HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana football team continued fall practice preparations for the spring 2021 season on Monday afternoon, opening the third week of workouts at Strawberry Stadium.
 
Monday marked the seventh of 15 practices during the fall practice session, which has replaced the normal spring practice with the competition season being postponed until spring. The Lions will practice Mondays and Wednesdays at 3:40 p.m. and Fridays at 10:10 a.m. through Nov. 13.
 
Southeastern head coach Frank Scelfo cited the defense's energy early in practice as a positive, while also lauding the offense for their performance in red zone drills to close out practice. Scelfo also noted the work of kicker Nathan Holliday, who was a perfect 8-for-8 on field goal and point after tries.
 
Monday's practice shone light on the amount of different weapons the Lions have in the passing game. Speedster Austin Mitchell set the tone early in practice, running under a long pass from quarterback Cole Kelley. Ed Magee, Terrell Carter and Nick Kovacs all caught touchdowns, while both CJ Turner and Marcus Cooper got loose for big plays.
 
"We're seeing some great competition at the wide receiver position," Scelfo said. "All those players want to be on the field and there's only one ball. We saw some guys really step up and make some plays today, even when covered. We've been very pleased with that group."
 
The Lion defense certainly had their moments as well. Justin Douglas made a juggling interception, while Matthew Wright and Zy Alexander also picked off passes during team drills.
 
"We've been very pleased with how our secondary is starting to come together," Scelfo commented. "That's probably the position group we've seen the most improvement from during these past couple of weeks. We have some young guys back there who are still learning, but overall we're starting to see a lot of growth among that group as practice continues."
 
SLU is scheduled to open its six-game, conference-only spring schedule on Feb. 27 at Sam Houston State. The Lions host McNeese on March 6 at Strawberry Stadium to open their home slate.  
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. All tickets will be available via e-mail in a PDF format for fans to download on their phone or print at home. Tickets can also be downloaded to Apple Wallet. SLU is scheduled to host McNeese (March 6), Northwestern State (March 13) and Lamar (April 3) this coming spring.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.
 
TOUCHDOWN CLUB/S CLUB
Fans interested in becoming active supporters of the football program are encouraged to join the Touchdown Club. Lion football alums are encouraged to join the exclusive S Club, which is restricted to Southeastern athletic letter winners.
 
All membership fees and donations to both the Touchdown Club and S Club (football) are available for the exclusive use of the Southeastern football program. Membership information is available by contacting the Lion Athletics Association at laa@southeastern.edu or (985) 549-5091 or visiting www.LionUp.com.
 
CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events, effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.