HAMMOND – A couple of early punches forced the Northwestern State football team to play from behind Saturday afternoon.
 
Homestanding Southeastern turned two of its first three drives into long touchdown marches, and the Demons never were able to recover as they fell to the Lions 41-0 in Southland Conference action at Strawberry Stadium.
 
"We started off extremely slow, and that's disappointing," first-year head coach Blaine McCorkle said. "I stand by what I said. That's the best team we'll play in conference play all year. They're big. They're tough. They're physical. They're well coached. They know what to do. We had a handful of guys who didn't show up to play today until it was too late, and that's unacceptable.
 
"As we're building this thing, we have to continue to get that corrected. We'll go back to work, move on and get ready for McNeese next week."
 
Down 7-0 in the first quarter, the Demons (0-10, 0-5) saw their pre-bye week red zone issues resurface.
 
After consecutive chunk plays – including a highlight-reel 26-yard grab by Ray Mckneely-Harris – brought Northwestern to the Southeastern 7-yard line, Zay Davis appeared headed for the tying score only to see Keydrain Calligan punch the ball free into the end zone where the Lions recovered to scuttle the 10-play, 83-yard drive.
 
Following the Demons' first turnover of the game, Northwestern fell to two scores in its past six red-zone opportunities. It also marked the second time in as many games the Demons built a drive of double-figure plays only to come away empty.
 
Both such drives came on the Demons' second possession of the game as their second drive against Lamar covered 14 plays and 66 yards before ending with a missed field goal.
 
Three plays and 80 yards after Davis' fumble, the Lions (6-5, 5-1) doubled their lead on Eli Sawyer's 40-yard pass to Darius Lewis.
 
"We poke that thing in there and it's very well 14-7 or 7-7 at the half," McCorkle said. "It really is. Those are things that we are not in a place where we can overcome them. Ball security is a big deal. Zay Davis is a good football player, and he's going to be a good football player for us, and I'm not down on him, but we have to take care of the ball and find a few more first downs. Sometimes, we're our own worst enemy. That's part of youth, building a football program and growing through it – all things we need to get corrected."
 
The Demon defense course corrected itself in the second quarter, holding the Lions to three straight three and outs inside the SLU 20-yard line.
 
Despite starting the next three drives at their 35 or better, the Demons could not convert them into any points. After gaining 96 yards in the first quarter, Northwestern managed 44 yards in the final three quarters.
 
The Northwestern defense held up well in the first half thanks in large part to Jeremiah Keppard's first career interception – a diving pick at the Demon 5-yard line that ended an SLU scoring threat – and a goal-line stand that turned a first-and-goal from the 5-yard line into a field goal.
 
The wear and tear showed in the second half as the Lions ran for 124 of their 233 total rushing yards in the final 30 minutes.
 
"The defense continues to play hard – a lot of guys continue to play hard – but you get them stopped and you have a lot of stupid, cheap penalties to help them out," McCorkle said. "We can't do that. Stupid unsportsmanlike penalties, at the end of the day, are just soft. You're being a soft player in the moment. You've got to be tougher than that. You've got to be bigger than that. Those things are not acceptable. If we're going to build this thing, we're going to build it right, and we don't have any room for error. It's a work in progress.
 
"Culture-building is a work in progress. Your culture is never set. It's strong or it's weak, but it's never set. Today, we may have taken a step back, and that's disappointing. We've got to get some things culture and mind-set-wise corrected in a hurry to where we want to go."
 
The Demons return to action in a week when they host McNeese in the 2024 home finale. Kickoff is set for 1 p.m. at Turpin Stadium.