HAMMOND – McNeese came up short to Southeastern Louisiana 38-24 on Saturday night but the Cowboys got to see flashes of their quarterback of the future in true freshman Kamden Sixkiller who made his debut late in the second quarter.
 
The Norman, Oklahoma native entered the game late in the second quarter and played the entire second half, completing 9 of 19 passes for 130 yards, a touchdown and an interception, a long-ball down the middle on 3^rd-and-long that would have equaled the distance of a nice punt.
 
"I thought we showed flashes tonight, just not consistent enough to win the game," said head coach Gary Goff. "Sixkiller made some nice plays and some rookie mistakes as expected. Overall it came down to a couple of critical plays and we had trouble stopping the quarterback run there. We have to keep putting our guys in position to make plays and finish the season strong. We have two games left."
 
Southeastern (2-7, 2-3 SLC) rolled up 491 yards of offense on the day with 333 of those coming on the ground. Lions' quarterback Zachary Clement led with 114 yards while Bauer Sharp lined up behind center for three snaps and gaining 38 yards. Clement completed 15 of 27 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns with two interceptions.
 
The Cowboys (1-8, 1-4) finished with 376 yards – 183 rushing and 193 passing. A total of 228 of those yards came in the second half.
 
D'Angelo Durham made his return to action after missing the last seven quarters due to an injury and led the team with 78 yards and a touchdown while Joshon Barbie added 68 yards.
 
SLU scored on its opening possession, driving 63 yards on 10 plays and ending with a 17-yard pass by Clement to Darius Lewis four minutes into the game. The Cowboys answered back quickly when starting QB Ryan Roberts found Jonathan Harris for a 54-yard score on the ensuing possession and tying the game 7-7 three minutes later.
 
The Lions scored 14 straight to go up 21-7 then were looking to get a late field goal to make give them a three-score lead, but Welland Williams blocked the 23-yard field goal and score remained at the half.
 
Sixkiller started the second half and on the first play from scrimmage, found a wide-open Jihad Marks for a 77-yard score and pulling the Cowboys to within 21-14 with just 20 second gone in the quarter. The Lions used their running attack to go back up by two scores then on McNeese's next possession, settled for a 41-yard field goal by Garrison Smith to cut the margin to 28-17 with 8:25 on the clock.
 
On the play before, Sixkiller threw just off the finger-tips of receiver Makhi Paris who had open field for a touchdown if caught.
 
Micah Davey came up with a big quarterback strip-sack and fumble recovery on the Lions' next possession, giving the Cowboys the ball back at the SLU 32, and six plays later, Durham ran it in for a 4-yard touchdown to cut the gap to 28-24.
 
But the Lions scored their next two touchdowns off McNeese turnovers to give them their 38-24 lead.
 
McNeese forced three turnovers in the game, marking the second time this season to do so (vs. Tarleton). Masey Lewis and Sedric Applewhite each intercepted a pass while Davey recovered a fumble. Davey led in the tackling department with 16 total stops while Jamari Evans recorded 11.
 
Notebook:
• With his 77-yard touchdown throw in the third quarter, Kamden Sixkiller became the first Cowboy true freshman to throw a TD pass since Cody Stroud in the 2010 season.
• McNeese head coach Gary Goff made his first appearance in Strawberry Stadium since 2004 when he was an assistant coach for the Lions.
• QB Ryan Roberts started for the second straight game and returned to the stadium that he grew up running in when his father, Ron Roberts, was head coach from 2012-17.
• Jonathan Harris's 54-yard touchdown catch-and-run was his first score this season… he became just the second receiver to score on the year (Jon McCall has five TD catches).
• OL Cole Leclair and OL Dylan Dauzart started their 19^th consecutive game dating back to last season.
• Adding in his starts at Valdosta State prior to transferring to McNeese, Leclair has started 33 straight games.
• Wide receivers Jon McCall and Makhi Paris extended their streak of making at least one catch, now at seven straight games.
• True freshman Kamden Sixkiller made his collegiate debut with 2:44 to play in the second quarter and completed his first pass – five yards to Jon McCall.
• McNeese's Welland Williams' blocked field goal late in the second quarter was the first blocked FG of the season for the Cowboys and the first since last November against Eastern Illinois.