Sophomore quarterback Lorenzo Nunez helped the Lions to defeat Houston Baptist 56-10 and win their fourth straight game.
Courtesy of Randy Bergeron 

The Lions football team took care of business at Houston Baptist University, winning their fourth straight game 56-10. The victory puts the Lions in third place in the Southland Conference and gives the team an above .500 winning percentage with an overall record of 4-3.

Head Coach Ron Roberts was impressed with the win and the dominance of the Lions offense against Houston Baptist, who has the second-best defense in the Southland Conference.

“Conference road wins are huge,” said Roberts. “But, obviously I think that getting a 56-10 win is pretty dominating against Houston Baptist, who plays a lot of people tough and has a stingy defense.”

The Lions offense dominated primarily through their rushing game getting 376 yards on the ground and 127 passing yards to make 503 total yards on offense. Freshman running back Marcus Cooper led the Lions with 123 rushing yards and scored one touchdown. This is the third straight game that Cooper has achieved over 100 yards rushing.

Junior running back Julius Maracalin ran in two touchdowns, and both senior running back Eugene Bethea and freshman running back Delmonte Hall each scored a rushing touchdown.

“I thought we executed very well,” said Roberts. “We started off running the ball and rushed for over 350 yards, and that is always key. It opened up some big plays in the passing game. We wanted to go out there and run the football very well, and we did.”

Both sophomore quarterback Lorenzo Nunez and freshman quarterback Byron Walker had time under center. Walker threw the only passing touchdown of the game to sophomore wide receiver Zeke Jenkins, which was his second touchdown pass of the season.

The Lions scored the most points in a single game this season, and Nunez believes that high scoring and big numbers on offense are always the key to success for the Lions.

“I don’t think we need to necessarily score this many points every time,” said Nunez. “We just need to continue to execute the way we have been these past few games. We did pretty good. Hopefully, we continue to produce like this the rest of the season.”

The defense scored two touchdowns for the Lions. Senior defensive back Ryan Sigers returned a fumble 80 yards for a touchdown, and senior defensive back Mayori Ellison caught his third interception of the season and returned it 85 yards for a touchdown.

Senior linebacker Sione Teuhema had five tackles and two sacks, while senior defensive back Max Lyons led the Lions with 14 tackles.

“I think our defense was pretty consistent,” said Roberts. “We had two defensive touchdowns, and I think this was the third or fourth week in a row that we held somebody to less than a hundred yards rushing. It was a dominating performance but still not our best.”

Roberts and the team are focused on their next opponent and not worrying too much about the future on where they will finish in the Southland Conference.

“We take them one at a time,” said Roberts. “We have another big game on the road again. Right now, we are just focusing on Abilene Christian. Hopefully, we get another conference victory on the road, that would be big for us.”

The Lions will face Abilene Christian University away on Oct. 21 at 2:30 p.m.

Linebackers Sean Clavelle and Sione Teuhema both get a tackle in the win against Houston Baptist.
Courtesy of Randy Bergeron