HAMMOND, La. – The No. 19/20 Southeastern Louisiana University football team could not overcome a 20-point fourth-quarter deficit in a 34-28 loss to HCU in the Southland Conference and season opener for both teams Thursday night in Strawberry Stadium.
HCU (1-0, 1-0 SLC) scored 17 points off Southeastern turnovers to get past the Lions for just the second time in 11 meetings. SLU (0-1, 0-1 SLC) cut the lead to six with just over three minutes left, but the visiting Huskies were able to salt away the win with a couple of first downs.
"Not much went well for us today, but I can't fault the effort," Southeastern head coach
Frank Scelfo said. "We played hard, but the execution wasn't wear it needed to be."
Southeastern finished with 398 total yards, as quarterback
Kyle Lowe was 17-for-27 for 150 yards and connected on two touchdown passes to
Lawson Dixon. The Lions also posted 248 yards on the ground, as
Kyree Paul (70 yards), Chad Elzy (55 yards), Lowe (54 yards, 1 TD),
Deantre Jackson (46 yards) and
Calvin Smith Jr. (24 yards, 1 TD) all contributed to SLU's ground attack.
Trace Carter led Southeastern with nine tackles, followed by
Jordan Okoye with eight stops.
Zay Franks intercepted a pass in his Lion debut.
HCU quarterback Cutter Stewart rushed for 95 yards on 15 carries, while also connecting on 10-of-18 passes for 173 yards a pair of scores. Javon Bejarano led the Huskies with 10 tackles and had one of HCU's five forced fumbles.
The Lions kept the ball for all but one minute of the opening quarter. On the second drive of the period, Smith Jr. swept in from 10 yards out to cap a 12-play, 73-yard scoring march and put SLU up, 7-0, with nine seconds remaining in the opening quarter.
Franks intercepted a Stewart pass on the final play of the first quarter, but SLU was stopped on downs in its own territory to set up the Huskies at the Lion 34-yard line. The Southeastern defense stiffened and HCU had to settle for a 30-yard Lukasz Smolen field goal to cut the Lion lead to 7-3 with 10:43 left in the first half.
A 37-yard run by Paul set SLU up in HCU territory on the ensuing drive, but the Lions were forced to a 43-yard field goal attempt by
Drew Talley that was blocked by Jayven Anderson. Six plays later, Champ Dozier powered in from four yards out to put the Huskies ahead, 10-7, with 4:42 left in the opening half.
After Micah Henderson intercepted a Lowe pass near midfield, HCU closed out the first half with a 12-yard scoring toss from Stewart to Keith Wheeler to go into the break with a 17-7 cushion.
HCU carried the momentum into the second half, driving 78 yards on 15 plays on its first possession of the third quarter. Jaylen Middleton powered in from a yard out to give the Huskies a 24-7 advantage with 8:24 left in the third quarter.
SLU cut into the lead on the ensuing possession. Facing a third-and-long, Lowe scrambled up the middle and raced untouched for a 55-yard touchdown to cut the Huskies' lead to 24-14 with 6:41 remaining in the third quarter.
After a three-and-out, Southeastern drove into HCU territory, but a fumble ended a promising Lion drive. On the next play, Stewart connected on a 66-yard touchdown pass to Jamaal Hall II to put the Huskies up, 31-14, with 1:55 left in the third quarter.
The Huskies forced another fumble on SLU's final drive of the third period, giving the visitors the ball in Southeastern territory heading into the final quarter. HCU took advantage, as Smolen connected on a 32-yard field goal to extend the lead to 34-14 with 14:20 left.
The Lions closed the gap midway through the fourth quarter, as Lowe found Dixon from two yards out to cut the lead to 34-21 with 8:35 left in the contest.
After the two teams traded punts, SLU closed the gap further. Lowe hooked up with Dixon for an 18-yard scoring toss to pull Southeastern within, 34-28, with 3:29 remaining, but would get no closer.
Southeastern will open its 2026 road schedule with a 6 p.m. contest at South Alabama next Saturday, Sept. 5, in Mobile, Ala. 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/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.
