No. 15 Nicholls reclaims River Bell with 44-0 win over SLU

THIBODAUX, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana football team closed out the 2018 season with a 44-0 loss to No. 15/18 Nicholls on Thursday at John L. Guidry Stadium.

Southeastern finished its first season under head coach Frank Scelfo with a 4-7 overall record and 4-5 mark in Southland Conference play. With the win, Nicholls (8-3, 7-2 Southland) finished with a share of the Southland Conference championship with Incarnate Word.

The Colonels will receive the conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA Championships by virtue of its 48-21 win over UIW on Oct. 27. Nicholls will find out its postseason future on Sunday at 11:30 a.m. when the 24-team FCS playoff field is announced on ESPNU.

The 28th edition of the River Bell Classic was not the typical back-and-forth affair fans of the in-state rivalry have become accustomed to. The Colonels jumped out to a 13-0 first quarter lead and never looked back.

Southeastern could never get going offensively, as Nicholls limited the Lions to 299 total yards and 14 first downs. SLU quarterback Chason Virgil completed 16-of-31 passes for 193 yards and an interception. Bransen Schwebel caught three passes for 51 yards to lead SLU.

The Colonels racked up 486 yards – including 358 on the ground. Julien Gums (14 carries, 121 yards, 2 TD), Dontrell Taylor (20-95-1 TD), Chase Fourcade (11-71-2 TD) and Kendall Bussey (14-68) were all effective on the ground for the Colonels. Fourcade also was 11-for-18 with 128 passing yards and a touchdown.

Linebacker Tamarcus Russell led SLU with 16 tackles, finishing with a team-high 118 stops on the year.

Nicholls took the early lead by forcing a fumble by Julius Maracalin. Darren Evans recovered it for the Colonels and returned it 51 yards, setting up a 14-yard scoring run by Taylor one play later to take an early 7-0 lead just over a minute into the game.

The two teams traded empty possessions until the Colonels doubled their lead late in the first quarter. Gums bulled in from two yards to send Nicholls into the second quarter with a 13-0 lead.

After a Lions’ three-and-out, Nicholls added to their lead. Fourcade scampered in from nine yards out to give the Colonels a commanding 20-0 advantage less than three minutes into the second quarter.

A 41-yard kickoff return by Juwan Petit-Frere and a Nicholls penalty started the next SLU drive in Colonel territory. However, Southeastern turned the ball over on downs to end the scoring threat.

Nicholls padded its lead on the ensuing drive, as Lorran Fonseca knocked in a 23-yard field goal to give the Colonels a 23-0 advantage.

The Colonels opened the third quarter with a 10-play, 71-yard scoring drive. Gabe Fuselier hauled in a 10-yard scoring toss from Fourcade to give Nicholls a 30-0 lead with 10:20 left in the third quarter.

After the Lion drive stalled, Nicholls embarked on an 11-play, 72-yard drive that carried the game into the fourth quarter. On the final period’s first play, Fourcade bulled in from a yard out to extend the Colonel lead to 37-0.

Gums provide the final Nicholls score with just over five minutes left, as Gums raced in from 10 yards out to put the Colonels ahead, 44-0, which wound up being the final margin.

Thursday’s game was the final one for Southeastern’s 22 seniors. Russell, Maracalin, Zeke Walker, Shamar Busby, Jariah Tolbert, Nih-Jer Jackson, Joey Verhaegh, Jake Ingraffia, Aaron Craig, Brayleon Thorns, Darren Johnson, Xavier Chatman, Jim Speights, Jonathan Tatum, Ja’Hmal Macklin, Sean Clavelle, Lorenz Jones, Anthony Freeman, Kyle Strickland, Ross Foreman, Imani Mitchell and Jon Miller all saw their Lion careers close on Thursday.

SLU – 0 0 0 0 – 0 (4-7, 4-5 SLC)
NICH – 13 10 7 14 – 44 (8-3, 7-2 SLC)

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
NICH – Taylor 14 run (Fonseca kick), 13:58
NICH – Gums 2 run (Fonseca kick failed), 0:08
2nd Quarter
NICH – Fourcade 9 run (Fonseca kick), 12:18
NICH – Fonseca 23 FG, 7:49
3rd Quarter
NICH – Fuselier 10 pass from Fourcade (Fonseca kick), 10:20
4th Quarter
NICH – Fourcade 1 run (Fonseca kick), 14:55
NICH – Gums 10 run (Fonseca kick), 5:08

TEAM STATISTICS SLU NICH
FIRST DOWNS 14 25
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 31-106 61-358
PASSING YDS (NET) 193 128
Passes Att-Comp-Int 31-16-1 18-11-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 62-299 79-486
Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0 1-51
Kickoff Returns-Yards 7-145 1-21
Punt Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Interception Returns-Yards 0-0 1-0
Punts (Number-Avg) 8-35.2 5-35.8
Fumbles-Lost 3-2 2-0
Penalties-Yards 12-113 4-30
Possession Time. 25:27 34:33
Third-Down Conversions 3-of-14 6-of-13
Fourth-Down Conversions 1-of-2 1-of-1
Red Zone Scores-Chances 0-1 7-7

RUSHING: SLU – D. Johnson 10-42, Nunez 3-18, Cooper 4-15, Virgil 5-15, Maracalin 4-13, Petit-Frere 1-7, D. Williams 2-7, Ingraffia 1-7, Team 1-(-18). Totals – 31-106. NICH – Gums 14-121, Taylor 20-95, Fourcade 11-71, Bussey 14-68, Brooks 2-3. Totals – 61-358.

PASSING: SLU – Virgil 16-31-1-193-0. Totals – 16-31-1-193-0. NICH – Fourcade 11-18-0-128-1. Totals – 11-18-0-128-1.

RECEIVING: SLU – Nunez 4-21, Schwebel 3-51, Petit-Frere 2-33, Cooper 2-21, A. Mitchell 2-20, D. Johnson 1-25, Tolbert 1-4, D. Williams 1-8. Totals – 16-193. NICH – Dixon 4-58, Jeanpiere 3-25, McKenney 1-25, Fuselier 1-10, Bussey 1-7, Mosley 1-3. Totals – 11-128.

A – 9,454.

CLEAR BAG POLICY
Southeastern Athletics has instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events, effective with the start of football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.

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.

SOCIAL MEDIA
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