HAMMOND, La. – The University of the Incarnate Word football team forced six turnovers in Saturday night's 27-21 win over No. 23/25 Southeastern Louisiana, defeating a ranked opponent on the road for the second week in a row.
 
The UIW defense and special teams were the stars of the game on Saturday, forcing six turnovers with two fumble recoveries and four interceptions. Ashton Preston registered two interceptions for UIW, while Isaiah Paul had a forced fumble and a fumble recovery on special teams, followed by interception returned for a touchdown on defense.
 
Offensively, Jon Copeland went 14-of-27 for 147 yards and 2 touchdowns.
 
No. 23/25 Southeastern Louisiana took the first lead of the game. The Lions went 89 yards over eight plays and used a 48-yard touchdown pass from Chase Virgil to Austin Mitchell for a 7-0 advantage with 10:11 left in the first quarter.
 
After going back and forth with neither team scoring for almost 10 minutes, the Cardinals cut the SLU lead to 7-3 with 29 seconds left in the first quarter when Carson Mohr hit a 25-yard field goal. Then, on the first play of the second quarter, Isaiah Paul stepped in front of a Lion pass and returned the ball 45 yards to give UIW its first lead of the game (10-7) with 14:49 left before the break. This marks the Cardinals' first interception returned for a touchdown this season.
 
Later in the second quarter, UIW marched down the field in a drive that lasted eight plays over 80 yards and was highlighted by a 28-yard pass from Copeland to Jaelin Campbell. On first and 10 at the SLU 18, Copeland found Brady Rogers for another Cardinal score and a 17-7 advantage with 4:09 left in the half.
 
The Lions followed with a touchdown of their own when Cole Kelley scored from one yard out to leave UIW up 17-14 with 1:12 remaining before the break.
 
UIW used another turnover to set up its next score when Preston snagged his second interception of the game to start the nine-play, 62-yard drive. Keyondrick Philio used rushes of 17 yards and 26 yards to put UIW in the red zone before Mohr kicked a 19-yard field goal to extend the Cardinal advantage to 20-14 with 4:39 left in the third quarter.
 
The Cardinals scored again with 9:23 left in the game when Copeland connected with Lamont Johnson for 21 yards and a 27-14 lead. This touchdown capped a 12-play, 76-yard drive that took 5:37 off the clock.
 
Southeastern Louisiana cut into UIW's lead (27-21) with 5:54 left in the game when Marcus Cooper used a 16-yard run to end a nine-play, 84-yard drive.
 
Defense stood their ground in the fourth quarter. Jaelin Jimmerson's interception with 3:14 time left in the game plus Gerald Bowie II's pass breakup in the Lions final play, secured the win for the Cardinals.