The Lions (5-2, 3-0 SLC) rolled the Demons (1-6, 0-3 SLC) 49-0 on Homecoming night to stay in the Southland Conference race.

The junior running back Deantre Jackson gave Southeastern the lead with a receiving touchdown in the first quarter and ran through Northwestern State’s defense with two rushing touchdowns for 40 yards. 

While helping run up the score, freshman running back Calvin Smith Jr. scored himself a rushing touchdown for SLU and finished the game with 70 rushing yards.

In the pocket, Kyle Lowe threw for 134 yards and a touchdown to junior wide receiver Jaylon Domingeaux, who finished the night with 74 receiving yards in four receptions.

“With our preparations for the last two weeks, we used some new stuff we installed in our game plans and executed it at a higher level, which I think the team played great on both sides of the ball,” Head Coach Frank Scelfo said. 

On the other side of the ball, the Lions held NSU to zero points the entire game with five sacks and kept their offense limited to 96 yards in the air and 68 yards on the ground.

Special teams also had a fun night with a kickoff return from senior wide receiver Brandon Hayes and two field goals kicked by the graduate student Guillermo Garcia.

Despite winning against UTRGV last week, the team faced issues that needed to be addressed, and senior defensive back Khamron Ford noted the team wasn’t playing up to its standard.

After Southeastern blew out McNeese and Northwestern State, the team felt in sync and performed up to their expectations.

“I feel like we played up to our standard this time and we’re well-rounded on defense and offense, we did what we were supposed to do by applying our energy and focus on what needs to get done like we do every week,” Ford said.

In the Southland Conference, Southeastern remains locked in an undefeated showdown with Lamar and Stephen F. Austin to see who will fall first.

However, LU is already favored by the conference since they defeated No. 4 South Dakota earlier in the season and continue to grow their resume by defeating conference teams.

Similar to last year, the Lions were tied for the top spot with UIW and fell 34-31 due to a missed field goal that would have sent the game to overtime.

Southeastern this year looks to be better than last year and has excellent chances to take the SLC with recruited veteran talent from players in the transfer portal.

The future isn’t certain, as SLU still has to stay undefeated against HCU and East Texas before traveling to Lamar.

Next week, the Lions face off against the HCU Huskies on Saturday, Oct. 25, at 2 p.m. in Houston, Texas.

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