HAMMOND, La. – The 2017 edition of the River Bell Classic lived up to its name Thursday night in Strawberry Stadium.

Southeastern Louisiana senior Max Lyons intercepted Nicholls sophomore quarterback Chase Fourcade's Hail Mary attempt on the game's final play to allow the Lions to secure a thrilling, come-from-behind 21-17 Senior Day victory over the No. 17/25 Colonels in the regular season finale for both teams.

With the victory, the Lions (6-5, 6-3 Southland) secured their fourth winning season in six seasons under head coach Ron Roberts and held on to the River Bell for the sixth time in the past seven seasons. Nicholls (8-3, 7-2 Southland) had its six-game winning streak snapped, as the Colonels are the first ranked opponent Southeastern has defeated this season.

Nicholls will have to await to see if its body of work is good enough to earn the program's first appearance in the NCAA FCS Playoffs since 2005. The field will be announced on Sunday at 10 a.m. (Central) on ESPNU.

While the Lions don't have postseason hopes, Southeastern shook off an 0-3 start, winning six of its final eight games for the second straight season. The Lions were able to send the 19 seniors that were honored prior to their final collegiate games out as winners.

"This rivalry has become something special," Southeastern head coach Ron Roberts said. "I'm so proud of our players for finishing strong. This season didn't go entirely our
way, obviously, but to close out the season with a win over a ranked opponent in our house was a great way to end the year."

Lyons and fellow seniors Sione Teuhema and Mayori Ellison each intercepted passes for Southeastern. Lyons led the Lions with 13 tackles to finish the season with a team-high 100 tackles, while senior Jake Jiannoni added 12 stops in his final game as a Lion.

Teuhema and Jiannoni both added two tackles for loss apiece. Teuhema, a Buck Buchanan and Butkus Award candidate, finished the season with 19.0 tackles for loss, tying the single-season school record set by SLU Athletics Hall of Famer Willie Shepherd in 1984.

"It was good to see our seniors come up big," Roberts said of his defensive unit that held Nicholls to three points and 127 yards after halftime. "Sione, Mayori and Max all came up with huge picks to cap fantastic senior seasons. I thought Jake Jiannoni played his best football game as a Lion here tonight."

While it was the veterans who led the defense, it was the young guns who fueled the offensive attack. Freshman Marcus Cooper posted his Southland-high fourth 100-yard game of the season, finishing with 142 yards and a touchdown on 12 carries. The Altair, Texas native and Jerry Rice Award candidate finished the season with a team-high 646 rushing yards and averaged a single-season school record 10.1 yards per carry.

Sophomore Juwan Petit-Frere added an 85-yard touchdown run that accounted for the eventual game-winning score. Freshman quarterback Byron Walker engineered the go-ahead scoring drives after replacing sophomore Lorenzo Nunez, who left the game with an injury early in the second half. Walker's lone completion was a five-yard touchdown pass to sophomore tight end Bransen Schwebel.

The Lion defense held Fourcade to 94 yards passing and three interceptions, as he completed nine of 21 attempts. Freshman Tahj Smith led the Colonels with 84 yards on 13 carries.

Nicholls limited SLU to 290 total yards. Junior Ahmani Martin led the Colonels with nine tackles, while senior Terrell Enclade finished with a game-high three tackles for loss.     
The teams traded empty possessions until the Colonels struck first late in the first quarter. A 36-yard series-opening run by Smith highlighted a quick five-play, 61-yard scoring march. Sophomore Dontrel Taylor capped the march, diving inside the pylon for a seven-yard touchdown and a 7-0 lead with 2:14 remaining in the opening quarter.

SLU answered just four plays later. Cooper got loose on an outside run and tip-toed the left sideline on the way to a 63-yard game-tying run, knotting the score at 7-7 heading into the second quarter.

Nicholls responded with its best drive of the game to start the second quarter. The Colonels took over six minutes off the clock with a 12-play, 75-yard drive. Junior wide
receiver Damon Jeanpiere Jr. avoided a tackle for loss and scored on a seven-yard reverse to give Nicholls a 14-7 lead with 9:24 left in the half.

Neither offense could get going for the remainder of the period, as Nicholls took a seven-point lead into the halftime break.
Southeastern was forced to punt on the first drive of the third quarter. Sophomore punter Ivy Wall dropped the snap on fourth down and was thrown for an 11-yard loss to give the Colonels the ball at the Lion 26-yard line.

Southeastern was able to hold Nicholls to a field goal to keep the score at 17-7 with 8:02 left in the third quarter. On the next play from scrimmage, Cooper busted loose for 54 yards to move into the Nicholls red zone. Four plays later, Schwebel made a leaping catch in the back corner of the end zone. The Amite, Louisiana native's third touchdown of the season cut the Colonel lead to 17-14 with 6:09 remaining in the third quarter.

Nicholls drove into SLU territory on its next possession, but were eventually forced to punt. Two plays later, Petit-Frere showed the speed that has allowed him to lead the nation in kickoff return average this season. The Orlando, Florida native took a pitch from Walker and raced untouched down the right sideline. His 85-yard touchdown run was the second-longest by a Lion this season and gave SLU a 21-17 lead with 29 seconds remaining in the third quarter.

The Lion defense made the lead hold up in the fourth quarter. The Colonels went three-and-out on the first two drives, then their third drive was ended when Teuhema stepped in front of a Fourcade pass and returned his first interception as a Lion 17 yards into Colonel territory.

Southeastern couldn't add to its lead, as the two teams traded punts until Nicholls took over at the Lion 46-yard line with 2:47 remaining. On third-and-three from the SLU 39-yard line, Ellison made a diving interception at the 24-yard line.

The Hayward, California native's team-high fourth interception of the season allowed Southeastern to run a minute off the clock before punting the ball back to Nicholls with 33
seconds left.

Fourcade scrambled several times to move the Colonels to the Southeastern 37-yard line with four seconds left. Lyons camped out under Fourcade's last-ditch opportunity and hauled in his third interception of the season on the final play of his collegiate career. It marked the second straight season where a failed Nicholls Hail Mary attempt ended the River Bell Classic.  

Southeastern will open the 2018 season on Sept. 1 with a road game versus FBS in-state foe ULM.