NATCHITOCHES -- Southland Conference member Northwestern State came into Saturday's game with Southeastern ranked No. 1 in Division I-AA in total defense. The Demons' "Purple Swarm" defense failed to live up to last week's performance when it gave up minus-1 yard of total offense, but it was good enough.

Derrick Johnese rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns and the Demon defense accounted for five touchdowns, including four on interceptions returns, as it exploded for 42 unanswered points and raced to a 87-27 victory before an announced crowd of 10,192 Saturday night at Turpin Stadium.

Playing its third straight Southland Conference opponent, Southeastern (2-5) again showed positive flashes early on of what it will bring to the SLC table when the Lions officially join the league in 2005. But, again a lack of experience and depth hindered the Lions as the Demons, ranked No. 20 in I-AA, pulled away from a 14-12 first quarter lead and scored at will against the youthful Lions.

The Lions took advantage of a muffed snap by NSU punter Chris Stegall which gave Southeastern the ball at the NSU 9. Three plays later, Martin Hankins found Dane Wobbema in the right corner of the end zone giving Southeastern a 6-0 lead.

Northwestern State (5-2), which manhandled Panhandle (Okla.) State in a 59-0 rout last week, then scored on a pair of touchdowns in 19 seconds as it took a 14-6 lead it would never relinquish. The Demons took a 7-6 lead, driving 79 yards on nine plays with Johnese rumbling 25 yards down the right sideline with 4:34 left in the first quarter.

On the Lions' next play, Hankins attempted to lob a pass to Choni Francis and Northwestern State's Jerry Goldsmith made a leaping interception at the SLU 40. The Demons quickly responded on the miscue as Lewis found Derrick Doyle on a play action pass in the left corner of the end zone extending the Demon lead to 14-6.

However, the Lions struck back as Keylam Davis took the ensuing kickoff at the SLU 3, broke a tackle around the 15 and set a Turpin Stadium-record 97 yard touchdown cutting the NSU lead to 14-12 with 3:59 left.

That would be as close as the Lions would get as Northwestern State outscored Southeastern, 31-3, in the second period and held a commanding 45-15 lead. Tommy Hebert started the scoring for Northwestern State with a 39-yard field goal before Shelton Sampson scored on a 4-yard run to give the Demons a 24-12 advantage.

The Demon defense, which was allowing a I-AA low of 226.5 yards per game total offense, then got into the act with 3:21 left in the half as Hankins was harassed by a hard-charging Jamall Johnson and Ed Queen stepped in front of Hankins' pass and rumbled 44 yards for a touchdown giving Northwestern State a 31-12 lead.

After Thomas Peed's 38-yard field goal cut the deficit to 31-15 with 1:48 left, Northwestern State was prepared to run out the clock. But on second-and-12 from the NSU 18, Johnese took a handoff, broke a couple of tackles and raced down the left sideline for an 82-yard touchdown with 54 seconds left giving the Demons a 38-15 lead.

But the Demons were not done as the Lions tried to make one final score before the half and were thwarted again as David Pittman picked off Hankins at the NSU 31, picked up some key blocks and found the end zone for a 69-yard touchdown return as time expired.

Johnese rushed for 143 yards on 13 carries in the first half as the Demons posted 288 yards total offense in the first half, including 210 on the ground. The Lions, who had 142 yards total offense in the first half, turned the ball over four times as Hankins went 13-for-32 for 90 yards and three interceptions before Seth Babin took over to start the second half.

Southeastern, which will face first-year program Webber (Fla.) International next week for homecoming, got a solid performance from Davis, who recorded 282 yards return yards and caught five passes for 66 yards and a touchdown. Brooks Jordan caught a season-high nine passes for the Lions while posting the first 100-yard receiving effort by a Lion with 110.

Hankins re-entered the game in the third quarter and finished 21-for-48 for 199 yards and three touchdowns, but was picked off five times as Southeastern had eight turnovers in the game.

Southeastern Louisiana 12 3 0 12 - 27
Northwestern State 14 31 21 21 -87

FIRST QUARTER
SLU - Wobbema 3 pass from Hankins (kick failed) 8:16
NWLA - Johnese 25 run (Hebert kick) 4:34
NWLA - Doyle 40 pass from Lewis (Hebert kick) 4:15
SLU - Davis 97 kick return (pass failed) 3:59

SECOND QUARTER
NWLA - FG Hebert 39 11:42
NWLA - Sampson 4 run (Hebert kick) 7:19
NWLA - Queen 44 interception return (Hebert kick) 3:21
SLU - FG Peed 38 1:48
NWLA - Johnese 82 run (Hebert kick) :54
NWLA - Pittman 69 interception return (Hebert kick) :00

THIRD QUARTER
NWLA - Sampson 1 run (Hebert kick) 11:49
NWLA - Pittman 62 missed FG return (Hebert kick) 3:50
NWLA - Skidmore 15 run (Hebert kick) 2:34

FOURTH QUARTER
NWLA - Woods 8 interception return (Hebert kick) 10:18
SLU - Gonzales 48 pass from Hankins (kick failed) 9:55
NWLA - May 7 run (Hebert kick) 6:52
NWLA - Woods 32 interception return (Hebert kick) 6:36
SLU - Davis 16 pass from Hankins (kick blocked) 3:49

A - 10,192

SLU NWLA
FIRST DOWNS 20 22
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 16-(minus-13) 59-388
PASSING YDS (NET) 301 78
Passes Att-Comp-Int 60-28-6 13-6-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 76-288 72-466
Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards 0-0 1-30
Kickoff Returns-Yards 10-282 2-50
Interception Returns-Yards 0-0 6-195
Punts (Number-Avg) 4-36.0 5-36.4
Fumbles-Lost 2-2 3-2
Penalties-Yards 7-64 17-194
Possession Time 25:26 34:34

RUSHING
Southeastern La. - Ray Perkins 7-12, Marcus Thompson 2-5, Scott Goldberg 2-0, Martin Hankins 1-(minus 2), Seth Babin 4-(minus 33)

Northwestern State - Derrick Johnese 15-145, Shelton Sampson 14-103, Greg Skidmore 14-98, Josh Mosby 2-27, Toby Zeigler 1-21, Marcus Gatlin 2-19, Titus May 3-15, Issa Banna 3-6, Davon Vinson 2-(minus 9), TEAM 1-(minus13), Ryan Lewis 2-(minus 24).

PASSING
Southeastern La. - Martin Hankins 21-48-6 199, Seth Babin 6-11-1 59

Northwestern State - Ryan Lewis 6-13-0 78

RECEIVING
Southeastern La. - Brooks Jordan 6-110, Keylam Davis 5-66, Hutch Gonzales 4-59, Josh Taylor 3-42, Choni Francis 3-4, Dane Wobbema 2-8, Brian Sheppard 1-8, Felton Huggins 1-4

Northwestern State - Toby Zeigler 3-16, Derrick Doyle 1-40, Ben Bailey 1-14, Marcus Gatlin 1-8