HAMMOND, La. – The No. 20/21 Southeastern Louisiana University football team claimed a 38-26 Senior Night victory over Nicholls in the River Bell Classic Thursday night in Strawberry Stadium.
 
Southeastern (9-3, 7-1 SLC) retained the River Bell trophy, earning the first win by a home team in the series since 2018. Nicholls closed out the 2025 season with a 4-8 record and 4-4 in Southland Conference play.
 
The Lions improved to 9-1 in FCS play with Thursday's win to help fortify an already strong postseason resume. Southeastern won eight of those games by double digits, outscoring FCS competition by an average of just under 26 points per game (39.0 – 13.3) with the starters pulled from the game before the fourth quarter in seven of those wins. The 24-team NCAA FCS playoff field will be announced Sunday at 11 a.m. on ESPNU.
 
SLU finished second in the Southland Conference standings for the second straight year, improving to 13-2 in league play over that stretch with the two losses coming by a combined five points.
 
Prior to the game, Southeastern honored the senior class of KK Reno, Kaleb Proctor, Brandon Hayes, Khamron Ford, Blayne Delahoussaye, Rodeo Graham Jr., Rowan Briggs, Tyler Mansfield, Jordyn Williams, Luke Besh, Corey Lorio, Jaedon Henry, Ian Conerly-Goodly, Guillermo Garcia Rodriguez, Justin Dumas, Joshua Randall, Alec Mahler, Noah Devlin, Javin Turner, Dalton Allen, Holden Kareokowsky, Da'Shun Hugley, Jett Booker, Cade Collier, Ahmad Bradley and head equipment manager Cade Genovese.
 
Southeastern used a balanced offensive attack to close out the regular season with a win. Henry (14 carries, 93 yards, 1 TD), Deantre Jackson (8-85) and Kyle Lowe (6-62, 1 TD) helped SLU finish with 260 rushing yards.
 
Carson Camp (12-for-24, 106 yards, 2 TD, 0 INT) and Lowe (8-for-8, 47 yards, 1 TD, 0 INT) shared time under center. Jaylon Domingeaux closed out his regular season with six catches for 45 yards and a career-high tying three touchdowns. The Lafayette, La. native now has 11 receiving touchdowns – good for third-most in a single-season in program history.
 
After a high-scoring first half, SLU limited the Colonels to five points after the break. Jakyri Jones led Southeastern with 10 tackles, while Khalid Moore forced a fumble that Ford recovered. Proctor recorded his SLC-high eighth sack, while Bradley, Moore and Evan Aubrey contributed sacks as well.
 
Moore forced a Ean Rodrigue fumble that Ford pounced on to end Nicholls' opening drive of the game and give the Lion offense the ball at the Colonel 28-yard line. Four plays later, Domingeaux hauled in an 18-yard scoring toss from Camp to give SLU a 7-0 lead with 12:18 left in the first period.
 
After the teams traded empty possessions, a blocked punt by Kelvin Gray set up Nicholls at the SLU 14-yard line. Two plays later, Shane Lee took a direct snap and scored from eight yards out to knot the score at 7-7 with 5:51 remaining in the opening quarter.
 
The Lions retook the lead on the first play of the second quarter. Domingeaux snagged a four-yard scoring toss from Camp to cap a five-play, 54-yard scoring drive and give Southeastern a 14-7 cushion with 14:56 remaining in the opening half.
 
Nicholls answered right back with a nine-play, 75-yard scoring drive to tie the score. Lee swept around right end for a 17-yard scoring run to tie the score at 14-14 with 9:50 left in the second quarter.
 
Southeastern continued the scoring barrage with a seven-play, 53-yard scoring march. Domingeaux hauled in a six-yard fade pass from Lowe in the back corner of the end zone to put the Lions back up, 21-14, with 5:52 left.
 
The Colonels wasted little time in tying the game back up, as Corey Warren Jr. raced untouched down the right sideline for a 47-yard touchdown to knot the game at 21-21 with 4:17 left in the second quarter.
 
Southeastern controlled the remainder of the first half. A 39-yard run by Jackson highlighted a seven-play, 74-yard scoring drive that Lowe capped with a nifty 22-yard scoring run down the left sideline to give the Lions a 28-21 lead with 2:12 left.
 
After forcing a Nicholls three-and-out, SLU closed out the first half scoring with a 28-yard field goal by Garcia Rodriguez to take a 31-21 advantage into the break.
 
On the first play of the third quarter an errant Southeastern snap rolled all the way back into the endzone. Jackson pounced on the loose ball, but the safety cut the SLU lead to 31-23.
 
After the free kick following the safety, Nicholls took over at midfield. However, the Lion defense stiffened and forced a three-and-out. That defensive stand set the tone for a dominant defensive effort from Southeastern, as SLU limited the visitors to nine yards in the third quarter.
 
Nicholls mounted its best drive of the second half in the fourth quarter, driving 69 yards on nine plays and taking just over nine minutes off the clock. The Colonels drove all the way to the Lion 18-yard line before the drive stalled, resulting in a 38-yard field goal by Gabriel Showalter that trimmed the Southeastern lead to 31-26 with 5:07 remaining.
 
Southeastern answered with the game-clinching drive, riding Henry on a seven-play, 66-yard scoring march. All but 10 yards of that drive came on the ground from the Fort Lauderdale, Fla. native, including the final 14 on the score that put SLU up, 38-26, just after the two-minute timeout.
 
Nicholls mounted one last drive, but multiple holding penalties derailed any Colonel momentum and Bradley sacked Rodrigue on a fourth-and-29 to ice the victory.
 
The nine wins are the most in the regular season for Southeastern since the 2013 season and should suffice in locking up SLU's sixth NCAA FCS playoff appearance in program history and fourth under eight-year head coach Frank Scelfo, having previously advanced to the postseason in 2013, 2014, 2019, 2021 and 2022.    
 
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.