HAMMOND -- Southeastern freshman quarterback Martin Hankins completed 35 of 44 passes fof 356 yards and four touchdowns as he set Division I-AA Freshman records for passing yards and total offense in the Lions' 64-10 rout of Prairie View A&M in the season-finale Saturday at Strawberry Stadium.
The game marked the season-finale for Southeastern (5-7), which completed its first season of football since 1985. Prairie View, under first-year coach C.L. Whittington, completed its season at 1-10.
Southeastern dominated from the start, piling up 532 yards total offense while allowing 103. The Lions held Prairie View to six first downs in the game while the Panthers finished 5-for-15 in the air with three interceptions.
Hankins, a true freshman from Hattiesburg, Miss., finished the season with 3,537 yards passing as he eclipsed the previous record of 3,398 yards set by Northern Arizona's Travis Brown in 1996. Hankins also set a new I-AA Freshman Record with 3,390 yards total offense, surpassing Brown's record of 3,336.
Southeastern (5-7), which is playing as a I-AA Independent for the first two seasons before joining the Southland Conference for the 2005 season, scored on seven of eight possessions in the first half as it raced out to a 44-3 lead at the break. Hankins fired first-half touchdown passes to Jerren Pierce, Jeffrey Howard and Brooks Jordan while Thez Robinson, a South Carolina transfer who was cleared to play by the NCAA on Tuesday, rushed for a pair of scores including a 45-yard scamper in the second quarter.
Robinson, who rushed for a game-high 97 yards on five carries, put the Lions on the board in their opening possession as he took a handoff from Hankins and raced around left end for a 19-yard touchdown with 11:17 remaining in the first quarter. Jim Hall's extra point was good giving the Lions a 7-0 lead.
Southeastern forced the Panthers to punt on their opening possession, but the Lions coughed the ball up as Ralston Simon forced Howard to fumble on third-and-1 at the Southeastern 27. Prairie View's Johnnie Powell recovered the miscue at the Southeastern 22 and the Panthers drove to the Southeastern 6, but Derrick Mincey sacked Kernard Hughes for a 9-yard loss on second-and-goal at the SLU 7 and the Panthers had to settle for a 26-yard field goal by Charles McCall.
The Lions then scored the next 37 points to put the game away as they scored on their next six possessions to take a commanding lead at the break. Felton Huggins opened the next series for the Lions with a diving 36-yard grab to the PVU 25 and Hankins found Pierce alone in the end zone on the next play for a 25-yard strike to cap a 2-play, 61-yard drive.
On the Panther's next possession, Hughes attempted to throw a pass out into the right flat that glanced off the hands of Southeastern's Rudy Johnson and into the hands of teammate Jarred Jenkins, who raced 24 yards to the end zone and putting the Lions up 20-3 with 3:54 left in the first quarter.
But the Lions weren't done in the stanza as Prairie View punter Eric Hernandez bobbled the snap and Josh Golding made the stop at the Prairie View 16. Five plays later, Hankins found Howard in the right corner of the end zone on third-and-goal from the Prairie View 10 giving the Lions a 27-3 lead.
Robinson scored his second touchdown of the game on the Lions' next possession as he took a handoff from the Prairie View 45, broke a couple of tackles and raced to the end zone with 8:54 left in the second quarter to put the Lions up 34-3.
The Lions added a pair of scores in the final 2:40 of the first half as Hall booted a 33-yard field goal and Hankins hit Jordan on a 23-yard strike with 28 seconds left in the half.
Howard caught his second touchdown of the game on the Lions' first possession of the second half when he caught a 12-yard pass from Hankins on third-and-11. Hall's extra point put the Lions up 51-3 with 11:21 left.
Prairie View scored its only touchdown of the game with 1:09 left in the third quarter when Johnnie Powell batted a Hankins pass at the line, caught the deflection and rambled 40 yards for the score. McCall's extra point was good cutting the Southeastern lead to 51-10.
Southeastern closed out the scoring in the fourth quarter as Ray Perkins scored on a 2-yard run and Robbie Scates caught an 8-yard pass from Seth Babin. The final touchdown was set up as Prairie View's Jadon Brunn batted down a lateral from Babin at the Prairie View 10 and returned it 88 yards to the Southeastern 2.
The Panthers then tried to run the ball on 1st-and-goal, but Hughes recovered his own fumble at the 2. His next pass fell incomplete to Darrell Walker at the goalline and on third-down, his pass was picked off by Courtney Favorite and the freshman returned it 93 yards to the Prairie View 7, where four plays later, Babin found Scates alone in the right corner of the end zone.
Mincey led the Southeastern defense with 11 tackles, including a pair of the Lions' eight sacks. Jenkins picked off a pair of passes for the Lions while Golding, one of three seniors playing in their final game, had six stops and a sack.
Prairie View 3 0 7 0 -10
Southeastern Louisiana 27 17 7 13 - 64
FIRST QUARTER
SLU - Th. Robinson 19 run (Hall kick) 11:17
PVU - FG McCall 26 5:17
SLU - Pierce 25 pass from Hankins (Hall kick) 4:43
SLU - Jenkins 24 interception return (kick blocked) 3:54
SLU - Howard 10 pass from Hankins (Hall kick) :20
SECOND QUARTER
SLU - Th. Robinson 45 run (Hall kick) 8:54
SLU - FG Hall 33 2:40
SLU - Jordan 23 pass from Hankins (Hall kick) :28
THIRD QUARTER
SLU - Howard 12 pass from Hankins (Hall kick) 11:21
PVU - Powell 40 interception return (McCall kick) 1:09
FOURTH QUARTER
SLU - Perkins 2 run (Hall kick)
SLU - Scates 8 pass from Babin (run failed) :55
A - 8,242
PVU SLU
FIRST DOWNS 6 26
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 39-55 23-147
PASSING YDS (NET) 48 385
Passes Att-Comp-Int 15-5-3 51-40-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 54-103 74-532
Fumble Returns-Yards 1-88 1-44
Punt Returns-Yards 1-5 3-6
Kickoff Returns-Yards 8-153 3-27
Interception Returns-Yards 1-40 3-117
Punts (Number-Avg) 8-39.1 1-42.0
Fumbles-Lost 1-0 2-2
Penalties-Yards 13-99 8-64
Possession Time 30:02 29:58
RUSHING
PVU: Tavari Holliday 18-68, Joseph Vaughn 1-18, Darrel Walker 2-6, Eric Woods 3-6, Michael Hill 1-(minus 7), Kernard Hughes 13-(minus 26), Team 1-(minus 10).
SLU: Thez Robinson 5-97, Ray Perkins 12-39, Seth Babin 3-25, Martin Hankins 3-(minus 14).
PASSING
PVU: Kernard Hughes 4-12-3 30, Michael Hill 1-3-0 18.
SLU: Martin Hankins 35-44-1 356, Seth Babin 5-7-0 29.
RECEIVING
PVU: Courtney White 1-20, Bertrum Jackson 1-18, Joseph Vaughn 1-14, Darrel Walker 1-(minus 1), Chris Peters 1-(minus 3).
SLU: Choni Francis 7-69, Hutch Gonzales 7-61, Jeffrey Howard 5-68, Brooks Jordan 5-53, Ray Perkins 4-26, Josh Taylor 4-13, Felton Huggins 3-46, Jerren Pierce 1-25, Josh Wilson 1-13, Brian Sheppard 1-10, Robbie Scates 1-8, Thez Robinson 1-(minus 7).
