No. 22 SLU rolls past Lamar, 42-12

HAMMOND, La. – No. 22/25 Southeastern Louisiana scored the game’s final 28 points on the way to a 42-12 victory over Lamar in Southland Conference football action Saturday night at Strawberry Stadium.

The Lions (3-2, 3-2 Southland) completed a perfect season at home with the convincing victory. Lamar finishes the 2020-21 season with a 2-4 record.

Southeastern allowed its lowest point total of the season in Saturday’s victory. Alexis Ramos, Herman Christophe and Jack Henderson each recorded 11 tackles apiece to lead the Lions.

Henderson and Donniel Ward-Magee each recorded interceptions, while Christophe and Justin Douglas forced fumbles. Christophe led SLU with three tackles for loss, as he, Garrett Crawford and Dominic Lamm each were credited with sacks.

SLU racked up 464 total yards of offense. Cole Kelley posted his fifth 300-plus passing performance in as many games this spring. Kelley threw for 321 yards and three touchdowns on 23-for-31 passing, while also rushing for two scores.

Kelley connected with nine different receivers. Tim Wilson, Jr. caught two touchdown passes, while Marcus Cooper also hauled in a score. Javon Conner (four catches, 70 yards) and Austin Mitchell (4-60) led SLU in receptions. Cephus Johnson III also threw his first touchdown pass as a Lion, connecting with Anthony Spurlock for the game’s final score.

Lamar moved into Southeastern territory on the opening drive of the game, but on fourth-and-one, Lamm sacked LU quarterback Jalen Dummett to take over on downs. Nine plays later, Kelley bulled in from a yard out to give the Lions a 7-0 lead with 8:04 left.

Lamar got on the board on defense, as Caimyn Layne sacked Kelley in the end zone for a safety to cut the SLU advantage to 7-2. After the ensuing free kick went out of bounds to give the Cardinals the ball at midfield, LU took the lead on a one-yard plunge by Nathan Gaskamp to take a 9-7 lead with 13:36 left in the first half.

LU would have the lead for two plays, as Kelley found Wilson Jr. for a short pass and the Plano, Texas native broke several tackles on the way to a 47-yard touchdown and a 14-9 SLU lead.

The two teams traded interceptions on the next two drives with Lamar’s pick of Kelley giving the Cardinals the ball on the Lion 21-yard line. The Lion defense stiffened and LU had to settle for a 31-yard Bailey Giffen field goal to cut the SLU lead to 14-12.

Southeastern answered to close out the first half scoring. A 39-yard Conner catch-and-run sparked an eight-play, 85-yard scoring march. Kelley powered in from a yard out to give SLU a 21-12 halftime lead, as Henderson and LU’s Andre Mulinax ended the final two drives of the quarter with interceptions.

SLU opened the second half with a six-play, 63-yard scoring drive to extend the lead. Wilson Jr. hauled in an eight-yard scoring toss from Kelley to put the Lions up, 28-12, with 11:46 remaining in the third quarter.

After a Lamar punt, Southeastern put together a 10-play, 93-yard scoring march. A 26-yard run by Johnson III was the explosive play of the drive that culminated with Kelley finding a wide-open Cooper from five yards out for a 35-12 lead heading into the fourth quarter.

Lamar’s first drive of the quarter took the Cardinals down deep into Southeastern territory, but the Lion defense stuffed LU three straight times at the one-yard line to take back over on downs.

After the teams traded punts, SLU put the exclamation point on the victory with a seven-play, 80-yard scoring march. Johnson III found Spurlock from 24 yards out to provide the final 42-12 margin.

Up Next
Southeastern will close out the regular season on Saturday with a 3 p.m. Southland contest at No. 11/13 Nicholls. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard on the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (KSLU 90.9 FM, Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM and The Boss 103.7 FM/1400 AM). Fans can also listen live at www.LionSports.net/listenlive and via the Lions Game Day Experience and TuneIn Radio apps.

LU – 2 10 0 0 – 12 (2-4, 2-4 SLC)
SLU – 7 14 14 7 – 42 (3-2, 3-2 SLC)

Scoring Summary
1st Quarter
SLU – Kelley 1 run (Rengifo kick), 8:04
LU – Layne safety, 3:35
2nd Quarter
LU – Gaskamp 1 run (Giffen kick), 13:36
SLU – Wilson Jr. 47 pass from Kelley (Rengifo kick), 12:47
LU – Giffen 31 FG, 7:58
SLU – Kelley 1 run (Rengifo kick), 4:40
3rd Quarter
SLU – Wilson Jr. 8 pass from Kelley (Rengifo kick), 11:46
SLU – Cooper 5 pass from Kelley (Rengifo kick), 1:18
4th Quarter
SLU – Spurlock 24 pass from Johnson III (Rengifo kick), 3:52

LU SLU
FIRST DOWNS 15 26
RUSHES-YARDS (NET) 49-179 26-119
PASSING YDS (NET) 117 345
Passes Att-Comp-Int 16-11-2 32-24-2
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS 65-296 58-464
Fumble Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Kickoff Returns-Yards 2-0 2-0
Punt Returns-Yards 0-0 0-0
Interception Returns-Yards 2-0 2-0
Punts (Number-Avg) 4-42.2 1-36.0
Fumbles-Lost 2-0 0-0
Penalties-Yards 3-29 4-27
Possession Time. 34:26 25:34
Third-Down Conversions 8-of-16 4-of-8
Fourth-Down Conversions 0-of-2 2-of-2
Red Zone Scores-Chances 2-3 4-4

RUSHING: LU – Jackson 12-69, Dummett 16-67, Pizarro 2-21, Banks 1-9, Ward 10-7, Connell 1-5, Gaskamp 2-4, Hammond 1-3, Jones 1-(-1), Roe 1-(-1), Chandler 1-(-2). Totals 49-179. SLU – Johnson III 3-48, Kelley 10-28, McClendon 2-13, Jones 5-13, Wilson Jr. 1-9, Cooper 2-7, Kovacs 1-5, Team 2-(-4). Totals 26-119.

PASSING: LU – Dummett 10-15-2-111-0, Chandler 1-1-0-6-0. Totals 11-16-2-117-0. SLU – Kelley 23-31-2-321-3, Johnson III 1-1-0-24-1. Totals 24-32-2-345-1.

RECEIVING: LU – Banks 3-36, Hammond 3-25, Venetis 2-26, Roe 1-18, Connell 1-6, Jackson 1-6. Totals 11-117. SLU – Conner 4-70, Mitchell 4-60, Wilson Jr. 3-59, Turner 3-48, Carter 3-24, Spurlock 2-30, Kovacs 2-25, Cooper 2-13, Briggs 1-16. Totals 24-345.

A – 2,548.