HAMMOND - For the first time since 1980, the River Bell will reside in Hammond.
A stiff defensive effort and a steady dose of junior running back Jay Lucas allowed Southeastern Louisiana to rally from a 13-point halftime deficit and defeat Southland Conference rival Nicholls State, 17-13, in the 2007 regular season finale for both teams Saturday afternoon at Strawberry Stadium.
Southeastern (3-8, 2-5 SLC) snapped a five-game losing streak and allowed its 14 seniors to end their careers the right way. Nicholls State fell to 6-5 overall and 3-4 in league play to end the season.
"It was a great way to send out 14 men who have been such a tremendous part of our program," Southeastern head coach Mike Lucas said. "Defensively, our guys did an outstanding job in preparing for an offensive team where you have to have great discipline.
"I have a tremendous amount of respect for (Nicholls State coach) Jay Thomas, his staff and the job they do," Lucas added. "They do a wonderful job in preparation and they have always had outstanding athletes. I was proud of the way our players came out in the second half and played with great enthusiasm. It was a great way to end the season."
Lucas, a native of Baton Rouge, helped with a record-breaking day. The Redemptorist High product rushed a season-high 25 times for 174 yards and two touchdowns to lead the Lion attack.
Lucas finished his breakout junior season with a school-record breaking 1,239 rushing yards and tied the school standard with 15 total touchdowns. Lucas surpassed the previous rushing yardage standard bearer - Horace Belton in 1974 - by 71 yards and matched Belton's school-record touchdown total from the 1975 season.
The real story was the Southeastern defense, which held the Nicholls State option attack to 272 total yards in the contest. True freshmen Mark Newbill (18 tackles, one forced fumble), Ryan Godare (14 tackles, one sack) and Jared Byers (12 tackles) were the top tacklers for the Lions. Sophomore strong safety Tommy Connors finished with 11 tackles, an interception and a forced fumble, as Southeastern held Nicholls State scoreless in the second half.
Down 13-0 to start the third quarter, the Lions were in desperate need of a spark and as he's done all season, Lucas came through. On the first play from scrimmage to open the second half, Lucas busted through the middle of the line and rumbled 62 yards untouched to cut the lead to 13-7 with 14:41 remaining.
Southeastern looked to build on the momentum on the ensuing kickoff, as Lion freshman defensive back Tim Richardson forced a fumble by Nicholls State returner Andre Kelly, which senior linebacker George Leverette recovered to give Southeastern the ball at the Nicholls 39. The Colonels stiffened, however, to force a Southeastern punt.
Nicholls came back on the next drive. A 45-yard pass from Zach Chauvin to Grant Thorne set NSU up deep in Southeastern territory, but the Lions stiffened and Byers tackled Thorne for a loss on third down to force a field goal. NSU kicker Alex Romero's 31-yard effort sailed wide left to keep the score at 13-7.
Southeastern dodged a bullet on its next drive. Lion sophomore quarterback Brian Babin was intercepted, but a roughing the passer negated the pick and gave Southeastern the ball back near midfield.
Junior quarterback Mike Neville completed a pass to Mario Gilbert for seven yards to move the ball into Southeastern territory. Lucas followed with two runs totaling 35 yards to move the ball to the Colonel 12. Two plays later, Lucas bulldozed his way into the end zone for a 14-13 lead with 5:37 left in the third quarter.
Both teams had drives stall as the game moved into the fourth quarter. NSU took over at its own 31 with 11:34 remaining. Keeping the ball on the ground with a combination of rushes by Broderick Cole, Joseph Tobias and Tyler McAfee, the Colonels advanced to the Southeastern 39 and faced a fourth-and-2.
On the fourth-down play, Chauvin attempted a pitch and Connors got his hand on it. Freshman defensive lineman Caleb St. Louis fell on the fumble to give Southeastern the ball back near midfield.
Aided by a NSU pass interference penalty and nice runs by Lucas and senior wide receiver Byron Ross, Southeastern drove deep into Colonels territory. Sophomore place kicker Jeff Turner's 27-yard field goal pushed the Southeastern lead to 17-13 with 3:42 remaining.
Southeastern forced NSU to turn the ball over on downs and attempted to run the clock out with Lucas. Lucas came up a yard short on fourth down and NSU took over at its own 14-yard line with 59 seconds left and no timeouts. Chauvin hit two passes to Zach Morgan and Ladarius Webb to move the ball into Southeastern territory with 35 seconds remaining, with Webb's 27-yard catch and run putting the ball at the Southeastern 45.
Southeastern then forced Chauvin into two straight incompletions, before he found Cole for a short completion to set up a fourth down and eight yards to go. Connors stepped in front of the pass for the interception and sealed the Lions' victory.
NSU took advantage of a combined three interceptions by Babin and Neville to take the 13-0 halftime lead. A 1-yard Chauvin TD run gave NSU a 7-0 lead with 2:55 left in the first quarter.
The Colonels scored on the defensive end with 5:19 left in the half. Neville rolled right and tried a throwback screen to freshman tight end Cole Wardell. NSU safety Lance Moore read the play perfectly, stepping in and taking the interception for an easy 39-yard interception return. The return was the sixth interception return for a touchdown of the season by Nicholls State.
NSU vs SLU (Nov 17, 2007 at Hammond, La.)
NSU 7 6 0 0 - 13 (6-5, 3-4 SLC)
SLU 0 0 14 3 - 17 (3-8, 2-5 SLC)
Scoring Summary:
1st Quarter
2:55 NSU - Chauvin 1 run (Romero kick), 11-63 5:34
2nd Quarter
5:19 NSU - Moore 39 interception return (Romero kick failed)
3rd Quarter
14:41 SLU - Lucas 62 run (Turner kick), 1-62 0:20
3:13 SLU - Lucas 4 run (Turner kick), 9-80 5:37
4th Quarter
3:42 SLU - Turner 27 FG, 9-45 3:54
NSU SLU
FIRST DOWNS. 15 20
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 46-178 44-236
PASSING YDS (NET) 94 110
Passes Att-Comp-Int 19-6-2 23-14-3
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 65-272 67-346
Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards 1-11 3-(-2)
Kickoff Returns-Yards 4-60 3-63
Interception Returns-Yards 3-59 2-16
Punts (Number-Avg) 3-36.3 4-38.5
Fumbles-Lost 4-2 3-0
Penalties-Yards 10-111 7-79
Possession Time 25:17 34:43
Third-Down Conversions 6 of 14 5 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions 0 of 2 0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances 1-2 2-2
Sacks By: Number-Yards 0-0 3-19
RUSHING: NSU-Cole 12-63; Thorne 3-43; Tobias 8-41; Chauvin 15-13; McAfee 3-8; Montgomery 1-6; Jones 1-4; Hines, Isa 2-1; Morgan 1-(- 1). SLU-Lucas 25-174; Neville 5-24; Gilbert 4-15; Cryer 1-11; Ross 5-9; Babin 3-5; TEAM 1-(-2).
PASSING: NSU-Chauvin 6-18-2-94; Montgomery 0-1-0-0. SLU-Babin 13-21-2-103; Neville 1-2-1-7.
RECEIVING: NSU-Gordon 1-28; Webb 1-27; Fells 1-20; Morgan 1-14; Thorne 1-3; Cole 1-2. SLU-Ross 3-23; Lanaux 2-28; Cryer 2-16; Gilbert 2-10; DeLong 1-10; Davis 1-9; Garrett 1-7; Lucas 1-6; Sobalvarro 1-1.
Attendance: 5,122.
