Southeastern Sweeps Southland Football Player of the Week Awards
FRISCO, Texas – Southeastern’s Cole Kelley, Alexis Ramos and Gage Larvadain earned Southland Football Player of the Week honors, the league announced Monday. Weekly awards are presented by
GEICO.
Named the Offensive Player of the Week for the second-straight week and the third time this season, Kelley totaled 461 yards of total offense and seven total touchdowns in a 58-48 win over No. 25 Nicholls on Saturday. One of his touchdowns – a 76-yard touchdown pass – went to Gage Larvadain, who garners Special Teams Player of the Week recognition with a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown in the victory.
Defensive Player of the Week honors go to Ramos, who tallied a game-high 12 tackles for the Lions defense against the rival Colonels. Off to its best five-game start since 1980, Southeastern (4-1, 2-0 SLC) will take the field at Strawberry Stadium for the first time this fall against HBU at 4 p.m. CT Saturday.
Offensive Player of the Week: Cole Kelley, Southeastern – Senior – Quarterback – Lafayette, La.
The reigning Walter Payton Award winner completed 29-of-38 passes (76.3 percent) for 406 yards and five touchdowns, while also rushing for a team-high 55 yards and two scores in a shootout victory over No. 25 Nicholls. In addition to a pair of goal-to-go scoring strikes, Kelley threw touchdowns of 76, 30, 28 yards. After a three-and-out on the team’s opening drive, he led five-straight scoring drives as the team ran out to a 31-14 advantage.
Kelley has completed at least 73.2 percent of his passes in each of his last eight games, averaging 424.4 yards of total offense and totaling 39 touchdowns in that span. The Lions are 6-2 in those games with an average scoring output of 48.1 points per game. He has led the team in rushing in three of the last four contests with 159 yards on 45 totes with five touchdowns. Kelley is tied for sixth nationally with seven rushing touchdowns on the year.
Honorable Mention: Dai’Jean Dixon, Nicholls; SirMichael Veasley, Northwestern State.
Defensive Player of the Week: Alexis Ramos, Southeastern – Senior – Linebacker – Salinas, Calif.
Ramos was all over the field for the Lions in the victory over rival Nicholls with a game-high 12 tackles on the afternoon, including five solo stops. He recorded seven of his 12 wrap-ups in the final quarter with five on the Colonels’ second-to-last possession. This marks Ramos’ first career weekly honor.
Honorable Mention: Jordan Jackson, Nicholls; Jared Pedraza, Northwestern State; Brennan Young, HBU.
Special Teams Player of the Week: Gage Larvadain, Southeastern – Freshman – Wide Receiver – New Orleans, La.
After Nicholls cut the Lion lead to just three points late in the third quarter, Larvadain broke free for a 100-yard kickoff return for a touchdown, Southeastern’s first since 2017. The freshman, who averaged 33.6 yards per kick return in the win, also caught a 76-yard touchdown in the second quarter to finish the day with 254 all-purpose yards.
Honorable Mention: Scotty Roblow, Northwestern State.
Southland weekly award winners are nominated and voted upon by each school’s sports information director. Voting for one’s own athlete is not permitted. To earn honorable mention, a student-athlete must appear on 25 percent of ballots.
2021 Southland Football Players of the Week
Oct. 11 – Cole Kelley, SLU; Alexis Ramos, SLU; Gage Larvadain, SLU.
Oct. 4 – Cole Kelley, SLU; Kordell Williams, McNeese; Brady Buell, HBU
Sept. 27 – Lindsey Scott Jr., NICH; Kelechi Anyalebechi, UIW; Kevin Nguyen, UIW.
Sept. 20 – Cameron Ward, UIW; Corione Harris, McNeese; Mason Pierce, McNeese.
Sept. 13 – Dai’Jean Dixon, NICH; Kelechi Anyalebechi, UIW; Austin Dunlap, SLU.
Sept. 7 – Cole Kelley, SLU; Ferlando Jordan, SLU; Brady Buell, HBU.