HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana football team continued working towards next month's season opener with a competitive practice Thursday afternoon at Strawberry Stadium.
 
The practice opened with goal line competition and the defense had the upper hand, generating five stops. Cole Kelley threw a pair of touchdowns, while Nick Kovacs rushed in for a score.
 
Southeastern had two more team sessions in the heart of practice with both sides of the ball making plays. On defense, Donniel Ward-Magee had an interception, while both he and Thomas Lee were credited with sacks.
 
Cephus Johnson III found Ed Magee and Tim Wilson Jr. for a pair of big plays each, while also connecting with Terrell Carter and Anthony Spurlock on downfield passes. Kelley connected on explosive plays with Salan Weber and Damien Dawson, while Garland LaFrance found a big hole on the right side for a productive run.   
 
Thursday's practice culminated with a simulated overtime period. The opening drive culminated with Kelley finding Wilson for a touchdown catch. Johnson led a tying scoring march, with Taron Jones sweeping around right end to cap the scoring drive.
 
On the next drive, Darrius Harry and John Graves III recorded consecutive sacks of Kelley to force a 35-yard Mateo Rengifo field goal. On the final drive, Johnson broke loose for a scramble to set up a goal-to-go situation and found Tanner Olsen wide open for a touchdown on the practice's final play.
 
"Our defense played with so much confidence and energy today," Southeastern head coach Frank Scelfo said. "We're starting to come together as a team more each day."   
 
Southeastern will return to the Strawberry Stadium turf on Friday for a 9:20 a.m. practice. SLU is scheduled to open its six-game, conference-only spring schedule with a 6 p.m. game on Feb. 27 at Sam Houston State. The Lions host McNeese on March 6 at 6 p.m. at Strawberry Stadium to open its home schedule. 
 
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 or text message 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 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.