ARKADELPHIA, Ark. -- This time, Southeastern's fourth-quarter heroics were not enough.

Southeastern (2-1), making its first road trip of the season, had trouble with the Henderson State option as the Reddies piled up 381 yards total offense in the first half and held off a furious Southeastern rally to claim a 41-35 victory before an announced crowd of 4,863 Saturday night at Carpenter-Haygood Stadium.

Arthur Burnett ran for 125 yards on 21 carries and scored three times as Henderson State (1-1) gained 546 yards total offense, including 398 on the ground. Southeastern, which had given up 27 points in its first two games, refused to quit as it scored 21 points in the fourth quarter, but the Lions were unable to post its third straight come-from-behind victory.

Southeastern roared back with a pair of touchdown passes from Martin Hankins cutting a 41-21 deficit to 41-35 gap with 1:19 left, but after Ross Currier recovered an onside kick giving the Lions one more chance, Martin Hankins' pass was picked off by Jon Jett at the HSU 21 with 14 seconds left to thwart the rally.

"We learned a lot about ourselves tonight," Southeastern head coach Hal Mumme said. "Our kids refused to quit and we also learned we know how to score. I just hoped we could have played the game like we played the fourth quarter."

The Lions, who entered the game ranked No. 4 in Division I-AA in rushing defense with 28.0 yards per game allowed, opened the game driving to the HSU 37 before the Lions were called for a false start penalty on third-and-3 and Martin Hankins was sacked on the next play by Keewyone Delaney at the HSU 48

On its opening possession, the Reddies drove 91 yards in eight plays with Lance Smith scoring after he recovered Pierre Billingly's fumble in the end zone with 7:12 left in the first quarter. Billingly started the play for the Reddies when he took a pitch from Blake Christenson at the SLU 23 and rumbled to the end zone. Duriel Adams forced the fumble by Billingly at the goal line, but Smith was there to recover to give the Reddies a 7-0 lead.

After forcing the Lions to punt on its next possession, the Reddies drove 56 yards in two plays in increasing its lead to 14-0. Scotty Wilson took a pitch from Christenson and rumbled 24 yards for a first down before Christenson found Smith all alone for a 33-yard touchdown pass.

Southeastern got its offense going on its next drive as the Lions drove 74 yards in four plays with Martin Hankins finding Jeffrey Howard down the right sideline for a 36-yard scoring pass.

The Reddies appeared to be driving for another score late in the first quarter before Christenson bobbled the exchange from center and John Dume recovered at the HSU 25. The Lions took advantage of the turnover and drove down the field with Choni Francis capping the 12-play, 75-yard drive with a 20-yard run that tied the score at 14-14 with 10:49 left in the second quarter.

But two plays later, Christenson found Brandon Jacola wide open for a 71-yard touchdown that put HSU and the Reddies added another score as Burnett scored on an 8-yard run with 16 seconds left to put the Reddies up 28-14 at the half.

On the Reddies opening drive of second half Christenson's pass was picked off by David Daniels as the SLU 28. The Lions were unable to capitalize on the turnover as Hankins' fourth-down pass was dropped by Francis at the SLU 37.

Burnett then scored his second touchdown of the night as he capped a 10-play, 37-yard drive with a four-yard run that put HSU up 35-14 in the third.

"They (HSU) had a great game plan and executed very well," Mumme said. "They had two weeks to prepare for us and (HSU) coach (Jesse) Branch had his team ready to play."

Scott Goldberg scored on a 1-yard dive that cut the lead to 35-21 with 13:51 remaining and after forcing the Reddies to punt, Hankins was intercepted by Sam Witcher on fourth-and-8. Southeastern had a chance to stop HSU, but Wilson gained 34 yards on fourth-and-5 and two plays later Burnett added his third touchdown on a 1-yard dive with 3:28 left.

Hankins, who set Southeastern single-game records for passing yards (402) and completions (37), tossed an 8-yard pass to Howard with 2:06 remaining and after a Nick Brumfield fumble with 1:55 left, hit Brian Shappard with a 30-yard strike to Brian Sheppard with 1:19 left that cut the lead to 41-35.

The Lions piled up 447 yards of total offense, but gained 45 yards on the ground and had four turnovers in the game.

Southeastern Louisiana 7 7 0 21 - 35
Henderson State 14 14 7 6 - 41

FIRST QUARTER
HSU - Smith recovered fumble in end zone (Mattox kick) 7:12
HSU - Smith 33 pass from Christenson ( Mattox kick) 5:25
SLU - Howard 36 pass from Hankins (Crockett kick) 3:47

SECOND QUARTER
SLU - Francis 20 run (Crockett kick) 10:49
HSU - Jacola 71 pass from Christenson (Mattox kick) 9:33
HSU - Burnett 8 run (Mattox kick) 0:16

THIRD QUARTER
HSU - Burnett 2 run (Mattox kick) 6:34

FOURTH QUARTER
SLU - Goldberg 1 run (Crockett kick) 13:51
HSU - Burnett 1 run (pass failed) 3:28
SLU - Howard 8 pass from Hankins (Crockett kick) 2:06
SLU - Sheppard 30 pass from Hankins (Crockett kick) 1:19

A - 4,863

SLU HSU
FIRST DOWNS 23 25
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 18-45 68-398
PASSING YDS (NET) 402 148
Passes Att-Comp-Int 52-37-3 10-5-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 70-447 78-546
Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards 0-0 2-7
Kickoff Returns-Yards 6-79 2-36
Interception Returns-Yards 1-0 3-25
Punts (Number-Avg) 4-44.0 2-41.0
Fumbles-Lost 2-1 7-4
Penalties-Yards 11-82 5-45
Possession Time 25:08 34:52

RUSHING
Southeastern La. - Ray Perkins 10-31, Choni Francis 1-20, Martin Hankins 5-3, Scott Goldberg 1-1, TEAM 1-(minus 10).

Henderson State - Arthur Burnett 21-125, Blake Christenson 25-88, Scotty Wilson 6-69, Rodney Stewart 6-64, Nick Brumfield 8-27, Pierre Billingly 2-25.

PASSING
Southeastern La. - Martin Hankins 37-52-3 402

Henderson State - Blake Christenson 5-10-1 148

RECEIVING
Southeastern La. - Scott Goldberg 6-29, Josh Taylor 5-56, Jeffrey Howard 4-63, Brian Sheppard 4-57, Choni Francis 4-46, Josh Wilson 3-29, Brooks Jordan 3-27, Hutch Gonzales 2-39, Dane Wobbema 2-29, Ray Perkins 2-8, Glenn Moore 1-13, Marcus Thompson 1-6.

Henderson State - Brandon Jacola 3-111, Lance Smith 1-33, Rodney Stewart 1-4.