Southeastern defeated Eastern Washington 28-24 on Saturday night (Sept. 14) at Strawberry Stadium, securing a marquee victory over one of the FCS’ top programs. 

“I was pleased with the team’s performance tonight. Our guys did such a great job,” Head Coach Frank Scelfo said.

After an electric 21-21 first half of action, both defenses settled in the second, but it was the Lions who found paydirt via running back Harlan Dixon. 

The senior Slidell native accelerated into the end zone on the first play of the fourth quarter, giving SLU a four-point lead it would never relinquish. 

It appears the Lions have found something in their rushing attack, leaning on its veteran offensive line. 

Dixon carried the ball nine times for 92 yards and two touchdowns, while Antonio Martin Jr. rushed 28 times to the tune of 149 yards. 

Martin operated as a true bell cow against the Eagles, almost single-handedly icing the game by himself on the Lions’ final drive of the game. 

“We were more physical than our opponent. They said they were going to come in and beat us in our house, and we took that personally,” Martin said.

The Georgia Tech and Blinn College transfer accounted for all four first downs, powering through hapless defenders as Southeastern ran out the clock on Eastern Washington. 

The duo formed a formidable one-two punch against an Eagles’ defense that was left searching for answers. 

On the flip side, EWU had rushed for 265 and 206 in its first two games of the season, but SLU only surrendered 90, stopping its opponent short of the century mark. 

“The heart and passion that we’re playing with on defense…they struggled to move the football on us,” Scelfo said.

Senior safety Coryell Pierce had perhaps his best game in a Lions uniform, tallying 11 total tackles to pace the team. 

Fellow senior safety Khamron Ford produced eight tackles, including a tackle for loss, while senior linebacker Donte’ Daniels had seven. 

Southeastern’s defense produced three sacks on the night as defensive linemen Kaleb Proctor, Joshua Randall, Rowan Briggs and Dorian Davis all joined in on the party. 

Juniors Proctor and Randall had a sack each, while junior Briggs and the freshman Davis both combined for half a sack apiece.

On special teams, junior kicker Riley Callaghan converted all four of his extra point attempts. 

With the departure of former All-Southland punter Austin Dunlap, redshirt sophomore Alec Mahler and redshirt freshman Jack Hunter have been assigned punting duties for the Lions.

Both impressed, as Mahler punted twice for 103 yards while Hunter booted the ball twice for 91. 

Redshirt junior quarterback Eli Sawyer went down with an apparent injury late in the third quarter and never returned. 

However, it is suspected Sawyer was just suffering from cramps.

Before leaving the contest, the veteran signal caller was 12/21 for 72 yards and two touchdowns.

He was replaced by UAB and Alabama A&M transfer Damon Stewart, who completed all three of his pass attempts for 16 yards and rushed for nine on three attempts. 

In the unlikely case that Sawyer can’t go next week, sophomore transfer Tanner Murray could be sprung into action alongside Stewart. 

Murray arrived at SLU from Butler Community College during the offseason.

Senior preseason All-American and All-SLC selection Darius Lewis led all Southeastern receivers with six catches for 32 yards and a score.

Junior Southern Miss transfer Brandon Hayes hauled in a pair of grabs for 19 yards and a touchdown. 

Next up for the Green and Gold is an enormous matchup against two-time defending FCS national champions and No. 1 South Dakota State right here in Hammond, America. 

Come out and show your support, Lion fans! Pack the Berry loud and proudly. 

Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. at Strawberry Stadium and the game can be streamed live on ESPN+. Radio listeners can tune in to the Southeastern Sports Radio Network (Kajun 107.1 FM). 

For all things SLU sports, stay posted to The Lion’s Roar. 

Scoring Summary:

1st quarter (10:16) – EWU Malik Dotson 7-yard TD run (Soren McKee PAT)

1st quarter (0:45) – SLU Darius Lewis 7-yard TD pass from Eli Sawyer (Riley Callaghan PAT)

2nd quarter (8:59) – EWU Malik Dotson 1-yard TD run (Soren McKee PAT)

2nd quarter (6:17) – SLU Harlan Dixon 35-yard TD run (Riley Callaghan PAT)

2nd quarter (1:40) – SLU Brandon Hayes 17-yard TD pass from Eli Sawyer (RIley Callaghan PAT)

2nd quarter (0:33) – EWU Noah Cronquist 43-yard TD pass from Kekoa Visperas (Soren McKee PAT)

3rd quarter (8:42) – EWU Soren McKee 36-yard field goal 

4th quarter (14:53) – SLU Harlan Dixon 23-yard TD run (Riley Callaghan PAT)