HAMMOND -- Mother Nature and turnovers threatened to put a damper on Southeastern Louisiana, but for the second straight weekend, the Lions overcame lightning and inconsistency to keep its return to college football on the winning track.
Martin Hankins threw for 332 yards and two touchdowns to pace Southeastern to a 22-10 victory over Lambuth on Thursday evening.
Southeastern (2-0) entered the fourth quarter trailing 10-9, but the Lions regained the lead 43 seconds into the final period on a 38-yard field goal by Hess Crockett, the freshman's fifth successful field goal in as many attempts this season.
Crockett added a 21-yard field goal with 9:57 to play, and Lambuth (1-1) opted to punt when its next drive stalled near midfield.
The Eagles punt was downed at the Lion 7, and Lambuth appeared ready to get the ball back in good field position when it forced Southeastern into a third-and-12 at the Lion 8.
But Hankins, a true freshman who won the starting quarterback job two days prior to the Lions' season opener, found Chris Johnson deep over the middle
for a 57-yard gain.
Southeastern faced a fourth-and-9 from the 25, but this time Lions coach Hal Mumme eschewed the field goal attempt. The move paid off with a 25-yard touchdown pass from Hankins to Choni Francis with 2:05 left that settled the issue.
Johnson, who led Southern Mississippi in 2002 with 46 receptions but transferred to play in Mumme’s pas-oriented offense, caught four passes for 86
yards. Josh Taylor caught four for 65 yards as Hankins, who was 22-of-47 after going just 4-for-16 in the first quarter, connected with eight receivers.
Ray Perkins, a transfer from Vanderbilt, added 93 yards rushing.
The Lions, a Division I-AA independent that resumed its football program this season following a 17-year hiatus, appeared ready to re-take the lead late in
the third quarter. A 22-yard pass from Hankins to Taylor moved Southeastern into Lambuth territory, and the Lions then drove to the Eagle 4.
But on second and goal, Perkins dropped a handoff when he bumped into Hankins, and the Eagles' Bobby Antee recovered.
Southeastern opened scoring with 7:06 remaining in the opening period on a 40-yard field goal from Crockett that capped a 13-play, 74-yard drive.
The Lions were poised to extend the lead later in the period when they drove to the Eagles' 8-yard line, but Ray Perkins was stripped in the middle of the line and Lambuth recovered to end the march.
Lambuth needed just 17 seconds to turn the miscue into a touchdown, as Jonathan Finch found Matt Davenport behind the Southeastern secondary and hit his receiver in stride for an 82-yard touchdown that gave the NAIA school a 7-3 lead with 28 seconds left in the opening period.
Finch was 12-of-20 for 190 yards when he was knocked out of the game in the third quarter after being hit hard by Marvin Jones. On that drive, Lambuth took
a 10-9 lead on a 35-yard field goal by Evan Granier.
The Eagles were limited to 18 yards rushing for the game and were held to just 98 yards in the second half .
Southeastern got the lead back with 9:42 left in the first half when Hankins found Johnson in the right corner for a 9-yard touchdown to make it 9-7.
The game was suspended with 8:20 remaining in the first half when lighting lit up the sky over the stadium, forcing fans to scurry for cover. After a 45-minute delay, the teams came back on to the field to warm up, but the game wouldn't start for another 15 minutes after the lights on the west side of the stadium went dark.
The Lions' opener with Arkansas-Monticello last Saturday was also delayed by lightning.
Lambuth 7 0 3 0-- 10
Southeastern Louisiana 3 6 0 13-- 22
FIRST QUARTER
SLU - FG Hess Crockett 40, 7:06
LAM - Matt Davenport 82 pass from Jonathan Finch (Evan Granier kick), :28
SECOND QUARTER
SLU - Chris Johnson 9 pass from Martin Hankins (kick blocked), 9:42
THIRD QUARTER
LAM - FG Granier 35, 7:59
FOURTH QUARTER
SLU - FG Crockett 38, 14:17
SLU - FG Crockett 21, 9:57
SLU - Choni Francis 25 pass from Hankins (Crockett kick), 2:05
A - 9,708
LAM SLU
FIRST DOWNS 14 19
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 27-18 31-60
PASSING YDS (NET) 259 332
Passes Att-Comp-Int 39-21-1 47-22-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 66-277 78-392
Fumble Returns-Yards 1-3 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards 1-1 4-49
Kickoff Returns-Yards 3-45 3-55
Interception Returns-Yards 1-0 1-0
Punts (Number-Avg) 8-37.1 3-44.7
Fumbles-Lost 5-2 3-3
Penalties-Yards 10-64 11-85
Possession Time 30:34 29:26
Third-Down Conversions 3 of 16 4 of 17
Fourth-Down Conversions 0 of 1 2 of 5
RUSHING: Lambuth-Joe Shepherd 17-35; Jonathan Finch 6-minus 4; Adam Etue 4-minus 13. Southeastern La.-Ray Perkins 22-93; Scott Goldberg 3-12; Brian Sheppard 1-minus 5; Martin Hankins 3-minus 19; TEAM 2-minus 21.
PASSING: Lambuth-Jonathan Finch 12-20-0-190; Adam Etue 9-19-1-69. Southeastern La.-Martin Hankins 22-47-1-332.
RECEIVING: Lambuth-Matt Davenport 12-175; Chris Brown 4-46; Tim LeBeau 2-22; Chris Haliburton 2-17; Joe Shepherd 1-minus 1.
Southeastern La.-Chris Johnson 4-86; Josh Taylor 4-65; Ray Perkins 4-10; Choni Francis 3-62; Brian Sheppard 3-35; Josh Wilson 2-22; Jeffrey Howard 1-41; Hutch Gonzales 1-11.
