Southeastern moves to 12th in AFCA FCS Coaches Poll

HAMMOND, La. – The Southeastern Louisiana University football team continues to be listed in the Stats Perform FCS Top 25 and AFCA FCS Coaches Top 25 polls which were released Monday.

The Lions (8-2, 6-1 Southland) moved up a spot to No. 12 in the AFCA Coaches Poll after Saturday’s 56-28 victory over Northwestern State. Despite winning for the seventh time in its last eight games and keeping its hopes for a Southland Conference championship alive, Southeastern moved down a spot in the Stats Perform poll to No. 15.

Southeastern finished with 554 total yards and set a new single-game completion percentage record in Saturday’s win over the Demons. Senior quarterback Cole Kelley was named the College Football Performance Awards FCS National Performer of the Week after finishing 19-of-22 for 363 yards and four touchdown passes.

Anthony Spurlock caught a pair of scoring tosses, while Gage Larvadain and Damien Dawson also hauled in touchdown passes. Kelley, Taron Jones, Joseph Wilson and Cephus Johnson III each scored rushing touchdowns in the win for the Lions. SLU is averaging 48.6 points and 573.7 yards per contest after posting its FCS-high sixth game of the season with 50 or more points.

Defensively on Saturday, Zy Alexander recorded an interception for the fourth straight game, while Chinedu Ogbonna also picked off a pass. Alexis Ramos led Southeastern with 11 tackles, while John Graves III contributed two sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss. The Lion defense is third in FCS with 16 interceptions heading into the regular season finale.

The Lions will clinch a share of the Southland Conference championship with a win over Nicholls in Thursday’s River Bell Classic at 6 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium. The game will be televised on ESPN+ and can be heard in the Hammond area on Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM and The Boss 103.7 FM/1400 AM, as well as online at www.kajun107.net.

Approximately 30 minutes prior to kickoff, the SLU senior class will be honored in a Senior Day ceremony.

Stats Perform FCS Top 25
Team (First-place votes) Record Points Prv.
1. Sam Houston (50) 9-0 1,250 1
2. James Madison 9-1 1,182 2
3. Montana State 9-1 1,163 3
4. North Dakota State 9-1 1,096 5
5. Eastern Washington 8-2 1,013 7
6. Villanova 8-2 938 8
7. Montana 8-2 889 9
8. ETSU 9-1 811 11
9. Kennesaw State 9-1 802 10
10. UC Davis 8-2 749 6
11. Sacramento State 8-2 721 12
12. South Dakota State 7-3 701 4
13. UT Martin 9-1 686 13
14. Missouri State 7-3 600 16
15. Southeastern 8-2 577 14
16. South Dakota 7-3 552 19
17. Southern Illinois 7-3 546 15
18. UIW 8-2 479 17
19. Jackson State 9-1 373 18
20. Dartmouth 8-1 252 T22
21. Mercer 7-2 228 NR
22. Stephen F. Austin 7-3 105 NR
23. Florida A&M 8-2 96 NR
24. Princeton 8-1 93 NR
25. Rhode Island 7-3 76 NR

Others Receiving Votes: Northern Iowa 64, Monmouth 61, Holy Cross 37, VMI 25, Chattanooga 21, William & Mary 17, Prairie View A&M 14, North Dakota 11, Eastern Kentucky 7, Sacred Heart 7, Harvard 4.

AFCS FCS Coaches Top 25
Team (First-place votes) Record Points Prv.
1. Sam Houston (27) 9-0 698 1
2. James Madison 9-1 665 2
3. Montana State (1) 9-1 644 3
4. North Dakota State 9-1 575 6
5. Kennesaw State 9-1 563 5
6. Eastern Washington 8-2 559 8
7. Montana 8-2 510 9
8. UT Martin 9-1 486 10
9. Villanova 8-2 465 11
10. ETSU 9-1 444 12
11. UC Davis 8-2 413 4
12. Southeastern 8-2 381 13
13. South Dakota State 7-3 362 7
14. Missouri State 7-3 326 14
15. Southern Illinois 7-3 294 16
16. South Dakota 7-3 278 17
17. Jackson State 9-1 277 15
18. Sacramento State 8-2 246 18
19. UIW 8-2 187 21
20. Princeton 8-1 147 22
21. Dartmouth 8-1 136 23
22. Stephen F. Austin 7-3 99 NR
23. Mercer 7-2 88 NR
24. Monmouth 7-3 86 NR
25. Florida A&M 8-2 53 NR

Others Receiving Votes: Holy Cross 35, Rhode Island 33, Chattanooga 18, Eastern Kentucky 17, Northern Iowa 5, VMI 4, Weber State 4, Central Arkansas 3, William & Mary 3, Jacksonville State 2, Maine 2, Harvard 1, Sacred Heart 1.

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.