Southeastern, Eastern Washington announce home-and-home series for 2023 and 2024

HAMMOND, La. – Southeastern Louisiana University and Eastern Washington University officials jointly announced Thursday a home-and-home series between the nationally-ranked FBS foes for the 2023 and 2024 seasons.

The Lions will travel to Cheney, Washington for a Sept. 16, 2023 meeting with EWU at Roos Field. The Eagles will return the trip the following season when the two teams meet Sept. 14, 2024 at Strawberry Stadium in Hammond, Louisiana. The meetings will be the first two between the two schools.

The series matches up two of the participants in the 2021 FCS playoffs and the top two finishers in the FCS national rankings for total offense last fall. Both programs have been ranked in the top 10 in total offense in each of the past three seasons and have produced the last two Walter Payton Award winners (Cole Kelley, SLU – 2020; Eric Barriere, EWU – 2021).

Southeastern, which is ranked 19th in the Athlon Sports preseason poll, is one of six FCS programs to finish ranked in the final top 25 in each of the past three seasons. The Lions have advanced to the second round of the FCS playoffs in two of the past three seasons and have produced at least one All-American in each of the past 10 seasons.

“We’ve been taking steps each season as our program grows to compete consistently on the national level and to continue that growth we have to compete against quality FCS opponents,” Southeastern head coach Frank Scelfo commented. “Eastern Washington in consistently in the national championship picture, which is where we want to be. We’re excited for this home-and-home series and an opportunity to test ourselves against an elite FCS program.”

Eastern Washington, which is ranked No. 15 in the 2022 Athlon Sports preseason poll, has made 15 FCS playoff appearances, including seven in the past 10 seasons. The 10-time Big Sky Conference champions have made two trips to the FCS Championship game, winning the title in 2010 and finishing as the national runners up in 2018.

“The ability to agree upon a home-and-home matchup with an upper echelon FCS program such as Southeastern Louisiana is something we look for annually,” Eastern Washington head coach Aaron Best said. “Engaging in tougher non-conference games at the FCS level will undoubtedly better prepare our program for the rigors of our Big Sky Conference schedule.”

The Lions report back to the campus on Aug. 2 with the team’s first practice set for Aug. 3. Southeastern will open the 2022 season with a 6 p.m. game Sept. 3 at UL Lafayette. The five-game home schedule begins with a 6 p.m. Sept. 17 contest versus Central Connecticut State.

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 for the 2021-22 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.

SOCIAL MEDIA
For more information on Southeastern Football, follow @LionUpFootball and @Coach_Scelfo on Twitter, like /SLUathletics on Facebook and subscribe to the SLUathletics YouTube channel.

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 instituted a clear bag policy for all ticketed events, effective with the start of the 2018 football season. For more information on the clear bag policy, visit www.LionSports.net/clear.