Football | 11/9/2019 7:00:00 AM
MONTGOMERY, Ala.—The 2019 regular season comes to a close this afternoon at the site of the first game in program history.
Southeastern takes on Faulkner in the final regular season contest of the year, but whether or not there is a game to follow is still uncertain.
The Fire moved up two more spots in the AFCA-NAIA Top 25 to No. 16, however, Dickinson State's last-second win over Dordt helped move it back into the Top 20 and are in line to receive a bid to the NAIA Football Championship Series.
As of now, Southeastern would be the second team out of the playoffs.
"The only thing we can do is go out and play and win and let the raters rate," said coach
Keith Barefield. "We haven't lost to anybody outside of our division, so we are definitely strong enough, and we are deservedly in the hunt, but we are going to need some help from some people."
The focus of the group is to control what it can control, and end the season with a victory.
The Fire have done just that the last two weeks, putting together big wins against its Polk County rivals.
Last week, the Fire offense accumulated over 500 total yards for the second straight week and third time this season in a 39-14 win over Webber International. Despite allowing over 400 yards, the Fire defense took advantage of the Warriors' poor starting field position and was able to limit the scoring.
The defense was 7-of-11 on third down, and had five sacks.
David Larson was named the Mid-South Sun Division Special Teams Player of the Week for the ninth time in the last two years after scoring nine points, and breaking his own school record for the longest field goal with a 52-yarder.
On offense,
Cooper Jones re-wrote the single season passing record book by becoming the first 2,000-yard passer in a season, and became the first to pass for 20+ touchdowns in a season.
Eugene Witherspoon has been the top target, making 30 catches for 651 yards and six touchdowns. His 77-yard touchdown reception last week was his longest of the season.
"Faulkner has been a big game for us, a big rivalry in the past, and we're looking to play a clean game," said Jones.
The Eagles have lost three of their last four, which includes a two-point loss at Ave Maria last Saturday. Faulkner's last two losses have been by a total of five points.
Quarterback Mason Blocker is sixth in the Mid-South in pass efficiency at 134.7 has passed for 1,472 yards and 13 touchdowns.
On defense, Malik Meadows has recorded four interceptions and is the co-leader in the Mid-South in interceptions per game at .7. The Faulkner defense has 16 interceptions as a team in seven games this year, and rank 25
th nationally against the run at 125.7 yards per game.
The Fire have won three straight in the series after dropping the first two. In 2016, SEU won at Faulkner 10-6 for its first win over a Top 25 program.
Kickoff is at 12 p.m. Central Time.
