FRISCO – Southeastern Louisiana and Lamar dropped their first-round matchups in the NCAA Division I FCS Playoffs, while No. 7 SFA now turns its attention to a second-round showdown with No. 10 Abilene Christian. Here is this week’s Round 1 Playoff Rundown.
Illinois State 21, #16 Southeastern 3
No. 15/17 Southeastern Louisiana fell 21–3 to No. 17 Illinois State on Saturday afternoon at Strawberry Stadium.
Four turnovers proved too costly for the Lions (9–4), who outgained the Redbirds 321–292 but were unable to capitalize on their yardage advantage. Jakyri Jones anchored the SLU defense with 12 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, and a forced fumble recovered by Zach Johnson. Khamron Ford and Shakespeare Louis added eight tackles apiece.
Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year KK Reno posted seven tackles, finishing the season with 126—sixth-most in school history. SLC Player of the Year and Buck Buchanan Award finalist Kaleb Proctor, along with Evan Aubrey, each registered a sack. Proctor closed his senior campaign with nine sacks, tied for the second-most in a single season by a Lion.
Quarterbacks Carson Camp (14–21, 120 yards, 3 INT) and Kyle Lowe (10–18, 94 yards, 1 INT) split time for SLU. All-SLC standouts Jaylon Domingeaux (six catches, 78 yards) and Deantre Jackson (six catches, 27 yards) led the receiving corps, while Jaedon Henry paced the rushing attack with 45 yards on eight carries.
#10 Abilene Christian 38, Lamar 20
Abilene Christian stormed out to a 24–0 first-half lead, and although Lamar cut the deficit to 10 in the third quarter, the Cardinals ultimately fell 38–22 Saturday afternoon at Wildcat Stadium.
The loss concludes Lamar’s season at 8–5 (.615) after the program’s first 13-game campaign. The Cardinals reached the NCAA FCS Playoffs for just the second time in school history and the first since 2018.
Lamar finished with 361 yards of total offense, including 266 through the air. Sophomore quarterback Aiden McCown went 15–31 for 266 yards and two touchdowns, adding 47 rushing yards and a score. Senior Izaha Jones hauled in three passes for 91 yards, including a 77-yard touchdown, while Jaydn Girard added a late TD grab.
Defensively, Edward Gilds and Etelridge McKinney led Lamar with seven tackles each. Kristian Pugh, Paul Omodia, Andrew Huff, and C.J. Miller all contributed six tackles.