Box Score

HAMMOND – Southeastern Louisiana senior Chris Wilson pull down a fourth quarter 16-yard touchdown grab that put the Lions on top for good and late interceptions by junior Re'Keem Wilson and senior Quinten Pierre preserved the victory, as Southeastern remained perfect at home with a 25-21 Southland Conference victory over No. 12/15 Central Arkansas on Hall of Fame Saturday at Strawberry Stadium.

Playing without injured senior starting quarterback Brian Babin, as well as the team's top two receivers in sophomore Simmie Yarborough and Merrick Lanaux, the Lions found a way to win, forcing three turnovers in the final nine minutes of the game. The win now puts the Lions (5-3, 3-1 SLC) in a four-way tie for first place in the Southland Conference with Texas State, which defeated previously unbeaten Stephen F. Austin 28-7 on Saturday, McNeese State and SFA.

The Lions improved to 4-0 in Hammond on the year and matched their overall win total from a season ago. The three wins in Southland Conference play are the most league victories by the program since joining the Southland prior to the 2005 season. The win over the Bears (5-3, 2-2 SLC) was the Lions' first over a ranked team since a 37-13 victory over McNeese State on Oct. 22, 2005.

Even without the services of Babin (1,879 yards, 19 touchdown passes in 2009), Yarborough (48 catches, 663 yards, 11 touchdown receptions) and Lanaux (31 catches, 388 yards, two touchdown receptions), Southeastern managed to rack up 385 total yards. In his first career start, Lion junior quarterback Tyler Beatty stepped in and completed 23 of 35 throws for 297 yards, three touchdowns and no interceptions, while also rushing 12 times for 48 yards.

Beatty was aided by a career day from Chris Wilson, who caught six passes for a career-high 169 yards and two scores. Sophomore Kory Theodore also notched a career-high with seven receptions for 74 yards and a score. Senior Jasper Ducksworth led the Lions with 49 yards rushing on 15 carries. Southeastern also limited the vaunted UCA pass rush to one sack.

“Offensively, I can't say enough about the job (offensive coordinator) Tommy Condell and his staff did.” Southeastern head coach Mike Lucas commented. “Central Arkansas has a very good defense. I thought (offensive tackle) Kevin Hughes did a great job in keeping (UCA All-American) Larry Hart out of the backfield.”

“Tyler did a remarkable job at quarterback today in place of Brian,” Lucas added. “He made some great decisions, especially on the two-point conversion where he found Luis Sobalvarro. Kory and Chris made some big time catches for us and we had other guys step up with the absence of Simmie and Merrick.”

While the Southeastern offense staked the Lions to a 17-9 halftime advantage, the defense stepped up after Southeastern retook the lead on Chris Wilson's touchdown. Junior Curtis Strong led the way with 10 tackles, while junior Mark Newbill posted nine stops. Re'Keem Wilson's key interception near the end of the game was his second of the contest and he and Pierre both finished with eight tackles.

UCA quarterback Robbie Park completed 19 of 40 attempts for 223 yards, no touchdowns and three interceptions. Preston Echols led the way for UCA with four catches for 121 yards, while the Lions kept the talented Bear running back tandem of Brent Grimes (15-83) and Leonard Ceaser (13-35) reasonably in check.

“That was a tremendous effort by our defense today,” Lucas stated. “To hold them to 137 yards on the ground was huge for us. We were able to match up on their personnel groupings. (Defensive coordinator) Matt Webb and his staff did an outstanding job in preparing our kids today.”

Southeastern took a 17-9 lead at halftime on a 48-yard field goal by Turner and Beatty touchdown passes to Chris Wilson and Theodore. Central Arkansas countered with three Eddie Carmona field goals to head into halftime trailing by eight.

Coming out of the locker room, UCA cut the lead to one early in the third quarter on a six-yard scamper by Grimes. After the two teams traded three-and-outs, Southeastern moved to midfield, but Derrick Boyd stripped Lion freshman running back Zeke Jones to give UCA the ball back near midfield.

The Bears chewed nearly six minutes off the clock on a 11-play drive, which Eddie Carmona capped with a 38-yard field goal to put the Bears ahead, 19-17, with just over a minute left in the third quarter.

Both defenses answered with quick stops and after a short punt, Chris Wilson set up the Lions at the UCA 39 with an 11-yard punt return. However, the Lions could not take advantage, as Ducksworth mishandled the option pitch and UCA's James Lancaster fell on the loose ball to give the ball back to the Bears.

On the ensuing drive, Southeastern sophomore Lindsey Leavoy pressured Park into throwing a duck into the waiting arms of Re'Keem Wilson, who returned the ball all the way down to the UCA 28-yard line. Three plays and 39 seconds later, Beatty put a perfectly placed fade pass into the hands of Chris Wilson in the back corner of the end zone. The ensuing two-point conversion on a Beatty pass to Sobalvarro put the Lions up, 25-19.

The two teams once again traded punts and UCA got the ball back on their own 20-yard line with 3:53 left. On third-and 15 from their own 26-yard line, Park found a wide-open Echols down the middle and the UCA wideout rolled all the way to the Lion 17-yard line for a 57-yard gain. Three straight Grimes' runs set up a fourth-and-four with just under a minute remaining. Park badly overthrew his intended receiver and Re'Keem Wilson made a leaping catch in the back of the end zone to give Southeastern the ball back with 48 seconds left.

UCA used all three timeouts and forced the Lions to punt with 26 seconds remaining. Southeastern freshman punter Beau Mothe then ran off eight seconds by running out of the back of the end zone for a safety. After a free kick by Mothe, UCA had the ball at its own 30 with 12 seconds remaining and no timeouts. On the first play, Pierre made a jumping interception on Park's pass to seal the victory.

Southeastern will return to action next Saturday, travelling to Natchitoches for a 2 p.m. contest at Northwestern State. The Southland Conference contest will be broadcast live in the Hammond area on KSLU 90.9 FM and on the Internet at www.LionSports.net.