HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana exploded for a season-high 563 yards of total offense and forced Southland Conference foe Houston Baptist into three turnovers on the way to a convincing 37-3 Homecoming victory Saturday evening in Strawberry Stadium.
 
The Lions (4-3, 4-1 Southland) racked up 30 first downs and a season-high 334 yards rushing on the way to their third straight victory. On the defensive end, SLU held the visiting Huskies (2-5, 1-4 Southland) scoreless for the final three quarters and recorded a season-high four sacks.
 
"Any time you can get a win on Homecoming it's huge for our program and university," Southeastern head coach Ron Roberts said. "We played consistently for four quarters against a good football team and that was great to see."
 
The Lion rushing attack was led by senior Rasheed Harrell, who finished with 84 yards and a touchdown, as well as sophomore Julius Maracalin, who contributed 80 yards and a touchdown of his own.
 
Harrell's game-high total gives him 1,770 rushing yards in his career, moving him past former Lions Bryan Bennett (1,715), Ted Glaser (1,750) and Robert Hicks (1,755) into eighth place on the school's career rushing list. Sophomore Darius Durall also scored his first touchdown as a Lion, as 10 different Southeastern players were credited with a carry.
 
Southeastern featured a balanced attack in the victory, as senior D'Shaie Landor, making his first start since the season opener, threw for 229 yards and two touchdowns. In for the injured Justin Alo, the Lafayette, Louisiana native spread the ball around to six different receivers.
 
Junior Juwan Dickey (66 yards) and freshman Javon Conner (53 yards) each recorded a game-high five catches. Senior Brandon Acker caught his team-high sixth touchdown of the season, while sophomore Jake Ingraffia hauled in his first collegiate touchdown. Most importantly, the Lion offense did not commit a turnover for the first time in 2016.
 
"We saw a lot of positives on the offensive end tonight," Roberts said. "We did an excellent job protecting the football and we're really proud of the way D'Shaie stepped in and made plays in the passing game."
 
On the defensive end, juniors Max Lyons and Javon Tillman shared the team lead with eight tackles apiece. Junior Sione Teuhema was credited with 1.5 sacks, while Tillman, senior Miki Fangatua, senior Anthony Murphy Jr. and sophomore Sean Clavelle all had at least a partial sack.
 
Murphy Jr. was credited with a forced fumble and a fumble recovery, while Tillman forced a fumble that was recovered by Lyons. Junior Demarayeh Lane recorded his first interception of the season in the Lion victory.
 
HBU was led offensively by Tony Dawson who threw for 178 yards and an interception on 11-of-23 passing. On the defensive end, Garrett Nolan and Cody Moncure shared game-high honors with 11 tackles apiece for the Huskies.
 
HBU looked to gain the early lead on the opening drive of the game, as a double-reverse flea flicker resulted in a 58-yard pass from Dawson to Ethan Fry down to the Lion 15-yard line. Southeastern kept the Huskies from extending the drive, then Alec Chadwick's 27-yard field goal attempt missed off the right upright to keep HBU off the board.
 
Southeastern quickly took a lead it would never relinquish on its opening drive. Harrell capped a four-play, 80-yard drive with a winding 51-yard touchdown run – his 18^th of his Lion career – to give the Lions a 7-0 lead and move into sole possession of seventh place on the school's career rushing touchdown list.
 
After forcing an HBU punt, the Lions looked poised to lengthen its lead, moving all the way to the Huskies' 27-yard line before its drive stalled out. The Lions attempted a fake field goal, but Ingraffia's pass was just out of the reach of sophomore Jonathan Tatum.
 
HBU got on the board as the first quarter expired. A 27-yard gain by Terrance Peters on a screen pass highlighted a 10-play, 42-yard drive that was capped by a 43-yard Chadwick field goal that cut the Lion lead to 7-3 as the second quarter began.
 
Southeastern answered quickly, as Landor hit junior Joe Pack for a 40-yard pass to open a five-play, 65-yard scoring march. A 17-yard pass to Dickey set Southeastern up with a goal-to-go opportunity and Maracalin capped the drive by walking in around the left side with an eight-yard touchdown run. Tatum's point after attempt sailed wide right to keep the SLU lead at 13-3 with 13:53 left in the half.
 
Both teams' offenses bogged down until the final minutes of the first half. Houston Baptist drove all the way to the Lion one-yard line, but on second-and-goal, Tillman stripped Peters and Lyons recovered to end the HBU scoring threat.
 
With only 1:18 on the clock and the ball at their own five-yard line, the Lions did not play conservatively. Landor quickly marched Southeastern 90 yards on 11 plays and Tatum knocked in a 22-yard field goal to give SLU a 16-3 halftime lead.
 
At halftime, the Southeastern Homecoming Court was recognized. Denham Springs native Maggie Hinson was named Homecoming Queen, while Justin Bankston of Loranger was named Homecoming King.
 
Southeastern opened the second half with a 10-play, 61-yard scoring march to extend its lead. Landor found Acker from 11 yards out to cap the drive and give the Lions a 23-3 lead with 9:34 left in the third quarter.
 
After a HBU three-and-out, SLU ended any chance of a Huskies' comeback. A methodical 12-play, 90-yard drive culminated with Ingraffia getting free for a 22-yard touchdown pass and a 30-3 Southeastern lead with 2:44 left in the third quarter.
 
A big play by Murphy led to Southeastern's final score midway through the fourth quarter. The Compton, California native sacked and stripped Dawson, then pounced on the loose ball to give the Lions the ball at the HBU 17-yard line. Two plays later, Durall burst through the middle untouched for a 16-yard touchdown to provide the final margin.
 
Saturday's game was the first of two straight at home for the Lions. On Oct. 29, the Lions welcome league foe Central Arkansas to town for a 2:30 p.m. contest. The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the WatchESPN app, while also being heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (KSLU 90.9 FM, Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM and WFPR 1400 AM).
 
Saturday's game with the Bears will also be the Hall of Fame game. The 2016 Southeastern Athletics Hall of Fame class of Kenny Lehrmann (baseball), Jacques Chevallier (golf) and Calvin Favron (football) will be inducted in a private pregame ceremony and will be honored at halftime of the SLU-UCA game.