HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana University kicker Riley Callaghan's potential game-tying 58-yard field goal attempt narrowly missed wide left and No. 10/11 UIW outlasted the Lions, 34-31, Saturday night at Strawberry Stadium.
 
Southeastern (4-4, 3-1 SLC) took over at its own 20-yard line with 41 seconds left and no timeouts. Quarterback Eli Sawyer connected on passes to Jaylon Domingeaux and Errol Rogers Jr. to give the Lions the tying opportunity, but Callaghan's kick, which would have bested the school record by six yards had the distance, but missed wide left.
 
UIW (6-2, 3-0 SLC) extended its winning streak to five games and took sole possession of the Southland Conference lead, thanks in large part to the two defensive touchdowns scored by the Cardinals.
 
Domingeaux posted the best game of his young Lion career, as he hauled in 10 passes for 97 yards and a touchdown. He and Darius Lewis (nine catches, 54 yards) were the top targets for Sawyer, who finished 25-for-42 for 207 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.
 
Antonio Martin Jr. led SLU on the ground with 75 yards on 18 carries and is now eight yards shy of reaching 1,000 rushing yards on the season. Brandon Hayes highlighted the Southeastern special team efforts with a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, while Callaghan was 3-for-4 field goals with his lone miss coming on the long try on the game's final play.
 
Khamron Ford led Southeastern defense with 14 tackles, while Carter Hanberry was credited with 11 stops in his first collegiate start. Warren Peeples recorded his team-high fifth sack of the season.
 
UIW quarterback Zach Calzada finished 21-for-31 for 238 yards and connected with Jalen Walthall and Roy Alexander on touchdown throws. Dekalon Taylor led the Cardinals on the ground with 82 yards on 16 carries.
 
After forcing a Southeastern punt to open the game, UIW struck first. Calzada connected with Walthall for a 41-yard touchdown pass to give the Cardinals a 7-0 lead with 8:39 in the opening period.
 
SLU answered with a 17-play, 81-yard scoring march to get on the board. The Lions had a goal-to-go at the UIW seven-yard line but got bogged down and had to settle for a 23-yard field goal by Callaghan that cut the Cardinal advantage to 7-3 with 1:31 left in the first quarter.
 
UIW drove into Southeastern territory, but Peeples and Ford stopped Calzada on a quarterback keeper on a fourth-and-short.
 
SLU was forced to punt on the ensuing possession, but pulled off a double reverse fake punt, as Justin Dumas connected with Alec Mahler for a 22-yard pass to keep the drive alive. Three plays later, Callaghan connected on a season-long 46-yard field goal to cut the lead to 7-6 with 10:26 remaining in the opening half.
 
UIW answered with a 15-play, 75-yard scoring drive to extend the lead. Taylor scooted in from three yards out to cap the march. Tylon Cooper blocked the extra point to keep the lead at 13-6 with 3:47 left in the second quarter.
 
Two plays later, Sawyer dropped the ball on a pump fake at the Lion 22-yard line. Marcus Brown scooped up the loose ball and raced in from 22 yards out to extend the UIW lead to 20-6 with 3:02 remaining in the opening half.
 
The Lions cut into the lead on their final possession of the second quarter. Sawyer found Rogers Jr. from five yards out to cap a 12-play, 74-yard scoring drive and cut the lead to 20-13 heading into the break.
 
Southeastern forced UIW to punt for the first time in the game to start the third quarter. The Lions took their opening drive 57 yards on 11 plays, as Callaghan knocked in a 31-yard field goal to cut the Cardinal advantage to 20-16 with 8:50 left in the third quarter.
 
After forcing another Cardinal punt, Southeastern moved into UIW territory, but turned the ball over on downs. Four plays later, Calzada completed a short pass to Roy Alexander, who shook a tackle and housed it to extend the UIW advantage to 27-16 with 1:06 left in the third quarter.
 
On the ensuing kickoff, Hayes broke loose for a 94-yard kickoff return for a touchdown. It was the first kickoff return for a touchdown by a Lion since Gage Larvadain took one back 100 yards at Nicholls in 2021 and pulled Southeastern back within four in the final minute of the third quarter.  
 
After Southeastern forced a Cardinal punt, Mason Chambers intercepted Sawyer and housed it from 50 yards out to give UIW a 34-23 lead with 14:24 left in the game.
 
The two teams traded punts on the next two possessions and the Lions then cut into the lead. Domingeaux caught a quick slant from Sawyer, spun out of a tackle and scored from 10 yards out, then Sawyer found Cade Collier on a two-point conversion to cut the lead to 34-31 with 4:58 remaining.
 
The Lion defense forced a punt and took over at its 40-yard line with 2:52 remaining. Three plays into the drive, Chris Pierce made a diving interception at the UIW 25-yard line with two minutes left.
 
UIW was able to drain Southeastern of its remaining timeouts, but SLU got the ball back at its own 20-yard line with 41 seconds remaining. The Lions were able to drive the ball down to set up Callaghan's potential game-tying kick.
 
Saturday's game will be the first of two straight versus Cardinals for SLU. The Lions will travel to Lamar next Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest in Beaumont, Texas. The Nov. 2 contest will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM, The Boss 103.7 FM/1400 AM).
 
TICKETS
For ticket information, contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net. Southeastern will continue offering mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets. 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.
 
SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on X, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and follow lionupfootball on Instagram.
 
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 observes a clear bag policy for all ticketed events. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.