Box Score

Box Score

NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State scored 17 points in the first 4:25 of the game and defeated Southeastern Louisiana, 51-17, in a Southland Conference game Saturday night at Turpin Stadium.

Northwestern State (4-3, 3-1 Southland) defense scored on the game's first play and Phillip Harvey opened the second half with a 99-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in defeating Southeastern (1-5, 0-3 Southland) for the second consecutive year.

Southeastern, which returns home to face Texas State in a non-conference game on Saturday, outgained Northwestern State 402-383, with Brian Young tossing for a career-high 355 yards and a pair of touchdowns.

“It started out bad and it stayed that way,” Southeastern head coach Mike Lucas said. “I felt like we had a good week of practice and were prepared well. We fumbled the ball on the first drive and let it get away from us.”

Young set career-highs in completions (27) and attempts (47) with Brandon Collins catching five passes for 115 yards and a 57-yard TD reception. Simmie Yarborough caught eight passes for 68 yards, moving him to within eight yards of Felton Huggins' career record of 2,345 receiving yards.

Northwestern State took a quick 7-0 lead 15 seconds into the game when Jamaal White forced a fumble on Southeastern's first play from scrimmage and Lamont Simmons scooped it up and returned it 24 yards for a touchdown.

The Demons went into their bag of trick on the ensuing kickoff as John Shaughnessy's on-side kick was recovered at the Northwestern 49 before Shaughnessy booted a 44-yard field goal for a 10-0 lead with 13:05 left in the first quarter.

After forcing Southeastern to punt on its next drive, Northwestern State took a 17-0 lead as D.J. Palmer took a handoff, cut back against the Southeastern defense and scored on an 82-yard TD run with 10:35 remaining.

Brad Henderson tossed a 28-yard TD pass to Rumeall Morris with 4:07 left in the first quarter before Shaughnessy booted a 24-yard field goal for a 27-3 lead.

Henderson, who completed 12 of 23 passes for 149 yards, added a 37-yard touchdown pass to Justin Aldredge while Morris scored on an 11-yard TD that gave Northwestern State a 48-10 lead with 4:09 left in the third quarter.

Young hit Kory Theodore for a 6-yard touchdown pass to complete an eight-play, 64-yard drive that cut the lead to 48-17 with 1:30 remaining in the third quarter before Shaughnessy booted his third field goal – a 45-yard effort with 5:28 remaining – to give Northwestern State its final margin.

Palmer finished with 102 yards on 15 carries for the Demons, who gained 223 yards on the ground and controlled the football for nearly 37 minutes. White totaled six tackles to lead the Demons, which forced five turnovers.

Ricky Irvin and Devan Walker had 10 tackles each for Southeastern while Robert Alford intercepted a pass.