LAKE CHARLES, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University football team jumped out to a 38-0 halftime lead and never looked back on the way to a 38-0 Southland Conference road victory over McNeese Saturday night in Navarre Stadium.
Southeastern (4-2, 2-0 SLC) outgained the host Cowboys, 418-189, on the way to the lopsided victory and remained unbeaten versus FCS competition. McNeese fell to 1-5 overall and 0-2 in league play with its fifth consecutive loss. SLU took a 26-25 lead in the all-time series with its sixth straight victory in the series.
"I was very pleased with the way our guys played, especially in the first half," Southeastern head coach
Frank Scelfo said. "We excelled in all three phases and I'm really proud of this team's effort on the road tonight."
The Lion defense posted the first shutout of McNeese in Lake Charles since former league member Central Arkansas blanked the Cowboys, 35-0, in 2016.
KK Reno led SLU with 11 tackles, as he,
Joshua Randall and
Peyton Anderson all collected a sack.
Ian Conerly-Goodly returned an interception for a touchdown, while
Khamron Ford also added his second pick of the season. The Lion defense limited the hosts to 10 first downs and 37 yards passing.
The Lion offense racked up 418 total yards on the night, as
Carson Camp (10-for-12, 173 yards, 1 TD) and
Kyle Lowe (5-for-8, 94 yards, 1 TD) continued to be effective sharing snaps under center for the Lions.
Deantre Jackson rushed five times for 64 yards and two scores, while also contributing four catches for 48 yards.
Jaylon Domingeaux and
Brandon Hayes each also hauled in touchdowns for SLU.
The SLU defense got the Lions on the board on McNeese's first drive. Conerly-Goodly stepped in front of Jake Strong's pass and raced in from 33 yards out to put the Lions up, 7-0, with 10:39 remaining in the opening quarter.
Sacks by Reno and Randall forced a Cowboy punt. Southeastern drove 63 yards on eight plays on the ensuing drive with Jackson powering in from a yard out to put the Lions up, 14-0, with 3:38 left in the first period.
Ford's second interception of the season was a spectacular one-handed grab to set the Lions up in Cowboy territory late in the first quarter. On the first play of the second quarter, Domingeaux hauled in a two-yard scoring toss from Lowe to put Southeastern up, 21-0.
After another McNeese three-and-out, SLU struck quickly again. Jackson broke through the line for a 45-yard scoring run to give the Lions a commanding 28-0 lead with 12:48 left in the opening half.
A
Guillermo Garcia Rodriguez 29-yard field goal with 6:05 left in the first half extended the lead to 31-0. Hayes hauled in a short screen from Camp and raced down the right sideline for a 69-yard scoring toss with just under two minutes left in the second quarter to send the Lions into the break with a 38-0 lead.
Neither team would score in the second half. McNeese drove inside the SLU 10-yard line on its final drive of the contest, but the Lion defense held firm to preserve its first shutout of the year and first over a SLC opponent since a 41-0 win over Northwestern State last season.
Saturday's game sent Southeastern into its bye week. The Lions will next return to action Oct. 18, hosting Northwestern State for the 4 p.m. Homecoming contest in Strawberry Stadium. The game versus the Demons 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).
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.