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LAKE CHARLES – McNeese gave Southeastern all it could handle on Homecoming night, but the Lions' defense came up big late to help seal a 28-27 Southland Conference win over the Cowboys.
 
Walker Wood, who was thrust into emergency quarterback duty when starter Knox Kadum was injured at Nicholls last week, gave the offense a spark, throwing for 203 yards and a touchdown on 14 of 20 passing while rushing for another 84 yards and a score.
 
Running back Deonta McMahon accounted for three touchdowns, two rushing and one receiving, and finished the game with 97 rushing yards on 22 carries.
 
McNeese (1-7, 0-4 SLC) scored on its opening drive with McMahon capping it on a 5-yard rush. But the PAT hold would be mishandled and the Cowboys led 6-0. That extra point would come back to haunt the Cowboys.
 
SLU (5-3, 2-1) scored the next 14 points to go up 14-6 but the Cowboys came back to-to-back scores in a 17-second span. The first on a 5-yard touchdown pass by Wood to McMahon to cut the Lions lead to 14-13 with 51 seconds to play in the first half. Then after a Tyler Barnes interception of Eli Sawyer's pass, Wood rushed up the middle on a quarterback draw for 42 yards and put McNeese back on top 20-14 with 34 seconds remaining.
 
The Lions made on final effort to get points before the half but Cephus Johnson's pass on a 2^nd-and-10 wouyld be picked off by Thomas Miles as the half would come to a close.
 
The Cowboys kept firing on all cylinders to start the second half despite the Lions pinning then at their own 1-yard line following a 58-yard punt by Austin Dunlap.
 
McNeese needed just five plays to march 99-yards, ending with a 3-yard touchdown run by McMahon to make it a 27-14 Cowboys' lead. The drive started with a 1-yard McMahon run. Then on 2^nd-and-9 from the 2, Wood found Jon McCall wide open over the middle for a 39-yard pick up. Two plays later Wood connected with McCall again for a 42-yard catch and run that set up McMahon's TD run.
 
SLU cut the gap to 27-21 when Johnson hit Ivan Drobocky for a 14-yard score then after the Cowboys punted away after a three-and-out series, Southeastern took the lead 28-27 when Carlos Washington scored from 1-yard out. The score was helped by a 75-yard pass by Johson to Drobocky from the SLU 16.
 
The Cowboys got the ball back with 5:48 to play but a sack on Wood on a 3^rd-and-11 play backed the Cowboys up to the 11 and forced a punt. The defense responded by forcing SLU to punt the ball away and McNeese had one final chance with 1:42 remaining starting at its own 8.
 
Wood was able to get the Cowboys to the SLU 35 with 42 seconds to play, but on 2^nd-and-10, his pass to Mason Pierce would be just out of reach as the ball tipped off his fingers and into the hands of Donté Daniels for the game-ending interception.
 
Offensively, McNeese tallied 385 total yards (203 passing, 182 rushing) while the Lions recorded 396 (250 passing, 146 rushing).
 
Jalen Johnson led the Cowboys with five catches while Pierce reeled in four passes.
 
Kordell Williams recorded 15 tackles while Barnes, Miles and Crajaun Bennett each had an interception.
 
Postgame Notebook:
• Walker Wood's 2^nd quarter touchdown pass to Deonta McMahon was the first TD pass of his collegiate career.
• Tyler Barnes intercepted a pass for the third consecutive game.
• Thomas Miles and Crajaun Bennett intercepted their first career passes.
• McNeese scored on its first possession the second time this season and it was just the second, first quarter TD on the season.
• McMahon's 3 TDs gives him 7 in the last two games and 11 on the season (9 rushing, 2 receiving).
• McMahon's 97 rushing yards increases his career total to 1,508 yards and moving him into 27^th all-time.
• The three interceptions are the most in a game since last Oct. 23 when the Cowboys defeated UIW 28-20.
• With 15 tackles, Kordell Williams becomes just the 14^th player in school history to record 300 in a career and his 308 total career tackles ties him for 10^th all-time with Trey Bennett.
• Scored TDs on all 3 red-zone chances improving that number to 12 for the last 12 with 11 TDs and one FG.
• Cowboys have picked off 7 passes in the last 3 games.
• Senior DL C.J. Semien was presented at halftime as McNeese Homecoming King.
• OL Calvin Barkat started his 24^th straight game while OL Cole LeClair started his 22^nd consecutive.
• The loss snapped a 9-game Homecoming winning streak as the Cowboys are now 57-20-1 all-time.