HAMMOND - It might have taken nearly 20 years to get its first win in a conference game, but it was well worth the wait for Southeastern Louisiana against Southland Conference rival McNeese State.
Trey Willie completed 21 of 37 passes for 300 yards and two touchdowns and Southeastern piled up 458 yards total offense in a 37-13 win over the No. 20-ranked Cowboys Saturday night at Strawberry Stadium. The win snapped a four-game losing streak for Southeastern (2-4, 1-2 SLC), which last earned a league win on Nov. 16, 1985 in a 20-14 victory over Northwestern State.
Jerald Watson added a pair of rushing touchdowns for Southeastern, which defeated McNeese State (3-2, 1-1 SLC) for the second consecutive year and first time in Hammond since a 15-7 win in 1970. McNeese State, which was housed on the Southeastern campus after being forced out of Lake Charles due to Hurricane Rita, finished with 329 yards total offense, but was held to 17 yards rushing - the fewest yards allowed by Southeastern since resuming the program.
Southeastern, which disbanded football due to state budget cuts in 1985, resumed its program in 2003 playing as a Division I-AA Independent. In its first two seasons since resuming football, Southeastern went 1-5 against the Southland Conference with its lone win a 51-17 drubbing of then No. 6-ranked McNeese State last season in Lake Charles.
The Lions drove 79 yards on their opening possession as Willie found Hutch Gonzales for an 11-yard touchdown. Watson capped a 23-yard drive to open the second quarter when he took a handoff from the McNeese 7 and went around the right side to give Southeastern a 13-0 lead.
Southeastern extended its lead to 16-0 on a 38-yard field goal by Jim Hall before McNeese closed to within 16-7 on Mark Fontenot's 1-yard sneak with 2:14 left in the half.
Willie found Josh Taylor, who missed the previous two games with an injury, for a 25-yard touchdown pass with 10:29 left in the game and Watson iced the game with a 39-yard TD jaunt with 5:03 left.
Fontenot, who relieved Cowboy starter Chris Jones, hit Kris Bush for a 28-yard touchdown pass in the fourth quarter to cap an 11-play, 80-yard drive. Fontenot, a redshirt freshman, finished 17-for-29 for 242 yards.
McNeese State....... 0 7 0 6 - 13 Record: (3-2,1-1)
Southeastern La..... 7 9 7 14 - 37 Record: (2-4,1-2)
Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
SLU - Gonzales 9 pass from Willie (Hall kick) 7:17
2nd Quarter
SLU - Watson 7 run (kick blocked) 13:30
SLU - FG Hall 38 10:25
MCN - Fontenot 1 run (Bercegeay kick) 2:14
3rd Quarter
SLU - Gilbert 1 run (Hall kick) 2:09
4th Quarter
SLU - Taylor 25 pass from Willie (Hall kick) 10:29
MCN - Bush 28 pass from Fontenot (pass failed) 5:58
SLU - Watson 39 run (Hall kick) 5:03
A - 6,082
MCN SLU
FIRST DOWNS................... 19 24
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 28-17 41-158
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 312 300
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 47-25-2 37-21-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 75-329 78-458
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 1-6
Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-12 3-48
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-119 2-19
Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 2-21
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 6-36.7 4-38.5
Fumbles-Lost.................. 3-2 3-1
Penalties-Yards............... 12-81 8-65
Possession Time............... 28:19 31:41
RUSHING
McNeese State - Thomas 9-15; Jones 1-14; Bush 10-12; Leonard 1-3; Whitehead 1-minus 4; Haynes 1-minus 7; Fontenot 5-minus 16. Southeastern La. - Watson 12-77; Gilbert 13-55; Willie 11-23; Savoy 4-12; Team 1-minus 9.
PASSING
McNeese State - Fontenot 17-29-0-242; Jones 6-14-2-57; Lasseigne 2-4-0-13. Southeastern La. - Willie 21-37-0-300.
RECEIVING
McNeese State - Lawrence 4-93; Thomas 4-51; Franklin 4-22; Whitehead 3-18; Bush 2-58; Boutte 2-4; H. Lanaux 1-35; Guidry 1-14; Brown 1-11; Haynes 1-6; Miller 1-5; Leonard 1-minus 5. Southeastern La. - Huggins 8-93; Taylor 5-92; Muhammad 2-33; M. Lanaux 2-26; Gonzales 2-20; Scates 1-34; Gilbert 1-2.
NOTES -
The 37 points scored by Southeastern were the most scored in a conference game since defeating Troy State, 45-7, in 1978 … Willie, who was a tight end on the 2003 squad and served as backup quarterback in 2004, set a career-high in passing yards … the 17 rushing yards allowed by Southeastern was one fewer given up to NAIA Lambuth in the second game of the 2003 season ... Krishna Muhammad, a freshman from Metairie's Grace King High School, caught his first two passes of the season, including a 25-yard reception in the second quarter on third-and-6 from the Southeastern 28 … United States Representative Bobby Jindal (R-Metairie) participated in the opening coin toss … Southeastern inducted four former athletes (Voncia Bookman, plus former football players Alan Klein, Ken Kenelly and Baton Rouge restaurateur Gino Marino) into its Athletics Hall of Fame.
