SE Louisiana Buries Northwestern State Early, Wins 52-21
It was 21-0 before the first quarter ended, with 19 seconds to spare. Chad Elzy Jr. ran 32 yards for the first score, Calvin Smith Jr. added one from six yards out, and Kyle Lowe hit Lonnie Shinn from 25. SE Louisiana never trailed, and the 52-21 final was a formality for most of the evening.
The Lions kept stacking. Elzy scored again from four yards early in the second quarter to make it 28-0, and Northwestern State finally got on the board when Zach Wilcke found Brendan Webb for 43 yards. A Drew Talley field goal answered it, Wilcke and Camryn Davis connected from four yards to make it 31-14 right before halftime, and then the third quarter turned into a pileup. Smith scored from a yard out, and Dkhai Joseph returned a punt 68 yards for a touchdown with 23 seconds left in the quarter. That was 45-14 going into the fourth.
The ground game decided it. SE Louisiana ran 36 times for 302 yards, and Deantre Jackson had 104 of them on six carries (17.3 a try). Elzy's last touchdown was a 50-yard run early in the fourth. Northwestern State had more passing yards, 254 to 176, and a lot more mistakes: an interception and two lost fumbles to SE Louisiana's zero. Davis caught a six-yard touchdown with 5:28 left for the final margin.
SE Louisiana is 2-1. Northwestern State is 0-3.
Fantasy-wise, the best quarterback line on the field belonged to the losing side. Wilcke put up 32 points in a 31-point loss, which happens.