Game Notes

HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana University football team looks to snap a three-game losing streak and send out a 19-man senior class on a winning note on Saturday as it plays host to in-state rival Northwestern State in the Lions' 2010 home finale at Strawberry Stadium.

Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. The game can be heard in the Hammond area on KSLU-FM (90.9), in the New Orleans area on WGSO-AM (990) and on the internet at www.LionSports.net

The game will also be televised on a tape-delayed basis on the Southeastern Channel (Charter Cable Channel 18 in Tangipahoa, Livingston and St. Tammany parishes, and Channel 17 in Washington Parish). Live video streaming will be available at www.LionSports.net.

Looking to close out a season in which it has dropped five games by a combined 18 points, Southeastern (2-6, 1-3 Southland) looks to play the spoiler the rest of the season beginning with resurgent Northwestern State (4-4, 3-1 Southland). The Lions nearly came back from a 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter last week at Central Arkansas, but fell short, 30-23.

Tyler Beatty, who threw for 295 yards and a pair of touchdowns last week, has completed 108-of-204 passes for 1,321 yards with 12 TDs and six interceptions in his first full season as the Lions' starting quarterback. The senior will be aided by the return of Simmie Yarborough, who has caught a team-high 41 passes on the season with seven TDs, along with Texas transfer Brandon Collins with 37 receptions and three TDs.

Collins caught a team-high six passes for a career-high 164 yards last week against UCA and leads the Lions with 584 yards receiving. Kory Theodore (26 receptions), senior Andre Cryer (16 receptions) and Sam Fairley (13 receptions) are next for the Lions, who rank No. 17 nationally in passing offense at 248 yards per game.

The sophomore tandem of Zeke Jones and Fairley have paced Southeastern on the ground with 345 and 344 yards respectively.

Defensively, Mark Newbill paces the Southland Conference (and is 11th nationally) in tackles with 95. The former Neville High product is 12 tackles shy of becoming the first player in school history to record 400 stops in a career and is closing in on his third consecutive 100-tackle season.

Senior Tommy Connors has totaled 68 tackles on the season for the Lions with a team-high nine stops for loss along with three interceptions. Seniors Curtis Strong and Ryan Godare have 45 and 43 tackles each for Southeastern while Nathan Clophus has 41 tackles and a team-high five sacks.

Northwestern State, which went 0-11 last season and lost four of its first five games, have won its last three contests by a combined 21 points. All three wins during the Demons' recent span have come in either the final two minutes or in overtime, including a 23-20 double overtime decision last week against Sam Houston State.

The Demons are forged in a three-way logjam for first place in the Southland Conference with Stephen F. Austin and McNeese State.

Northwestern State, which closes out the season against Nicholls and at SFA, is led offensively by former Tara High quarterback Paul Harris, who has thrown for nearly 1,400 yards with seven touchdowns. The southpaw is second on the team in rushing with 222 yards and a team-high four rushing TDs.

Sterling Endsley has gained a team-high 255 yards for the Demons while Bradley Brown has caught a team-high 37 passes. Linebacker Derek Rose has recorded 102 tackles on the season for Northwestern State and leads the team with 8.5 stops for loss.

Northwestern State leads the all-time series, 27-26, but Southeastern has won the last two meetings and three straight in Hammond dating back to 1985. The Lions earned a 27-0 victory in last year's contest, earning their first win in Natchitoches since 1976 and their first shutout since a 28-0 win over Western Kentucky in 1984.