Southeastern Looks to Bounce Back at UIW

HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana football team will hit the road for the first time in three weeks, traveling to Incarnate Word for a 2:30 p.m.Southland Conference contest on Saturday in San Antonio, Texas.

 

The game between the Lions (4-4, 4-2 Southland) and the host Cardinals (1-7, 1-5 Southland) can be heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (KSLU 90.9 FM, Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM and WFPR 1400 AM), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app. A live video stream, provided by UIW, will be accessible at LionSports.net on the football schedule page.

 

The Lions enter the week tied for third place in the Southland Conference standings with Nicholls and have an opportunity to clinch its fourth winning season in league play in the past five seasons. Both SLU and UIW will be looking to bounce back from home losses last Saturday. The Lions suffered a 45-10 loss to No. 18/19 Central Arkansas, while UIW dropped a 42-19 decision to Stephen F. Austin.

 

“We have to put last week’s game behind us,” Southeastern head coach Ron Roberts said. “The easiest way to do that is get a win this Saturday and improve to 5-2 in conference play. UIW has an excellent quarterback and we’ll have to play well to get a road win this week.”

 

The Lions enter Saturday’s game averaging 384.4 yards and 26.8 points per game. Seniors Justin Alo (1,362 yards, 12 TD, 6 INT) and D’Shaie Landor (389-3 TD-4 INT) have split time under center. Junior Juwan Dickey (25 catches, 491 yards, 4 TD), senior Brandon Acker (24-556-6 TD) and freshman Javon Conner (16-217) have emerged as the top pass catching threats for the SLU signal calling duo.

 

On the ground, Southeastern is averaging 165.5 yards per game. Senior Rasheed Harrell (341 yards, 3 TD), sophomore Julius Maracalin (303-3 TD) and senior Kaelyn Henderson (283-3 TD) are the top rushers for the Lions.

 

Southeastern will be facing a UIW defense that is allowing 486.4 yards and 41.3 points per outing. Sean Hoeferkamp (57 tackles) and Josh Zellars (56 tackles) are the team’s leading tacklers, while Joel Higgins has a team-high three sacks.

 

On offense, Trent Brittain (1,555 yards, 12 TD, 5 INT) engineers the Cardinal attack with Kody Edwards (30 catches, 519 yards, 6 TD), Jordan Hicks (21-322-3 TD) and Jamari Gilbert (18-272-4 TD) providing the junior signal caller with a trio of productive targets. Broderick Reeves leads UIW with 397 rushing yards and five touchdowns.

 

Brittain and company will be facing a Southeastern defense that is allowing 404.5 yards and 32.1 points per game. After recording 16 tackles in Saturday’sloss, junior Max Lyons leads the team with 69 tackles, followed by juniors Javon Tillman (61 tackles), Torrance Mosley (55), Lee Spight (47) and Ryan Sigers (45).

 

Junior Sione Teuhema leads the Lions with seven tackles for loss and 3.5 sacks. Lyons has recovered a league-high three fumbles, while Tillman has two forced fumbles. Tillman, Mosley, senior Tre’ Bennett, sophomore Sean Clavelle, junior Demarayeh Lane and freshman Jacorey Fuller all have interceptions this season for the Lions.

 

Southeastern is 2-1 all-time versus the Cardinals. After handily wining the first two meetings, the Lions fell to UIW, 16-2, last season in Hammond.

 

Following this week’s action, Southeastern will return home to close out its home schedule with a 7 p.m. contest next Saturday versus Abilene Christian. Saturday will be Senior Day, as seniors Harrell, Henderson, Acker, Alo, Landor, Bennett, Da’Quan Smith, Will Hines, Juwaan Rogers, Caleb Young, Anthony Murphy Jr., Solomon Parker, Justin Barksdale, Taylor Gadbois, Jon Taylor, Miki Fangatua, Trent Williams and Javari Nichols will be honored in a pregame ceremony 30 minutes prior to kickoff.

 

The game will be broadcast live on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (KSLU 90.9 FM, Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM and WFPR 1400 AM), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the TuneIn Radio app. The Southeastern Channel will air the game on a tape delay and provide a live video stream, which will be accessible at LionSports.net. The first 300 students at the game will receive free t-shirts courtesy of Southeastern Athletics Marketing and Promotions.