Faulkner had the ball late in a one-possession game but proved unable to cash in the opportunity Thursday night. Souitheastern braved a lightning delay in excess of two hours to down the Eagles 31-26.

Southeastern kicker Daniel Larson converted a 43-yard field goal to stretch the lead to five. Faulkner looked to drive the field against one of the top passing defenses in the Mid-South Conference and secure a non-losing 2018 record. But the Fire defense proved as advertised, intercepting Faulkner for the third time in the contest to ice the victory.

Faulkner carried a 16-13 lead into halftime where the teams sat for some 151 minutes during a severe weather delay. The Eagles managed only 16 yards passing and 75 rushing in the first half, but held the advantage thanks to fantastic special teams play.

Terrance Sims (SR/Pensacola, Fla.) returned a kick 88 yards for a touchdown while Alvin Renteria (SO/Phenix City, Ala.) connected on field goals of 27, 31 and 23 yards to counter the explosiveness of Marque Northington, the Southeastern standout that turned in two touchdowns in the first half.

After the lightning moved out of the area, Faulkner looked less than charged to start the second half. An inauspicious opening offensive series culminated in a high snap on a punt bouncing out the back of the end zone for a Southeastern safety, cutting the Eagle lead to 16-15.

D'Terryon Anderson then hauled in a 4-yard scoring strike from Cooper Jones to put the Fire on top to stay. Renteria later made his fourth field goal of the evening, connecting from 40 yards out to cut the deficit to 21-19.

The teams traded scores again at Tyrell Williams rushed in from three yards out for Southeastern to put the Fire up 28-19. D'Arie Johnson (FR/Birmingham, Ala.) matched the feat for Faulkner with 7:19 to play in the game, cutting it to 28-26.

Charles Blackmon (FR/Faunsdale, Ala.) highlighted the Eagle offense with his second 100-yard rushing performance of the season. He turned in 17 carries for 103 yards. Malik Meadows (SO/Roanoke, Ala.) and D.J. Joseph (SO/Lawrenceville, Ga.) each intercepted passes for the Faulkner defense.

The squad wraps the season at 4-6 overall and 1-5 in MSC-Sun Division play.