Referees add different element to Southeastern Lions football practice

HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana football team held its latest preseason practice Friday morning in Strawberry Stadium.

Friday’s practice was unique due to the presence of an officiating crew. Southeastern head coach Frank Scelfo though the presence of the referees was a great resource for his team.

“We were fortunate to have the officials with us at today’s practice,” Scelfo commented. “These are the referees who work our games during the season, so it’s good for our players and coaches to see how they’re going to call it this spring.”

After a rough day on Thursday, the Southeastern defense was much improved on Friday. Scelfo was particularly pleased with a goal line stand on the final possession of practice.

“The energy was back on the defensive side of the ball today,” Scelfo stated. “We played fast and aggressive, which is what we want to see. We had some missed tackles we have to clean up, but the effort was there today.”

Southeastern featured one of the most prolific passing attacks in all of FCS the last time it was on the field. But on Friday, it was the running game’s effectiveness that caught Scelfo’s eye.

“We ran the ball very effectively today and that started with our offensive line,” Scelfo said. “Marcus Cooper, in particular, had a really good day running the ball. He was decisive and when he does that, he has the ability to create some explosive plays for us.”

Southeastern will return to the Strawberry Stadium turf on Saturday for a 9:20 a.m. practice. SLU is scheduled to open its six-game, conference-only spring schedule on Feb. 27 at Sam Houston State. The Lions host McNeese on March 6 at Strawberry Stadium to open its home schedule.

TICKETS
For ticket information, please contact the Southeastern Athletics Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or visit www.LionSports.net/tickets. Southeastern is implementing mobile ticketing as the primary source for securing tickets for the 2020-21 season. 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. SLU is scheduled to host McNeese (March 6), Northwestern State (March 13) and Lamar (April 3) this spring.

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