Southeastern Louisiana (6-4, 6-2 Southland) at Nicholls (5-5, 5-3 Southland)
November 17, 2016 | 6 p.m. | Thibodaux, La. | John L. Guidry Stadium

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HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana football will close out the 2016 regular season on Thursday, traveling to Nicholls for the 26^th playing of the River Bell Classic at 6 p.m. in John L. Guidry Stadium.
 
Southeastern (6-4, 6-2 Southland) will look to reclaim the River Bell after Nicholls (5-5, 5-3 Southland) regained it for the first time since 2010 last season. Southeastern heads into Thursday's game having won five of its last six games after a 31-19 victory over Abilene Christian last Saturday, while the host Colonels will be looking to bounce back from a hard-fought 31-24 loss at Southland Conference co-leader Central Arkansas last week.
 
The contest will be televised on American Sports Network. Cox Sports Television and WHNO will be ASN local affiliates in the Hammond area and the game will also be streamed live at www.southland.org/live. The game will also be heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (KSLU 90.9 FM, Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM, WFPR 1400 AM), online at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the Tune In Radio app.
 
The Lion Athletics Association (LAA) will host a tailgate event in conjunction with the event. The tailgating event is scheduled for 3-5:30 p.m. at the Season Parking Pass lot off of Audubon Drive, west of Guidry Stadium.
 
The tailgate is free and refreshments will be provided. For more information, contact Assistant Athletic Director for Marketing and Development Tom Dawsey at (985) 549-5226 or tdawsey@selu.edu.
 
The Southeastern Louisiana Athletics Ticket Office has a limited allotment of tickets for the game. Tickets are $15 and will be on sale through Thursday at noon. The ticket office is open Monday through Thursday from 9 a.m.- 5 p.m. and Fridays from 8 a.m. – 12:30 p.m. To contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office, call (985) 549-5466 or visit the office in the Dugas Center for Southeastern Athletics at 800 Galloway Drive in Hammond.
 
The Lions have already clinched its third winning season in the past four years and its fourth winning Southland Conference record in the past five seasons. A win on Thursday would SLU's hopes of making its third FCS playoff appearance in the past four seasons alive. Nicholls is looking for an overall winning season under second-year head coach Tim Rebowe.
 
"Being an in-state rivalry, this game is huge every year," Southeastern head coach Ron Roberts said. "But with what's at stake for both teams, this one on Thursday is just a little bigger. Nicholls has a great defense and an excellent quarterback leading its offense. We're expecting a great, physical college football game."
 
Southeastern will have the services of senior quarterback Justin Alo, as the Carson, California native returned versus ACU to throw for 293 yards and two touchdowns. Despite missing two games and playing sparingly in two others, Alo, who leads FCS in yards per completion, has thrown for 1,655 yards, 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 2016. Alo and senior D'Shaie Landor (542 yards, 6 TD, 4 INT) have split time for a Lion offense that averages 27.5 points and 396.6 yards per game.
 
Alo's top targets in the win over ACU were senior Brandon Acker (five catches, 103 yards, 1 TD), junior Juwan Dickey (5-89) and senior Juwaan Rogers (3-65-1 TD). Dickey (39 catches, 701 yards, 6 TD) and Acker (30-666-7 TD), who leads FCS in yards per reception, are Alo's top targets, while Rogers, who has established himself as one of the nation's top fullbacks, has become an increasing part of the passing game with his three receiving touchdowns.
 
Rogers has also keyed a Southeastern rushing attack that has seen sophomore Julius Maracalin top 100 yards on the ground for two straight weeks. Maracalin rushed for 123 yards and a touchdown in the win over ACU. The Plaquemine, Louisiana native's performance raised his team-high season rushing totals to 617 yards and five touchdowns.
 
Southeastern will be facing a Nicholls defense that is allowing 28.4 points and 383.2 yards per game. Allen Pittman paces the Colonels with 88 tackles, while Sully Laiche leads the team with 13.0 tackles for loss and 9.5 sacks. Jeff Hall also has a team-high four interceptions for Nicholls.
 
The Lion defense is allowing 28.6 points and 385.4 yards per game heading into Thursday's regular season finale. In the win over ACU, SLU limited the Wildcats to 29 rushing yards, recorded four sacks and finished with four sacks.
 
On Saturday, junior Javon Tillman led Southeastern with eight tackles, marking the fifth game this season Tillman has been the team's top tackler. The Oakland, California product enters Thursday as the team's leader with 79 tackles, followed by juniors Max Lyons (73), Torrance Mosley (61), Lee Spight (57) and Ryan Sigers (54).
 
Southeastern was able to get to ACU quarterback Dallas Sealey four times, as Spight, senior Miki Fangatua, junior Jake Jiannoni and freshman Kurrell Vaughn all recorded sacks. Junior Sione Teuhema leads the team with 8.5 tackles for loss and four sacks in just seven games this season.
 
Spight stripped Sealey and Jiannoni returned the fumble for a touchdown in Saturday's victory, which also saw junior Mayori Ellison record his first interception as a Lion. Tillman leads SLU with three forced fumbles, while Lyons has a team-high three fumble recoveries. Ellison is one of seven Lions to record an interceptions this season, along with Tillman, Mosley, senior Tre' Bennett, sophomore Sean Clavelle, freshman Jacorey Fuller and junior Demarayeh Lane.
 
The Southeastern defense will be facing a Colonel offense that is putting up 29.1 points and 370.9 yards per outing under the direction of freshman quarterback Chase Fourcade (2,227 yards, 15 TD, 11 INT). Fourcade's top pass catching weapons in his arsenal are C.J. Bates (49 catches, 704 yards, 7 TD) and Damion Jeanpiere (34-481-5 TD). C.J. Okpalobi is the team's top rusher with 562 yards and five touchdowns, while Fourcade has rushed for a team-high seven scores.