HAMMOND – The Southeastern Louisiana football team dropped a 16-2 decision to Southland Conference foe Incarnate Word on Saturday night at Strawberry Stadium.
 
Playing without starting quarterback D'Shaie Landor, the Lions (4-5, 3-4 Southland) could never get anything going offensively. The Cardinals (5-4, 4-3 Southland) held SLU to 204 yards and nine first downs, as SLU committed five turnovers.
 
Incarnate Word was led by sophomore quarterback Trent Brittain. The Cardinal signal caller threw for 178 yards and rushed for 88 yards and a score.
 
With Landor out, freshman Donovan Isom got the call and completed six of 11 passes for 77 yards before getting knocked out of the game early in the second half. Junior Justin Alo threw for 88 yards on six of 12 passing and two interceptions. Junior Brandon Acker was SLU's leading receiver, catching four passes for 69 yards.
 
Played in the driving rain, the game was a defensive struggle. Senior linebacker Herbert Harris led SLU with 14 tackles, while senior defensive back JQ Sandolph finished with 11 tackles. Senior defensive linemen Ashton Henderson and A.J. Bowen were each credited with sacks, while senior defensive back Denzel Thompson recorded his first interception of the season.
 
UIW scored all the points it would need on its first offensive possession. After the Lions went three-and-out, SLU freshman punter Harrison Heim had his punt blocked by UIW junior Adrian Norwood and the Cardinals took over inside the SLU five-yard line. Two plays later, UIW junior Sean Flannel powered in from a yard out to give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead.
 
Neither team could get anything going offensive for the rest of the quarter, before UIW added to its lead early in the second quarter. A 29-yard field goal by freshman Cody Seidel pushed the Cardinal advantage to 10-0 with 13:01 left in the opening half.
 
Southeastern got on the board after stopping UIW deep in its own territory. Sophomore punter Ramon Cato fumbled the snap out of the back of the end zone to cut the Cardinal lead to 10-2 with 4:44 left in the half.
 
Southeastern took over in UIW territory after the ensuing free kick. On the first play, Isom hit junior William French with a perfect pass. However, just before French crossed the goal line, he was stripped by senior Robert Johnson to end the Lion threat and send Southeastern into halftime down by eight.
 
UIW added to its lead midway through the third quarter. With all his receivers covered, Brittain scrambled out of the pocket and found himself alone along the left sideline. 58 yards later, the Cardinals had a commanding 16-2 lead with 8:38 left in the third quarter. SLU senior Harlan Miller blocked Seidel's kick to keep the lead at 14.
 
That would be the final margin, as Isom was knocked out of the game on the next drive. Alo was more productive through the air, as he twice led SLU into Cardinal territory. However, both drives ended in Alo interceptions to quell Southeastern's comeback hopes.
 
Southeastern will close out its road schedule next Saturday with a 2 p.m. game versus league foe Abilene Christian. The contest can be heard on KSLU-FM (90.9) and LionSports.net, as well as affiliates and Northshore Broadcasting stations Kajun 107.1 FM (WHMD) and The Highway 104.7 FM (WJSH). A live video stream, provided by ACU, will be accessible at LionSports.net.