Box Score

HAMMOND – In a battle of two of the Southland Conference's co-leaders, Southeastern Louisiana fell behind, 28-0, in the first half and could never recover on the way to a 41-10 loss to No. 15 Stephen F. Austin Saturday afternoon at Strawberry Stadium.

The Lions (6-4, 4-2 SLC) had a chance to remain atop the Southland Conference standings, but the 'Jacks overwhelmed them from the start and handed Southeastern its first home loss. Stephen F. Austin improved to 8-2 overall and 5-1 in league action, outgaining Southeastern, 512-199.

"We came out with great adrenaline, but Stephen F. Austin did a great job at taking that away early and that's what good teams do," Southeastern head coach Mike Lucas said. "They have a lot of weapons on offense and their skill players did a great job at getting extra yards."

Stephen F. Austin quarterback Jeremy Moses threw for 318 yards and four touchdowns, completing 36 of 56 of his attempts. The Lumberjacks also added 191 yards on the ground, as Vincent Pervis (14-76), Tyrone Ross (8-61) and Romonte' Hampton (13-42) were each effective running options for SFA.

Stephen F. Austin limited the Lions offensively, as sophomore quarterback Tyler Beatty was ineffective in his second start of the year, finishing 5-of-19 for 28 yards and an interception. Senior Brian Babin, who has been battling shoulder soreness for the past month, completed 15 of 28 passes for 141 yards.

Freshman Greg Johnson led Southeastern with five catches, while junior Andre Cryer had a team-high 56 receiving yards and sophomore Simmie Yarborough caught his team-high 12th touchdown of the season.

Duane Brooks led the Lumberjacks with 11 catches and 86 yards, as Moses and backup quarterback Dalton Williams connected with 11 different receivers. Aaron Rhea, Graly Crawford, Brandon Scott and Zek Fancher each caught touchdown passes for SFA.

SFA finished with six sacks and held Southeastern to just three net yards rushing. The Lion defense was paced by the efforts of junior Mark Newbill, who had a game-high 17 tackles. Senior Quinten Pierre (15 tackles), sophomore Robert Alford (12 tackles) and junior Curtis Strong (11 tackles) gave Southeastern a quartet with double-digit stops. Derrick Choice led SFA with 11 tackles, while Tim Knicky and Kenneth Charles led the 'Jacks with two sacks apiece.

Stephen F. Austin jumped out to a 7-0 lead on the opening drive, twice having its march extended by Southeastern penalties. On the 12th play of the drive, Moses found Rhea on a fade pattern in the right corner of the end zone.

After both teams exchanged punts, senior Chris Wilson set Southeastern up with the ball on the SFA 46-yard line with a 15-yard punt return. However, Beatty threw a pass into the arms of SFA's Devin Ducote to end the scoring threat.

SFA would double its lead late in the first quarter. A 19-yard run by Pervis, followed by an 18-yard hookup between Moses and Rhea set SFA up at the Lion five-yard line. Two plays later, Pervis bulled in from two yards out to put the Lumberjacks, 14-0.

After again stopping Southeastern, SFA would pad their lead with a nine-play, 72-yard scoring march. Moses hit Scott on a 32-yard scoring pass to give the 'Jacks a 21-0 edge.

After the Lions were forced to punt, Pierre stripped SFA returner Contrevious Parks and Lion junior Michael Ducksworth fell on the loose ball to set Southeastern up in SFA territory. However, three plays later, Charles sacked Babin and stripped him and Knicky recovered the fumble to snuff out Southeastern's scoring chance.

SFA forced Southeastern to punt, but Babin again was sacked and fumbled. Knicky forced the miscue and Ducote fell on it at the Lion 17-yard line. On the second play of the drive, Moses hit Crawford from 17 yards out to put SFA up, 28-0.

The Lions managed to score before going into halftime. Senior Jeff Turner knocked in a 41-yard field goal to send the Lions into halftime trailing, 28-3.

Southeastern got the ball first in the second half, but the Lions went three-and-out. SFA took the ensuing drive down to the Lions 22-yard line and Evan Engwall put the lead back up to 28 at 31-3 with 11:30 left in the third quarter.

Southeastern used some trickery to notch its first score of the ball game on the next drive. After a double reverse, Johnson found an open Yarborough on a 27-yard score to cut the lead to 31-10 with 9:28 left in the third quarter.

That was as close as Southeastern would get, however, as SFA scored 10 points on their next three drives. A 13-yard Moses to Fancher scoring toss with 14:40 left in regulation provided the final margin.

Southeastern will close out its 2009 schedule on Thursday, hosting Nicholls at 6 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium. The Toyota Game of the Week will be televised live on the Southland Television Network (Charter Channel 22 in the Hammond area).