Three weeks ago, the names Xavier Roberson and Rasheed Harrell meant little to Lions fans.
Roberson was a freshman cornerback buried deep on the depth chart, while Harrell watched from the sidelines, having been slapped with a redshirt his freshman season. However, against Northwestern State this past Saturday, the two combined for 132 yards on the ground and two touchdowns – as Southeastern’s starting running backs. A solid ground game has led the Lions to an undefeated record in Southland Conference (SLC) play.
 “If we want to win a conference play we have to get better every week,” said head coach Ron Roberts, who received his 50th career victory with the win against the Demons.
The Lions gained 356 total yards on offense as Roberson led the Lions with 85 yards rushing and two touchdowns. Since senior Michael Chaney went down with a knee injury versus Lamar, Roberson has been a key figure in the action for the Lions, gaining 130 yards in two weeks. Coach Roberts commended his young guys on stepping up to the plate.
“They’re handling it very well,” said Roberts. “We’ll expect them to perform at a very high level, and I think they can.”
Roberson received his first career touchdown against the Demons at the start of the second quarter, when he broke a 34-yard run.
While the running game propelled the Lions to a win, senior quarterback Nathan Stanley completed 17 of his 27 passes and threw a touchdown.
The offensive line has yet to give up a sack in conference play, despite giving up 13.5 sacks in four non-conference games.
Defensively, the Lions were led by senior linebacker Devan Walker, who posted two of the Lions’ six sacks. Walker is tied for the conference lead with five sacks on the season.
“The defense played really well,” said Roberts. “There are a couple things we need to clean up. We were really efficient, but there’s room for improvement.”
The Lions will have a bye week before going up against Central Arkansas on Oct. 27 for the Homecoming game at Strawberry Stadium for 7 p.m.
Central Arkansas is currently ranked second in the SLC. The game will be broadcast live on 90.9 KSLU-FM in the Hammond area and on www.lionsports.net.