by HAMMOND – Nathan Stanley (Cherokee Nation) completed 8 of 9 passes for 194 yards and three touchdowns, while running for a score, and Brian Young went 7-for-11 for 96 yards and a touchdown strike as the Southeastern Louisiana University offense posted a 67-35 win over the defense in the annual Spring Game on Saturday at the Southeastern Practice Fields.
Blane Arnold caught a team-high four passes for 101 yards and a touchdown as the offense accounted for five touchdowns and seven field goals. Dean Johnson caught three passes for 80 yards, including a 40-yard touchdown on the game’s first play, while Chris Malott added three receptions for the offense.
“The biggest plusses for me today was that we protected the football well on offense and were real efficient when we got down inside the (defense’s) 40-yard line,” Southeastern head coach Ron Roberts said. “Our quarterbacks did a great job in protecting the football, especially in the early part of the scrimmage and that was a real positive. We were more physical today and I thought we got better as a football team.”
Stanley, in his first spring with the Lions after transferring last summer from Ole Miss, completed his first six passes including his pass to Johnson on the first play and a 60-yard scoring pass to Arnold. Stanley, who added a 1-yard scoring run on the offense’s third series, completed the day with a 27-yard TD pass to former Lion basketball standout DeShawn Patterson.
Young drove the Lions down field on his opening possession as he connected with Carl Pearson on a 24-yard scoring pass. The senior added a pair of key third-down conversions for the offense as he hit Reshad Douglas on an 18-yard gain and Malott on a 17-yard strike.
Sam Fairley led the Southeastern rushing game with 48 yards on 10 carries with Blaine LeBlanc adding 44 on seven carries. Jordan Wells (10 carries, 21 yards) and Zeke Jones (6-20) were part of a physical ground attack that helped the Lions produce 14 first downs.
“The first part, offensively, was real impressive with our quarterbacks and receivers,” Roberts said. “Dean Johnson made some great catches and had some great runs. There were a lot of players who stood out today. Sam Fairley and Zeke Jones made some great runs, Blaine LeBlanc made some tough runs.
“And that’s what we’ve harping on them (running backs), being physical and finishing runs. We’ve got to be that physical football team that can run the ball and I was pleased with our offensive line and our running backs the way we handled that today.”
Theo Alexander led the Southeastern defense with seven tackles with Drew Misita adding six. John Roberts, Justin Church and Marice Sutton each added four stops for the defense, while Paul Kopesky was credited with an interception and Kaleb Muse recovered a fumble after Tyler Stoddard stripped Malott of the football after a 10-yard gain.
Ryan Adams and Seth Sebastian combined on seven field goals for the offense with Adams connecting from 28, 22, 35, 52 and 31 yards. Sebastian booted field goals from 41 and 31 yards.
“I think we came light years (as a team), we’re a lot farther along than where we were,” Roberts said. “I thought we got better every time we scrimmaged and I think we came a lot farther today than we did a week ago. The progress has been great to see, but we just have to keep doing it. We can’t stop now.”
Southeastern will open the 2012 season on Sept. 1 against SEC newcomer Missouri before opening its five-game home schedule on Sept. 8 against Missouri Valley Football Conference member South Dakota State at Strawberry Stadium.
Tickets for the 2012 season are available from the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office by calling (985) 549-5466 or 866-LION-TIX.
Information from Southeastern Louisiana University @ http://www.lionsports.net/news/2012/3/31/FB_0331125940.aspx
