HOLLYWOOD, Fla. -- SEU opened the 2025 season in dominant fashion Saturday afternoon, rolling past the University of Fort Lauderdale 40-7 at South Broward High School. Behind a balanced offense and a relentless defensive effort, the Fire (1-0) took control after halftime and never looked back.
The Fire struck first midway through the opening quarter, marching 48 yards on nine plays before
Curtis Kimmons powered his way into the end zone from a yard out to put SEU on top 7-0. Fort Lauderdale answered just 47 seconds later when quarterback DeRohn King connected with Urique Wilson on a 69-yard strike to even the score at 7-7, but it would be the Eagles' only touchdown of the afternoon.
From that point on, Southeastern's defense took over. The Fire surrendered just 42 rushing yards all game and repeatedly forced Fort Lauderdale off the field, holding the Eagles to 0-for-9 on third downs. Meanwhile, SEU used special teams to regain control. A 69-yard punt return by
Jamil Jones set up the Fire deep in UFTL territory, and
Joel McGrath delivered a 24-yard field goal to give SEU a 10-7 edge early in the second quarter.
Later in the half, Fort Lauderdale's best drive stalled at the SEU 29 after a combined sack from
Thomas Ibrahim and
Brady Nowlan, and the Eagles missed a 43-yard field goal attempt. Southeastern made them pay, moving back into scoring range before McGrath drilled his second field goal of the day from 25 yards out as time expired, sending the Fire into halftime up 13-7.
But before the teams could return for the third quarter, lightning in the area forced a 90-minute weather delay. When play resumed, Southeastern wasted no time seizing control. On their second drive of the half, quarterback
Nate Mikell engineered a 13-play, 80-yard march that drained more than six minutes off the clock. Facing third-and-long, Mikell delivered a perfectly placed ball to
David Pomales, who broke free for a 27-yard touchdown that pushed the lead to 20-7.
From there, the Fire dominated every phase. The defense forced back-to-back punts, and the offense went right back to work. Kimmons capped a bruising 10-play, 86-yard drive with a 19-yard touchdown run early in the fourth quarter, his second score of the day. On the next possession,
Z'Orey Cotton broke loose for a 22-yard gain before finishing the drive himself with a 4-yard touchdown plunge, extending the lead to 33-7.
Southeastern wasn't finished. After Jones flipped the field again with a 39-yard punt return, backup quarterback
Zachary Pleuss needed just one snap to find
Chandler Jones on an 11-yard touchdown strike, putting the game out of reach at 40-7.
Mikell led the offense with 175 passing yards on 19-of-28 attempts, adding one touchdown. Pleuss was a perfect 1-for-1 with his late scoring toss. Kimmons paced a ground attack that racked up 198 rushing yards, finishing with 84 yards and two touchdowns on 15 carries. Pomales hauled in three catches for 51 yards and a score, while
Kamonte Grimes added five receptions for 45 yards. Defensively, Ibrahim tallied 1.5 sacks as SEU racked up three total sacks and held Fort Lauderdale to just 138 total yards.
Southeastern dominated time of possession, holding the ball for nearly 35 minutes, and scored on all seven red-zone trips. After a convincing road win to open the year, the Fire will return home on Saturday, September 13, when they host Reinhardt at Victory Field. Tickets for the home opener are available now at
fire.seu.edu/tickets.
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