HAMMOND, La. – For the third straight week, a member of the Southeastern Louisiana University football team earned Southland Conference Player of the Week Honors Monday, as wide receiver/kick returner Brandon Hayes was named the Special Teams Player of the Week in an announcement from the league office.
 
Hayes is the second Lion to be named SLC Special Teams Player of the Week, joining Darius Lewis, who claimed the honor Oct. 12. Lewis (Oct. 19) and running back Antonio Martin Jr. (Sept. 30) took home Southland Offensive Player of the Week accolades earlier this season.
 
Hayes, a native of Hattiesburg, Mississippi, was honored after an electrifying play in Saturday's narrow 34-31 loss to No. 10/11 UIW. With the Lions trailing 27-16 late in the third quarter, Hayes took in a kickoff and brought it back 94 yards for a touchdown.
 
The kickoff return touchdown was the first by a SLU player since Gage Larvadain's 100-yard score at Nicholls in 2021. Hayes' 94-yard return was tied for the 10^th-longest in program history.
 
In his first season in Hammond, Hayes is currently 14^th nationally with a SLC-high 26.4 yards per kickoff return. In Hayes and Lewis, who is third in FCS with 16.1 yards per punt return, Southeastern features one of the nation's most prolific return tandems.
 
Saturday's game with UIW was the first of two straight versus Cardinals for SLU. The Lions will travel to Lamar Saturday for a 3 p.m. contest in Beaumont, Texas. The game 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.