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Florida Memorial University Athletics

Scoreboard

FMU player
Shot By Sleep | Sleeper Athletes
7
Florida Memorial FMU 2-9 , 1-5
28
Winner Southeastern SEU 8-3 , 5-1
Florida Memorial FMU
2-9 , 1-5
7
Final
28
Southeastern SEU
8-3 , 5-1
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
FMU Florida Memorial 0 0 0 7 7
SEU Southeastern 7 7 7 7 28

Game Recap: Football | | J.T. Wilcox, Sports Information Director

FMU Can’t Upend Southeastern, Falls 28-7 Saturday

LAKELAND, Fla. – Florida Memorial University couldn't play the role of spoiler Saturday, ultimately dropping its regular season finale 28-7 to host Southeastern University at SEU's Victory Field.
 
The Lions, who were hoping to capture their first road win of the season Saturday, had a tough time generating viable offensive drives against the Southeastern defense and couldn't slow down the Fire's lead ball carrier – Lorine Parker, who rushed for a game-high 153 yards.
 
Florida Memorial (2-9, 1-5 Mid-South Conference Sun Division) didn't get on the score board until the fourth quarter when Rigaud Luly capped a 7-play, 51-yard drive with a 2-yard plunge across the goal line with 6:13 left to play.
 
Luly's TD was the highlight of his night. Freshman running back George Young led FMU with 64 rushing yards on 13 carries Saturday. Amir Brown and quarterback Demarcus McEachern both were credited with 22 rushing yards.
 
Southeastern (8-3, 5-1), which stayed in contention to win the Mid-South Conference Sun Division title by topping the Lions, made a concerted effort to slow the Lions ground attack. Florida Memorial amassed just 117 total rushing yards against the Fire on a 2.8 yard-per-carry clip.
 
FMU's passing game never got on track Saturday. McEachern was never allowed to get comfortable in the pocket and ended up completing 10 of his 21 passes for 111 yards with a no scores and a fourth-quarter interception.
 
Lions freshman receiver Markell Lee tied for the game-high with 3 receptions for 37 yards. Christian Edgerson's lone catch of the day was a 33-yard reception while Young caught a pair of passes for 15 yards.
 
Even with Parker's rushing total, Southeastern didn't do anything extraordinary Saturday. The team rushed for 177 total yards, Fire quarterback Cooper Jones had just 129 passing yards – with 3 touchdowns – and SEU only had a 40-second advantage in time of possession. SEU only held a 14-0 lead at halftime, two of its scoring drives were aided by short fields – starting inside Lions' territory – and the Fire played a very workman-like game that capitalized on the Lions' shortcomings.
 
Florida Memorial's defense was led by freshman defensive end Philman Roundtree. Roundtree, made history earlier this season becoming the first FMU player to earn Mid-South Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors, recorded 7 total tackles with 2 tackles-for-loss and registered the team's only sack on the night.
 
Defensive back Darius Conley and defensive lineman Quaylen Hill both finished with 6 total tackles while Joshua Mimms and Thaddious Johnson both were credited with 5 total tackles.
 
While FMU wanted to spoil Southeastern's chances at a division title, head coach Tim Harris Sr. really wanted his team to build on its historic come-from-behind homecoming victory this past weekend and potentially win consecutive games for the first time in the modern-era of the program – generating positive momentum to build upon as the team rides into the offseason.
 
Even with the loss against the Fire, it doesn't take away from the positive strides that Harris, his coaching staff, and the team made this season.
 
Following a 2020 season that was hamstrung almost from its onset in the spring at the beginning of COVID-19 pandemic through the fall, where they played three games – all losses – before having the season canceled for health and safety reason, the Lions were a much more competitive and capable team this season.
 
Florida Memorial set multiple modern-era records throughout the year and set a new modern-era benchmark for most wins in a season and most home wins in a season. Though FMU missed out on earning a road victory this season, it did come close back in August during its season-opener at Edward Waters University, where the Lions lost their fourth-quarter lead in the waning seconds.
 
Aside from its dramatic homecoming win against Webber International and its dominant 41-17 win over Union College (Ky.), Florida Memorial nearly upended No. 6 Keiser University back in October – nearly rallying back before falling 31-26 to the nationally ranked Seahawks.
 
Also, FMU had to hit the reset button with its offense because starting quarterback Antoine Williams sustained a lower extremity injury during the game against Keiser that kept him sidelined for the remainder of the season. McEachern ended up starting the final five games of the season and showed flashes of being a true dual-threat signal caller that could hurt opposing defenses.
 
FMU's progression as a program this season was tangible enough to spark excitement and anticipation in and outside of the football program that featured a roster with zero seniors and could – in theory – return all its players from this season.
 
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