THE OFFICIAL HOME OF McNEESE ATHLETICS

HAMMOND - Southeastern Louisiana scored three touchdowns in the final 15:48 of the game to rally from a 17-0 deficit and defeat McNeese, 21-17, in Southland Conference action on Saturday night.
 
The loss snapped McNeese's two-game winning streak and sees its record fall to 5-6 overall and 4-4 in league play. SLU improved to 5-6 and 3-5 while ending its three-game losing streak.
 
McNeese's defense dominated for most of the first three quarters, intercepting two passes, scoring on one, while special teams scored on a blocked punt.
 
It took a 54-yard touchdown strike for the Lions with 48 seconds left in the third quarter to break the Cowboys' defensive stronghold. From there, the Lions scored two more fourth quarter touchdowns, one on a fumble return, while McNeese's offense never seemed to get started.
 
McNeese totaled 167 yards of offense, 117 rushing and 50 passing on 8 of 16 passes. Omiri Wiggins, the league's No. 1 rusher, ran for 89 yards on 19 carries to lead all ball carriers and giving him 807 on the season. Jake Strong and Brady Barrier split quarterback duties. Strong playing the first half, completing 5 of 9 passes for 35 yards and an interception while Barrier, playing in the second half, completed 3 of 7 passes for 15 yards. McNeese was sacked five times in the game.
 
The Lions weren't much better offensively but produced when needed. SLU finished with 297 yards, 166 rushing and 131 passing. The Lions recorded 100 of those yards in the fourth quarter alone.
 
McNeese reached the end zone first when Kandyn Cordova blocked a Jack Hunter punt at the 5-yard-line and was scooped up by Sandy Lewis at the 2 and run in for the score.
 
The Cowboys' defense came up big again midway through the second quarter when Safir Stills-Bey picked off a Kyle Lowe pass after it bounced off the hands of his receiver, and returned it 17 yards for the touchdown, making it 14-0 with 5:30 to play in the quarter. I was Stills-Bey's first career interception and second touchdown on the season. Against Texas Wesleyan, Stills-Bey returned a blocked field goal 70 yards for a touchdown.
 
Another big defensive stand came in the waning seconds of the second quarter with Southeastern threatening to score. On 2nd-and-10 at the McNeese 20, Lowe's long pass to the end zone was off the hands of the Lions' receiver and into the hands of McNeese's Jermaine Hargraves who was able to run out of bounds at the 1 with 28 seconds to play. McNeese ran out the remainder of the clock to take a 14-0 lead into the half.
 
Southeastern possessed the ball to start the second half. The Cowboys' defense provided key stops, forcing a couple of Lions' punts. Barrier replaced Strong at quarterback to start the second half and moved the Cowboys in position where Deaglan Camron connected on a 39-yard field goal to build the lead to 17-0 with 1:10 to play in the third.
 
The Lions responded quickly to end the third on a 54-yard pass by Lowe to Deantre Jackson to get SLU on the board. The short field was a result of a 29-yard Blake Smith kickoff return to start the drive at the SLU 46. A missed extra-point made it a 17-6 McNeese lead with 48 seconds to go in the third quarter.
 
On McNeese's ensuing possession, Barrier lost the ball on a Khalid Moore sack where the loose ball was scooped up and returned for a 28-yard touchdown by Jake Dalmado. McNeese's lead was cut to 17-14 after the two-point conversion with 14:27 to play in the fourth.
 
Notebook:
• Kandyn Cordova's blocked punt was the first by a McNeese player since the 2024 season (Cody Smith vs. Alcorn State, Sept. 21, 2024).
• Sandy Lewis 2-yard blocked punt recovery for a touchdown was the first for McNeese since that same game against Alcorn State on Sept. 21, 2024 (Jaylen Jackson recovered in the end zone).
• McNeese scored two defensive TDs for the first time since Nov. 13, 2021 vs. HCU.