HAMMOND, La. – After keying the No. 19 Southeastern Louisiana University football team's 38-14 road win at HCU, Lion kick returner Brandon Hayes was named the Southland Conference Special Teams Player of the Week, the league office announced Monday.
 
Hayes is the first SLU player this week to receive weekly honors from the SLC. The Hattiesburg, Mississippi native was named Southland Special Teams Player of the Week for the second time in his Southeastern career, having previously claimed the honor on Oct. 30, 2024.
 
For the second straight week, Hayes returned the opening kickoff of the second half for a touchdown. In Saturday's win, Hayes gave SLU a 21-7 lead with an 85-yard return for a score.
 
After an HCU pick-six cut the lead back to seven later in the third quarter, Hayes busted loose for a 55-yard return of the ensuing kickoff and set up a Lion field goal to stretch the lead to 10. For the day, Hayes averaged 51.7 yards per kickoff return.
 
Hayes is the fourth player in school history with multiple kickoff return touchdowns in a season, joining Xavier Roberson, Juwan Petit-Frere and Keylam Davis. Hayes' three career kickoff return scores is second in program history only to SLU Athletics Hall of Famer Roberson's school and SLC record five.
 
Hayes and Villanova's Ja'briel Mace are the only two FCS players with two kickoff return touchdowns this fall. Hayes is currently third in FCS with a 32.7 kickoff return average.
 
Hayes and Southeastern (6-2, 4-0 SLC) will return to action Saturday, hosting East Texas A&M (2-6, 2-2 SLC) at 6 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium. 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 97.7 FM/WFPR 1400 AM). Saturday will also be Military Appreciation and Family Night.  
 
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.