 41-yard field goal by Chris Campos that cut the Southeastern advantage to 14-10 heading into the break.
The two teams traded punts to start the third quarter, before Stephen F. Austin cut into the lead on its second drive of the third quarter. Campos connected on a 43-yard field goal with 5:19 left in the third quarter to trimmed the Lion lead to 14-13.
SLU answered on the ensuing drive to pad the cushion back to four. Callaghan drilled a 32-yard field goal to cap a 13-play, 60-yard scoring drive and putting the Lions ahead, 17-13, with 13:34 left in the contest.
The Lumberjacks took the lead on their ensuing possession. Backup quarterback Gavin Rutherford scored on a draw from three yards out to put SFA up, 20-17, with 9:06 remaining.
SLU moved into SFA territory on its next drive, but ultimately was forced to punt. The Lumberjacks drove into the Lion red zone on their next possession and a 40-yard Campos field goal put the Lumberjacks up, 23-17, with 1:56 left to set up the thrilling game-winning drive for Southeastern.
Saturday’s game was the first of two straight at home for the Lions, who will host UIW next Saturday, Oct. 26, at 6 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium. The game with the visiting Cardinals 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/1400 AM).
Saturday’s game versus UIW will also be a Gold Out, as fans are encouraged to wear their best gold Southeastern gear to the contest. The game versus the Cardinals will be Faculty and Staff Appreciation Day. Southeastern faculty and staff can present their ID at the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office to receive a free general admission ticket for SLU’s matchup with the Cardinals. The office is open Monday through Thursday from 8 a.m. – 4 p.m. and Friday from 8 a.m. – noon.
SFA – 7 0 3 13 – 23 (4-3, 2-2 SLC)
SLU – 7 7 0 10 – 24 (4-4, 3-0 SLC)
1st Quarter
SFA – Nabors 22 pass from Vidlak (Campos kick), 7:29
SLU – Martin Jr. 9 run (Callaghan kick), 2:36
2nd Quarter
SLU – Sawyer 1 run (Callaghan kick), 4:13
SFA – Campos 41 FG, 0:00
3rd Quarter
SFA – Campos 43 FG, 5:19
4th Quarter
SLU – Callaghan 32 FG, 13:34
SFA – Rutherford 3 run (Campos kick), 9:06
SFA – Campos 40 FG, 1:56
SLU – Lewis 3 pass from Sawyer (Callaghan kick), 0:02
SFA SLU
FIRST DOWNS 21 22 RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 28-93 33-114 PASSING YDS (NET) 244 234
Passes Att-Comp-Int 38-29-0 35-24-0 TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 66-337 68-348 Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0 Kickoff Returns-Yards 2-39 0-0 Punt Returns-Yards 0-0 1-13
Interception Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0 Punts (Number-Avg) 3-53.3 4-37.5 Fumbles-Lost 1-0 0-0 Penalties-Yards 5-30 3-20
Possession Time. 26:41 33:19 Third-Down Conversions 9-15 7-14 Fourth-Down Conversions 0-0 2-2 Red Zone Scores-Chances 3-3 4-4
RUSHING: SFA – Wimbley 11-83, Jenkins 12-28, Rutherford 2-2, Nabors 1-0, Vidlak 2-(-20). Totals – 28-93. SLU – Martin Jr. 21-87, Graham Jr. 5-24, Hayes 1-6, Dixon 1-1, Sawyer 5-(-4). Totals – 33-114.
PASSING: SFA – Vidlak 29-38-0-244-1. Totals – 29-38-0-244-1. SLU – Sawyer 24-35-0-234-1. Totals – 24-35-0-234-1.
RECEIVING: SFA – Harris 13-116, Nabors 3-28, Davis 3-23, Fluellen 3-16, Wayland 2-25, Wimbley 2-21, Williams 2-11, Jenkins 1-4. Totals – 29-244. SLU – Lewis 11-96, Martin Jr. 3-10, Domingeaux 2-38, Hughley 2-30, Lorio 2-22, Collier 2-19, Rogers Jr. 1-17, Graham Jr. 1-2. Totals – 24-234.
A – 4,622.
