HAMMOND, La. – Behind the rushing tandem of Antonio Martin Jr. and Harlan Dixon, the Southeastern Louisiana University football team earned a hard-fought 28-24 victory over Eastern Washington in its home opener Saturday night at Strawberry Stadium.
 
With the victory, SLU (1-2) improved to 7-1 in nonconference home games under head coach Frank Scelfo. Eastern Washington fell to 1-2 overall with the loss.
 
Dixon raced in from 23 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter to provide the eventual winning score.
 
Southeastern stopped EWU on downs in the red zone with just over five minutes left. Martin toted the ball nine times for 58 yards and five first downs on SLU's final drive, as the Lions physically milked the final 5:22 off the clock to ice the game.
 
Martin led the Lions offensively, finishing with 149 yards on 28 carries, while Dixon contributed 92 yards on nine carries and a pair of scores.  Martin's yardage total was the highest single-game total by a SLU rusher under Scelfo and the most on the ground by a Southeastern runner since Darren Johnson rushed for 178 yards versus Lamar on Sept. 23, 2017.
 
After a 21-21 first half, the Lion defense limited Eastern Washington to three points in the final 30 minutes. Coryell Pierce led SLU with a game-high 11 tackles, while Rowan Briggs, Joshua Randall, Kaleb Proctor and Dorian Davis were all credited with sacks.
 
EWU quarterback Kekoa Visperas completed 21-of-28 passes for 243 yards with one touchdown. His top target was Efton Chism III, who finished with seven catches for 83 yards, while Malik Dotson led the Eagles on the ground with 11 carries for 47 yards and two scores.
 
After the team's traded punts to open the game, Eastern Washington jumped out to an early lead on its second drive of the contest. Dotson bulled in from seven yards out to stake the Eagles to a 7-0 lead with 10:16 remaining left in the opening quarter.
 
Southeastern evened the ledger in the first quarter's final minute. Eli Sawyer found Darius Lewis open on a short swing pass and the speedster slipped inside the right pylon to knot the score at 7-7 heading into the second quarter.
 
After the teams traded three-and-outs, EWU retook the lead. A 32-yard scramble by Visperas highlighted a six-play, 63-yard drive that Dotson capped with a one-yard plunge to put the Eagles up, 14-7, with 8:59 left in the opening half.
 
Southeastern answered right back on the ensuing drive. Dixon closed out a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive with a 35-yard scoring run around left end to deadlock the game at 14-14 with 6:17 left in the second quarter.
 
After forcing a three-and-out, SLU took its first lead of the season. Sawyer found Brandon Hayes on a short screen and the Hattiesburg, Mississippi native turned on the jets scoring from 17 yards out to give the Lions a 21-14 cushion with 1:40 left in the first half.
 
Eastern Washington answered to send the game into halftime tied. Visperas found a wide-open Noah Cronquist from 43 yards out to deadlock the contest at 21-21.
 
Southeastern went three-and-out on its first drive of the third quarter and Eastern Washington retook the lead. Soren McKee knocked in a 36-yard field goal after an 11-play, 53-yard scoring drive to put EWU up, 24-21, with 8:42 remaining in the third quarter.
 
Both offenses marched into the opposing team's territory on the ensuing drives, but both marches ended with the defenses forcing turnovers on downs. An 18-yard Rodeo Graham Jr. run set up Dixon's scoring run to open the fourth quarter.
 
After the Lion defense forced an Eastern Washington punt, Southeastern again drove the ball into EWU territory. However on fourth-and-short, Brock Harrison stopped Martin Jr. for no gain to give the Eagles the ball back.
 
A 23-yard pass from Visperas to Chism set Eastern Washington up with a first down at the Lion 20-yard line. The Eagles would only manage two more yards, as Pierce, Donte' Daniels and Kadan Lewis both made nice tackles on Dotson runs. Facing a fourth-and-eight at the Lion 18-yard line, Visperas overshot Chism at the goal line, giving SLU the ball back.
 
With Damon Stewart spelling Sawyer and seeing his first action under center as a Lion, SLU put the game in the hands of Martin. The newcomer from Atlanta chiseled away at the Eagles defense, forcing EWU to use all three of their remaining timeouts. Facing a third-and-one at the Eastern Washington 24-yard line, Stewart handed it one last time to Martin who powered ahead for the game-clinching first down and the first win of 2024 for the Lions.
 
Saturday was the first of two straight home games for Southeastern, as the Lions welcome two-time reigning FCS national champion South Dakota State to Strawberry Stadium for a 6 p.m. Southland contest Sept. 21. The game between SLU and the visiting Jackrabbits will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard live in the Hammond area on Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM and 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.