Box Score LAKELAND, Fla. – Faulkner left its heart on the Southeastern turf Saturday night, nearly fighting its way entirely out of a 20-point hole before suffering a 37-23 season-opening loss to the Fire.

Very little went Faulkner's way in the first half. Two Eagle turnovers combined with a Southeastern offense that proved adept at converting late-down chances, put the visiting team on the downside of a sizable deficit.

Fire quarterback Zach Pleuss hit Julian Arthurs for an 11-yard scoring strike midway through the first quarter. Pleuss later connected with David Wacenske for a 32-yard touchdown pass. Two Joel McGrath field goals followed to put the Fire up 20-0 with 9:42 remaining in the second.

The Eagles looked to be grasping for any hope to stay in the game. That hope delivered in a big way in back-to-back big plays. Kamden Wellington went over the top to Tomon Felton for a 31-yard gain before connecting with him again for 30 yards on the next play. That helped set up a 41-yard Jacob Huff field goal to get the Eagles on the board.

Faulkner took the opening kickoff of the second half and turned to Robin Harris for a pair of strong runs to start the drive. Tyrese Keiler hauled in an 11-yard pass from Wellington. Three plays later, Wellington connected with Keiler for a 28-yard touchdown strike to get itself back in the game.

The Eagles then executed a short kickoff, catching the Fire off guard and recovering fumble at the Southeastern 28.
Wellington picked up right where he left off on the prior drive. He ran for eight yards on the first two plays of the possession before the drive stalled. Huff made good on the opportunity with a 35-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 20-13.

An interception by KJ Arnold on the ensuing Fire possession gave Faulkner the ball at the SEU 38. A 17-yard run by Harris and a nine-yard strike to Kentrell Borden highlighted the march that ended in a 27-yard Huff field goal to slice it to 20-16.
Southeastern stopped the bleeding in the latter half of the third period as a nine-play drive drained more than four minutes off the clock and covered 75 yards. Pleuss connected with Connor McCazzio for a 26-yard scoring play to push the Fire lead back to 11.

Undaunted, the Eagles continued to respond to adversity. Faulkner shifted to a hurry-up offense and needed just 2:34 to go 70 yards for the answer. Keiler broke off a 13-yard run before Wellington hit Gage Mims for a 10-yard gain. Jordan Moultrie followed with a 10-yard rush. Wellington later hit Darian Riggs for a gain of eight and then ripped off a 14-yard sprint of his own. The Eagles ended the march on the first play of the fourth quarter as Wellington hit Mims for a 10-yard touchdown pass to narrow it to 27-23.

Southeastern followed with a time-consuming drive that took 13 plays to go 72 yards. The Fire took 7:04 off the clock during the possession and set up McGrath's 30-yard field goal to push the lead to 30-23.

With less than six minutes to go in the game, Faulkner sent the punting unit onto the field for the first time since the second quarter. The Braxton Berrey punt covered 41 yards and sent the Fire back to its own 31 with 5:34 left. The Fire turned to the ground game, covered 22 yards in five plays while milking 2:34 off the game clock. McGrath punted the ball to the Eagles with three minutes left on the clock to set up the game's decisive drive. Despite being the beneficiary of a Fire pass interference on the first play of the possession, the Eagles could not gain another yard and turned the ball over on downs with 2:02 to go. The Faulkner defense stood strong on the first two plays of the possession before Pleuss found Omar Mejia for a 32-yard touchdown to finish off the scoring.

Faulkner tallied 244 yards of offense while the Fire amassed 416. The Eagles committed just one penalty in the game for 21 yards while Southeastern lost 105 yards on 11 penalties.

Harris topped the Eagles' ground game with 53 yards on 14 carries. Felton had 63 yards and three catches. RJ Randolph had 12 total tackles while Bernard Tindall finished with 10. The result marks the third straight win by Southeastern in the series.

The loss came during a tumultuous and emotional stretch for the Eagles, who now ready to honor the life of teammate Qadir Lyle during a memorial Monday. Faulkner (0-1) hosts Union Commonwealth next Saturday at noon for its home opener. The Bulldogs opened their season with a loss to Cumberlands (Ky.) Thursday.