HAMMOND - Southeastern Louisiana's Martin Hankins threw for 431 yards and five touchdowns while Felton Huggins recorded 195 yards on a school-record tying 13 catches as the Lions manhandled Mercyhurst (Pa.) College, 58-14, Saturday night at Strawberry Stadium.
Ray Perkins rushed for 168 yards - the most by a Lion since Jeff Senegal rushed for 169 yards against Northwestern State in 1985 - on 18 carries as Southeastern (5-2) piled up 685 yards total offense on a school-record 38 first downs. Mercyhurst, a Division II school, had its two-game win streak snapped and fell to 3-5.
Hankins, the Division I-AA leader in passing yards, threw touchdown passes of 27, 13 and 28 yards to Huggins, who tied his career-high set previously in a 51-17 win at McNeese State on Sept. 11. Hankins also connected with Byron Ross on a 24-yard strike and found Perkins behind the Mercyhurst defense for a 42-yard touchdown before being relieved by Trey Willie and Chase Holbrook.
Willie, making his second appearance of the season at quarterback for the Lions, found Robbie Scates on an 11-yard touchdown pass that put Southeastern ahead 58-14 with 7:20 left in the contest.
Mercyhurst led 3-0 on a 30-yard field goal by Phil Scanlon with 2:59 remaining in the first quarter before Southeastern went ahead for good on Hankins' 27-yard pass to Huggins in the final minute of the first quarter.
Southeastern increased its lead to 23-6 at halftime and scored on its first possession of the second half when Hankins connected with Huggins on a 28-yard strike that capped a three-play, 65-yard drive.
Justin Adams scored on a 2-yard run for the Lakers on their next possession and Adams ran in the 2-point conversion that cut the lead to 30-14.
But Southeastern scored the next four touchdowns as Ross caught his first career touchdown from Hankins that put Southeastern ahead 37-14 after three quarters.
Perkins scored a pair of touchdowns - including a nifty 41-yard sprint - after Marvin Jones picked off a Mitch Phyllis pass at the Mercyhurst 41.
The Lions held Mercyhurst to 216 yards total offense as Jones tallied 12 tackles and a sack. One week after recording a school-record 11 sacks in a win over Northern Colorado, Southeastern posted five sacks as Jay Skidmore had a pair to lead the Lions' defense.
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Mercyhurst.......... 3 3 8 0 - 14 Record: (3-5)
Southeastern La..... 7 16 14 21 - 58 Record: (5-2)
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
2:59 MC - FG Scanlon 30
:24 SLU - Huggins 27 pass from Hankins (Hall kick)
2nd Quarter
10:14 SLU - Huggins 13 pass from Hankins (kick failed)
7:41 SLU - Francis 2 run (Hall kick)
2:00 MC - FG Scanlon 29
:39 SLU - FG Hall 36
3rd Quarter
11:04 SLU - Huggins 28 pass from Hankins (Hall kick)
6:52 MC - Adams 2 run (Adams rush)
3:06 SLU - Ross 24 pass from Hankins (Hall kick)
4th Quarter
13:37 SLU - Perkins 42 pass from Hankins (Hall kick)
11:34 SLU - Perkins 41 run (Hall kick)
7:20 SLU - Scates 11 pass from Willie (Hall kick)
A - 8,517
MC SLU
FIRST DOWNS................... 17 38
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 37-89 29-186
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 127 499
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 36-12-3 57-40-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 73-216 86-685
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 0-0 2-10
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 7-124 2-30
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-0 3-10
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 8-41.9 2-38.0
Fumbles-Lost.................. 0-0 2-2
Penalties-Yards............... 9-82 11-106
Possession Time............... 32:50 27:10
RUSHING:
MC - Adams 20-70; Smith 10-48; Grant 2-8; Phyllis 1-minus 13; Nowling 4-minus 24. SLU - Perkins 18-168; Gilbert 2-22; Thompson 2-7; Francis 1-2; Willie 1-minus 1; Holbrook 1-minus 2; Hankins 4-minus 10.
PASSING:
MC - Nowling 10-32-2-103; Phyllis 2-4-1-24. SLU - Hankins 33-50-1-431; Willie 5-5-0-33; Holbrook 2-2-0-35.
RECEIVING:
MC - Watson 2-27; Egbert 2-17; Schuler 2-14; Thiel 1-20; Lough 1-16; Kelly 1-11; Zangaro 1-9; Smith 1-8; Campbell 1-5. SLU - Huggins 13-195; Howard 8-67; Taylor 5-45; Gonzales 4-37; Scates 3-24; Perkins 1-42; Ross 1-24; Francis 1-20; Davis 1-20; Pierce 1-15; Gilbert 1-6; Jordan 1-4.
