CEDAR CITY, Utah – The Southern Utah Thunderbirds posted touchdowns in all four quarters of their home-opener against the Southeastern Louisiana Lions to seal a 28-23 victory.

The Thunderbirds trailed 17-14 at the half before putting up a touchdown in the third to capture the first SUU lead of the game at 21-17. The teams split for a touchdown each in the final quarter as the T-Birds secured the win, 28-23.

The final attendance in Southern Utah's home opener in Eccles Coliseum totaled 7,010.

The win marks Demario Warren's first win as a head coach. 

“It was a great team win, but first of all, I want to thank the crowd. The crowd was loud, and I appreciate that," Warren said. "We needed the offense, we needed the defense, and we needed the special teams. Everyone was making huge plays throughout the entire game. I'm just proud of the guys. They really rallied around each other."

Malik Brown led the Thunderbirds offensively, rushing for 156 yards. Making his first start as a Thunderbird, quarterback transfer Patrick Tyler threw 18-28-0 for a total of 188 yards.

Taylor Nelson plowed the way defensively for the Thunderbirds with nine tackles. Jarmaine Doubs and Junior Tufuga each added six. In total, the Thunderbirds compiled 11 tackles for a loss of 29 yards.

SE Louisiana put the first points on the board early in the game with a 19-yard pass from Justin Alo to Brandon Acker. The Thunderbirds quickly responded as Tyler connected with Brady Measom on a 6-yard pass.

The remainder of the first quarter was scoreless until the Lions knocked in a 24-yard field goal with under a minute to play.

SE Louisiana kept the rally going to open the second half as Rasheed Harrel ran for a 5-yard touchdown. The Thunderbirds answered with 8:33 to go in the opening half with a 3-yard Ty Rutledge touchdown run.

Brown dominated the first half for the Thunderbirds, rushing 18 times for 108 yard as Tyler threw 10-16-0.

Josh Thornton led SUU defensively in the opening half with four tackles, three solo and one assisted. In total, the Thunderbirds finished the first half with 17 first downs to the Lions' 11. SUU also beat SLU in the rushing game, finishing with 152 T-Bird rushing yards to SLU's 119.

Tyler connected with Brady Measom on a 10-yard pass midway through the third quarter to give the Thunderbirds their first lead of the game at 21-17.

The Thunderbirds put up a third straight touchdown in the final quarter as Tyler found Sharp on a 16-yard pass and extend SUU's lead to 28-17. The Lions tacked a 2-yard passing touchdown on the scoreboard with 3:33 to play to force a 5-point game.

Southeastern Louisiana forced the Thunderbirds to punt in the final minutes of the game as SLU took over with 1:12 on the clock. Tyler Collet sealed the game with a Lion interception as the Thunderbirds secured the 28-23 win.

The Thunderbirds take a bye week next Saturday before returning back to Eccles Coliseum for SUU's Homecoming Game on Sept. 24 as the T-Birds host Portland State.

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