LAKELAND, Fla. — The No. 15 Southeastern Fire opened the Jake Russell era with a 37-23 victory over the Faulkner Eagles on Saturday night at Victory Field.
SEU (1-0) jumped out to an early lead and never surrendered it, scoring in each of the first four quarters. The Fire finished the night with 412 yards of total offense, including 283 passing yards and 129 rushing yards.

Quarterback Zach Pleuss led the Fire offense, completing 24 of 42 passes for 283 yards and four touchdowns. Pleuss connected with four different receivers for touchdowns, including Julian Arthurs, David Wacenske, Connor McCazzio and Omar Mejia. SEU opened the scoring with an 11-yard touchdown pass from Pleuss to Arthurs with 6:11 remaining in the first quarter. Southeastern added two touchdowns and a pair of field goals in the second quarter to take a 20-3 lead into halftime.

Faulkner came out of the break with momentum, scoring 13 points in the third quarter to cut the deficit to 27-16. The Eagles scored on a 28-yard touchdown pass before adding two field goals. Southeastern answered with a 26-yard touchdown connection from Pleuss to McCazzio late in the quarter to maintain control.

The Eagles continued to battle in the fourth quarter, pulling within four points at 27-23 following a 10-yard touchdown pass early in the period. Southeastern responded with a 30-yard field goal from Joel McGrath, extending the lead to 30-23 with 7:50 remaining.

The Fire put the game away with 1:50 remaining when Pleuss found Omar Mejia for a 32-yard touchdown, completing the scoring at 37-23. Brady Nowlan sealed the victory with an interception on the ensuing drive.

McGrath was perfect on the night, connecting on all three of his field-goal attempts, while also converting all four extra-point attempts.

Defensively, Southeastern forced three turnovers, including interceptions by Jermaine Tyler Jr. and Nowlan's game-ending pick, while Antonio King led the Fire with nine total tackles and two sacks.