HAMMOND, La. – In a series that has been defined by one-score games, the 2026 version of the Lamar vs. Southeastern Louisiana contest followed a similar script, but unfortunately for the Red and White, the Lions got the upper hand Saturday, 34-31.
Lamar outgained SLU, 424-305, but it was a first-half stretch that saw the Lions score 21-unanswered that wound up costing Lamar (5-2/3-1 SLC). Junior
Aiden McCown finished the night completing 27-of-46 passes for 297 yards and two scores. McCown's favorite target was
Blake Thomas who hauled in seven passes for 109 yards and two touchdowns.
The Cardinals finished the night with 127 rushing yards led by 12 carries for 51 yards and a touchdown from
Jojo Uga.
Defensively, Lamar was led by
T.J. Nelson who ended the night with eight tackles, including five solo stops. Freshman
Mason Wuenschel added seven tackles including one for a loss, while
Andrew Huff recorded five stops, including 2.5 for losses with a sack.
"Tonight was a hard-fought game between two teams that want to be physical," said LU head coach Pete Rossomando. "They were obviously winning the line of scrimmage at times against us and we couldn't get off the field. We didn't tackle well and we settled for two field goals early. You just had a feeling that when they started hitting the gas on us in early we needed more than just field goals. It's always close game against them but we just didn't have enough to win."
Lamar got a 42-yard field goal from
Andres Sandoval on its opening drive and followed that up with another field goal less than eight minutes later to take a six-point lead but Southeastern answered with 21 consecutive points for a 21-6 advantage with 7:30 remaining in the opening half.
After Southeastern Louisiana claimed the 15-point lead, Lamar answered back with its final drive of the half. Uga capped a 15-play, 75-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run to pull the Cardinals back within eight, 21-13. The drive took 6:41 off the clock. The score left 49 seconds on the clock before halftime but Southeastern was unable to move the ball.
The Cardinals outgained SLU in the opening half, 198-178, with 132 of those yards coming through the air. The Cardinals dominated the time of possession holding the ball for nearly 11 minutes longer than their hosts.
On opening kickoff of the second half Albert Simon stripped the ball from Paul Kyree and it was recovered by
Caleb Holmes but Lamar was unable to take advantage of the miscue. The Lions eventually got the ball back and tacked on a one-yard run from quarterback Kyle Lowe to increase their advantage to 28-13.
The Cardinals would answer on their next possession when McCown guided Big Red on a six-play, 80-yard drive that ended with 26-yard TD pass to
Blake Thomas who was streaking alone down the near sideline.
After Southeastern made it an 11-point game with a field goal, the Cardinals would answer back on the ensuing drive – a 12-play, 57-yard drive that ended with an
Andres Sandoval 36-yard field goal (Sandoval's third make of the game). Following the LU field goal, Lamar's defense got a the three-and-out they were looking for only to have the ensuing punt touch a Cardinal and was recovered by the Lions.
Trailing by 11 late, the Cardinals got the ball back and McCown found Thomas from 20-yards out for the score. Lamar converted the two-point play to pull within three with less than a minute to play. Big Red needed to recover the onsides kick but Southeastern pounced on it and then ran out the clock.
The Cardinals return home Saturday, Oct. 24
th to host Houston Christian. The Homecoming contest against the Huskies is set to kick off at 3 p.m. from Provost Umphrey Stadium.
#PeckEmCards
