HAMMOND – After having its Thursday workout scratched after 30 minutes due to heavy thunderstorms in the Hammond area, the Southeastern Louisiana University football returned to practice on Friday with a two-hour workout in Strawberry Stadium.

Southeastern, which will hold its lone scrimmage of the preseason on Saturday at 10 a.m., worked out in shells on the artificial turf. The Lions concentrated on all phases of their special teams' packages, including kick return and punt coverage.

“I'm probably never satisfied with special teams,” Southeastern head coach Mike Lucas said. “As much time as we spend on it, we should be close to perfect in our reps. We've got a lot of work to do.”

Returning letterwinner Beau Mothe, a former Jesuit High product, averaged 38.2 yards per punt in 2009 while posting a 36.2 net average and is entrenched as the Lions' punter with redshirt freshman Matt McCormick serving as his backup.

After losing four-year letterwinner and all-time leading scorer Jeff Turner to graduation, Southeastern brought in two kickers with former Lafayette High product Seth Sebastian and Jake Saltalamacchia of St. Paul's battling to replace him.

“Saltalamacchia has been kicking the football really well, but Seth has picked it up in the last week,” Lucas said. “They both have been making some big kicks for us in practice and we'll need them to do the same when we're playing for real.”

Southeastern spent Friday night at Hot August Night in downtown Hammond where it attended a pep rally and took part in Lionpawlooza.

The Lions will return to action on Saturday at 10 a.m. with their scrimmage with the No. 1 offense facing the No. 2 defense and the No. 1 defense going up against the No. 2 offense.

Southeastern will open its season on Sept. 2 against Tulane in the Louisiana Superdome. The game is scheduled for a 7 p.m. kickoff. Tickets are available at the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466.