The Lions have continued to be undefeated in Strawberry Stadium by defeating Houston Baptist in the Homecoming Game 37-3 with quarterback D’Shaie Landor in for an injured Justin Alo. The rushing attack was at its best, finishing the game with a season high 334 yards adding to their season high total of 563 offensive yards.
Jonathan Rhodes/The Lion's Roar
The climax of Homecoming ended with the third straight victory for the Lions football team as they beat the Houston Baptist Huskies 37-3.
The Lions had their season high, 563 yards on offense and the defense forced three fumbles, but recovered only two. The defense also had one interception. This win improves the Lions overall record to 4-3 and 4-1 in the Southland Conference.
“It was a big win at Homecoming,” said Head Coach Ron Roberts. “The fans, the school, the alumni and the former athletes getting a chance to come here and celebrate a win is always great. I’m proud of our guys. Houston Baptist is a good football team. I was pleased with the offense racking up 500 yards and it was the best night of protecting the football. Landor stepped in and had a great night throwing the football.”
Senior quarterback Justin Alo was out due to an injury sustained in the previous game at Stephen F. Austin. Senior quarterback D’Shaie Landor threw for 229 yards and had two touchdowns in his first start since the first game of the season.
“It was huge,” said Roberts. “It is a luxury to have two guys ready to go. We have faith in D’Shaie and he showed up and played well. I don’t think the offense missed a beat. He threw the ball well.”
The defense held the Huskies to only three points for the game and caused three total turnovers in the game. Junior defensive backs Max Lyons and Javon Tillman both led the team with eight tackles while junior defensive back Demareyeh Lane recorded his first interception of the season.
“I think it was the most solid performance for the defense,” said Roberts. “I thought we played a little sluggish early on the drive where they scored three. I thought our guys played consistent and there was some really good communication. We have seen that for the last three weeks. We are not playing our best ball yet which is great. We need to play our best when it is needed.”
At halftime, the Homecoming King and Queen were announced along with the winners of the various Homecoming contests. Despite the hype and excitement leading up to the game, the players tried to treat the game as just another game.
“It’s pretty exciting,” said Landor. “Sometimes you try not to think about it so that it’s not as big of a deal. It’s just another game honestly. We look at it as another big game, another chance to get better and step up in our conference.”
The Lions racked up a season high 334 rushing yards for the game with senior running back Rasheed Harrell finishing with 84 yards and one touchdown placing him eighth in Lions all-time rushing list. Sophomore running back Julius Maracalin ran a touchdown along with fellow junior running back Darius Durall who scored his first touchdown as a Lion.
“We got multiple options,” said Roberts. “Kaelyn runs well, Darius comes in to finish the game we’re deep in the running game. Rasheed was hot early and made a big time run. It’s a huge game and it’s a luxury to have those guys cause we need them because you are going to get banged up. We planned to feed the ball to Rasheed a little more in the second half he got a little dinged up so we had to pull him out.”
This Saturday the Lions will play their first back to back home game against Central Arkansas at 2:30 p.m. This will be the Hall of Fame game for the Lions where the inductees will be honored at halftime.
The Lions have continued to be undefeated in Strawberry Stadium by defeating Houston Baptist in the Homecoming Game 37-3 with quarterback D’Shaie Landor in for an injured Justin Alo. The rushing attack was at its best, finishing the game with a season high 334 yards adding to their season high total of 563 offensive yards.
Jonathan Rhodes/The Lion's Roar
The band preparing to performing for the Homecoming game.
Jonathan Rhodes/The Lion's Roar
The Lions have continued to be undefeated in Strawberry Stadium by defeating Houston Baptist in the Homecoming Game 37-3 with quarterback D’Shaie Landor in for an injured Justin Alo. The rushing attack was at its best, finishing the game with a season high 334 yards adding to their season high total of 563 offensive yards.
Jonathan Rhodes/The Lion's Roar
The Lions have continued to be undefeated in Strawberry Stadium by defeating Houston Baptist in the Homecoming Game 37-3 with quarterback D’Shaie Landor in for an injured Justin Alo. The rushing attack was at its best, finishing the game with a season high 334 yards adding to their season high total of 563 offensive yards.
Jonathan Rhodes/The Lion's Roar
The Lions have continued to be undefeated in Strawberry Stadium by defeating Houston Baptist in the Homecoming Game 37-3 with quarterback D’Shaie Landor in for an injured Justin Alo. The rushing attack was at its best, finishing the game with a season high 334 yards adding to their season high total of 563 offensive yards.
Jonathan Rhodes/The Lion's Roar