HAMMOND – When the Southeastern Louisiana University football team hit the field for its evening practice on Tuesday in Strawberry Stadium, they were greeted by 95 degree temperatures and a 115 heat index.
Instead of getting into the dog days of camp, the Lions turned in one of their best workouts since opening fall practice last week.
Southeastern opened two-a-days with two workouts on the Strawberry Stadium turf, working in full gear in the morning before returning in shells in the evening.
“It was so hot out here on the turf, I was expecting was to drag a little bit, but it might have been our best practice of camp,” Southeastern head coach Mike Lucas said. “The kids had great enthusiasm, we got a lot of work done and had big plays on both sides of the ball. We had a really great tempo.”
The Lions worked on special teams during the evening session, mainly on field goals and kickoffs, before concluding with its two-minute drill.
Returning letterwinner
Seth Sebastian and true freshman
Ryan Adams shared duties for the Lions, each drawing praise from Lucas on their performance. Lucas credited former Southern All-American kicker and current graduate assistant Breck Ackley for working with the Lion kickers and punters.
“He has a knack for coaching the kickers and he's really helped our guys,” Lucas said. “So far, we've been charting all of their kicks and
Seth Sebastian hasn't missed a field goal inside 47 yards the whole camp. Today,
Ryan Adams kicked five balls in a row seven yards deep in the end zone. We feel like we really helped ourselves there.”
Southeastern will return to practice Wednesday with a single workout in full gear at 6 a.m. before holding a team activity in the afternoon and concluding with meetings in the evening.
The Lions open their schedule on Sept. 3 against Tulane in the Louisiana Superdome and will face Savannah State in their home opener on Sept. 10 in Strawberry Stadium.
Season tickets are available by calling the Southeastern Athletic Ticket Office at (985) 549-5466 or on-line at www.LionSports.net.
