HAMMOND, Louisiana – Thanks to the running duo of Antonio Martin Jr. and Harlan Dixon, the Southeastern Louisiana University football team earned a hard-fought 28-24 victory over Eastern Washington in its home opener Saturday night at Strawberry Stadium.
With the win, SLU (1-2) improved its non-conference home record to 7-1 under head coach Frank Scelfo. Eastern Washington fell to 1-2 overall with the loss.
Dixon stormed in from 21 yards out on the first play of the fourth quarter and scored the eventual winning goal.
Southeastern stopped EWU in the red zone with just over five minutes left in the game. Martin carried the ball nine times for 58 yards and five first downs on SLU’s final drive as the Lions wiped the final 5:22 off the clock and tied the game.
Martin led the Lions offensively, finishing with 149 yards on 28 carries, while Dixon added 92 yards on nine carries and two scores. Martin’s yardage total was the most by an SLU runner in a game under Scelfo and the most by a Southeastern runner since Darren Johnson rushed for 178 yards against Lamar on Sept. 23, 2017.
After a 21-21 first half, the Lion defense limited Eastern Washington to three points over the final 30 minutes. Coryell Pierce led SLU with 11 tackles, the highest of the game, while Rowan Briggs, Joshua Randall, Kaleb Proctor and Dorian Davis all recorded sacks.
EWU quarterback Kekoa Visperas completed 21 of 28 passes for 243 yards and a touchdown. His top target was Efton Chism III, who caught seven passes for 83 yards, while Malik Dotson led the Eagles on the ground with 11 carries for 47 yards and two touchdowns.
After exchanging punts to start the game, Eastern Washington took an early lead on its second drive of the game. Dotson fired in from seven yards out to give the Eagles a 7-0 lead with 10:16 left in the first quarter.
Southeastern tied the score in the final minute of the first quarter. Eli Sawyer found Darius Lewis with a short swing pass and the speedster slipped into the right pylon to tie the score at 7-7 going into the second quarter.
After the teams went three times in a row, EWU regained the lead. A 32-yard run by Visperas capped a six-play, 63-yard drive that Dotson capped with a one-yard run to give the Eagles a 14-7 lead with 8:59 left in the first half.
Southeastern immediately answered on the ensuing drive. Dixon capped a six-play, 75-yard touchdown drive with a 35-yard run around left end to tie the game at 14-14 with 6:17 left in the second quarter.
After forcing a three-and-out, SLU took the lead for the first time this season. Sawyer found Brandon Hayes on a short screen and the Hattiesburg, Mississippi native threw the Jets on offense, scoring from 17 yards that gave the Lions a 21-14 lead with 1:40 left in the first half.
Eastern Washington responded and sent the game into halftime with a tie. Visperas found unmarked Noah Cronquist from 43 yards out to tie the game 21-21.
Southeastern made its first drive of the third quarter three-and-out, and Eastern Washington regained the lead. Soren McKee nailed a 36-yard field goal after an 11-play, 53-yard touchdown drive to give EWU a 24-21 lead with 8:42 left in the third quarter.
Both offenses penetrated opposing team territory on ensuing drives, but both attacks ended with the defense forcing turnovers. An 18-yard run by Rodeo Graham Jr. set up Dixon’s touchdown run early in the fourth quarter.
After the Lion defense forced Eastern Washington to punt, Southeastern again drove the ball into EWU territory. But on fourth and short, Brock Harrison stopped Martin Jr. without gaining any ground and gave the ball back to the Eagles.
A 23-yard pass from Visperas to Chism gave Eastern Washington a first down at the Lions’ 20-yard line. The Eagles only managed two more yards as Pierce, Donte’ Daniels and Kadan Lewis all made good tackles on Dotson’s runs. Facing a fourth-and-8 attempt at the Lions’ 18-yard line, Visperas outran Chism at the goal line and gave the ball back to SLU.
With Damon Stewart filling in for Sawyer and making his first appearance as a Lion at midfield, SLU put the game in Martin’s hands. The freshman from Atlanta savaged the Eagles defense and forced EWU to use all three remaining timeouts. Facing a third-and-one at Eastern Washington’s 24-yard line, Stewart handed the ball off one final time to Martin, who broke through for the game-winning first down and the Lions’ first win of 2024.
Saturday was the first of back-to-back home games for Southeastern, as the Lions welcome two-time defending FCS national champion South Dakota State to Strawberry Stadium for a Southland game on Sept. 21 at 6 p.m. The game between SLU and the visiting Jackrabbits will be broadcast on ESPN+ and can be heard live in the Hammond area on Kajun 107.1 FM, The Highway 104.7 FM and The Boss 103.7 FM/1400 AM.
EMU – 7 14 3 0 – 24 (1-2)
SLU – 7 14 0 7 – 28 (1-2)
1st quarter
EWU – Dotson 7 run (McKee kick), 10:16
SLU – Lewis 7 pass from Sawyer (Callaghan kick), 0:45
2nd quarter
EWU – Dotson 1 run (McKee kick), 8:59
SLU – Dixon 35 run (Callaghan kick), 6:17
SLU – Hayes 17 pass from Sawyer (Callaghan kick), 6:17
EWU – Cronquist 43 Pass from Visperas (McKee kick), 0:33
3rd quarter
EWU – McKee 36 FG, 8:43
4th quarter
SLU – Dixon 23 run (Callaghan kick), 14:53
TEAM STATISTICS EWU SLU
FIRST DOWNS 16 25 RUSHES YARDS (NET) 29-90 47-253 PASSING YDS (NET) 243 88
Passes Att-Comp-Int 24-15-0 28-21-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS – YARDS 57-333 71-341 Fumble Returns – Yards 0-0 0-0 Kickoff Returns – Yards 3-46 2-29 Punt Returns – Yards 0-0 4-39
Interception return yards 0-0 0-0
Punts (number average) 5-46.8 4-48.5
Fumble Lost 0-0 0-0
Penalty yards 4-50 4-40
Time of possession. 25:41 34:19
Third down conversions 3-12 6-13
Fourth Down Improvements 0-2 1-3 Red Zone Scoring Chances 3-4 2-2
RUSHING: EWU – Dotson 11-47, Altahir 10-24, Visperas 6-17, Taylor 1-2, Wortham 1-0. Overall – 29-90. SLU – Martin 28-149, Dixon 9-92, Graham Jr. 1-18, Stewart 3-9, Team 2-(-2), Sawyer 3-(-6), O’Sullivan 1-(-7). Overall – 47-253.
PASS: EMU – Visperas 21-28-0-243-1. Totals – 21-28-0-243-1. SLU – Sawyer 12-21-0-72-2, Stewart 15-24-0-88-16. Totals – 15-24-0-88-2.
RECEPTION: EWU – Chism III 7-83, Wlliams 5-41 Cronquist 4-71, Wortham 2-16, Dotson 1-18, Altahir 1-7, Murphy 1-7. Overall – 21-243. SLU – Lewis 6-32, Dixon 3-7, Hayes 2-19, Drobocky 2-15, Domingeaux 1-13, Rogers Jr. 1-2. Overall – 15-88.
A-5,387.
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