The Lions (3-6, 4-2) were going into their last home game Saturday night against the Stephen F. Austin (SFA) Lumberjacks (4-6, 3-3) coming off of a devastating 70-0 loss at Sam Houston State, but this did not stop the team from putting on a stellar performance. With a final score of 42-27, the Lions brought home a win for the fans and for the sixteen seniors who graduate this December.
The conference win puts the Lions in third place with only one game left to play in the regular season.
Senior quarterback Nathan Stanley felt good about leaving behind his home field with a huge win on his back.
“It was awesome; it’s a good feeling,” Stanley said. “We took a nasty one last week, and it’s awesome to come back this week and bounce back from it.”
Freshman running backs Rasheed Harrell and Xavier Roberson made sure the ball was always moving down the field. Six minutes into the first quarter, Roberson made the first touchdown of the night rushing for 30 yards.
A strong start continued to build momentum as junior wide receiver Tony McCrea returned a punt by freshman SFA kicker Nick Bruno for 54 yards for the touchdown. The score was 14-0 within only seven minutes of the first quarter, but near the end Stanley’s incomplete pass to sophomore wide receiver Marquis Fruge’ changed the momentum.
In the second quarter, Harrell made a 20-yard rush for the first down to start off with, but four penalties and six incomplete passes were responsible for a stall.
Senior left tackle Gasten Gabriel was called on a false start, and gave the team a five yard penalty, and sophomore wide receiver Chris Malott was called for an illegal block that set them back ten yards. Stanley was penalized for intentional grounding, and then threw three consecutive incomplete passes.
At this point, the Lions had gained zero yards and SFA had just scored their third touchdown. Roberson, however, brought the score to 21-20 by halftime.
“I got to give credit to my whole line, and running backs. They really ran the ball great. Rasheed and Xavier, they did a hell of a job running the football,” Stanley said.
Offensively, SFA struggled in the third quarter, and their boom began to die down. Freshman quarterback Joe Minden threw four incomplete passes gaining only 50 yards in eleven plays. Midway through the third, Roberson and Harrell had a combined 42 rushing yards until sophomore tight end Jeremy Meyers made the final 26 yards for his first career touchdown.
Meyers was thrilled to be able to help out his senior teammates with a touchdown for the first time.
“It’s very exciting. I saw that end zone and just got excited, so I was just glad to be there, and glad to do it for these seniors,” Meyers said.
The score was tied, but then Harrell closed out the third strongly with a 28-yard rush for the touchdown. The Lions were going into the final quarter with an eight point lead, strong rushes and better passing than the second quarter, so it was no surprise when Roberson scored the final touchdown of the night and brought the final score to 42-27.
Now the team has the chance to finish out 5-2 in conference, if they win at Nicholls State next Thursday, Nov. 15 at 6 p.m.
“We’ve got a chance to go 5-2, something that hasn’t been done before,” said senior Robert Alford. “In the past we had some bad seasons, but now we want the younger guys to know that they can win it.”
The team had faith in Coach Ron Roberts as he guided them through the end of the game, according to Alford. “He told us to keep our minds straight, and execute the plays that he called and we’ll come away victorious,” said Alford.
In a press conference after the game, Roberts said that securing the last home game of the season was vital to the team and the fans.
“We had to commit to running the football, and this win was really huge,” Roberts said. “The fans have been outstanding all year, and to finish the last home game like this, to give them that excitement, for our off season until next year, is leaving a good taste in their mouth, and it shows the future of what’s to hold for this program.”