Shootout at The Strawberry as Southeastern comes away with a win

What a ball game! The atmosphere going into this game was great, families tailgating, and high school football players from across the state coming to visit this game. The Southland conference opener for both, the Southeastern Lions and the Lamar Cardinals lived up to the hype. Southeastern proved that they are among the nation’s best and played a very good game.

1st Quarter

The game started off a bit slow, the first three drives ended with punts, once the first score happened, points seemed to be scored in bunches. Lamar then put together a succinct 6 play 64-yard drive, capped by a 19-yard rush by quarterback #1 Jordan Hoy. Lions quarterback #9 Chason Virgil followed this drive by leading a touchdown drive of his own. Southeastern marched down the field, and seemed like the could not be stopped, the Lions did not have a play go for over 15 yards, and did not have a play lose yards, a very efficient drive. After Southeastern kicked the ball out of bounds, Lamar capitalized on the good field position and showed they have big play potential. On the second play of the drive, Hoy completed a 56-yard pass to receiver #89 Case Robinson to set up 1st and goal. Running back #27 A.J. Walker finished of the drive with a 6-yard touchdown run to take a 14-7 lead in the beginning of the 2nd quarter

2nd Quarter

Not to be outdone, the lions got the ball and scored almost immediately. On 3rd and seven, Virgil tossed a beautiful ball to receiver Austin Mitchell, who went 58 for a touchdown. After four consecutive scoring drives, the offenses started to lull, and the defenses put an end to the scoring. Lions defensive end #45 Joshua Carr Jr. had a great game thus far finishing with two sacks and three tackles for loss in the first half alone. The next two drives ended in punts, once Lamar got the ball again, Hoy threw an interception to #7 Xavier Lewis, who made a great play on the ball. Southeastern was not able to capitalize on the turnover and turned the ball over on downs. Lamar was able to capitalize on the good field position, and once again had big plays of 26 and 36 yards to score in four plays. Southeastern struggled on their next possession and was forced to punt after one first down. The Lions defense stepped up on the next drive and forced a three and out, Lamar’s punt team trotted out on the field for a routine punt. Which was blocked by the Lions! Southeastern got set up with on the Lamar 18-yard line, and Virgil threw his 2nd touchdown of the half. Lamar was able to drive the ball into field goal range and got three points to end the half 21-24.

3rd Quarter

Lamar started with the ball in the 2nd half, the stout Southeastern defense forced a three and out. Southeastern regained possession and started driving down the field, once they reached the Lamar 24-yard line Virgil threw another touchdown, his third of the game. Lamar got the ball and proceeded to lose a yard and punt on 4th down. Virgil tossed another touchdown on the first play of the drive, one play 50 yards, one touchdown. Lamar was able to muster their only 3 points of the drive during this quarter from a 10 play 61 play drive. Southeastern once again was able to score through the air, but instead of Virgil passing the ball, it was the alternate quarterback #15 Cole Kelley ending the quarter. Southeastern outscored Lamar 21-3 during this period going up 42-27. Southeastern really showed the nation why they are ranked this quarter.

4th Quarter

After a dominant 3rd quarter Southeastern coasted the rest of the game and nursed the lead that they had built up. Lamar started the quarter promising driving the ball but could not put the ball in the endzone and settled for a field goal. After trading punts, Southeastern put the game away, with a 15-play drive, while they only got a field goal, the drive took nearly six minutes off the clock. This drive left Lamar with less than two minutes in the contest down by two possessions. Final score 45-34 Southeastern winning the conference opener.

Southeastern played a thorough game, they ran for 166 yards, and gained over four yards per carry. While standout quarterback Chason Virgil went threw for 307 yards and 4 touchdowns which is a career best for him. Defensively, the Lions had five sacks and 10 tackles for loss. Across the board the Lions played well, if they are able to limit big plays defensively, they will be contending for a championship.