SEGUIN, Texas -- The Texas Lutheran football team came away with a hard-fought 19-10 win over Southwestern Satruday night at Bulldog Stadium in the 2026 home opener.
After being out-possessed and having their patented ground game brought to a halt in the season opener, the Bulldogs rushing attack returned to form to control the clock against the Pirates, totaling nearly 34 minutes of possession and 226 yards on the ground. A strong defensive showing also held Southwestern to just three third down conversions on 13 attempts, limited the Pirates ability to extend drives.
After a touchdown late in the first half, Texas Lutheran held Southwestern to just 80 yards in the second half.
For the second time in as many games, the Bulldogs started the scoring. On their second drive of the game, the Bulldogs drove 58 yards on 12 plays that ended in a 39 yard field goal from
Jack Nelson (Austin/Bowie). Nelson would ice the game in the fourth with a 35-yard field goal with three minutes left in the game.
In the second quarter, Southwestern took a 7-3 lead before responding with a pick six from
Malik Johnson (Paris/Paris) less than a minute later to regain the lead 9-7. Johnson had two interceptions and a pass break up on Saturday.
Justin Navarro (Edinburg/Robert Vela) had an interception for the second straight weekend in addition to six tackles and three pass break ups.
Johnathan Pompey (Killeen/Shoemaker) scored his first career touchdown in the third as the Bulldogs extended their lead to 16-7. Pompey finished with 57 yards while
Javin Logan (Houston/North Shore) led all rushers with a career-high 96 yards on the ground.
After earning SCAC Defensive Player of the Week honors for week one,
Troy Tomaselli (San Antonio/Cornerstone Christian) was a problem all day for the Pirates offense, finishing with a game-high 12 tackles, including 1.5 for loss, and a two pass break ups.
Texas Lutheran continues its non-conference schedule next Saturday (Sept. 19), hosting Austin College at Bulldog Stadium in the first of two matchups with the 'Roos in 2026. The game is scheduled for a 1 PM kick off. The game will be broadcast on FloCollege along with KWED 1580 AM with Reily Chestnut and TLU football alum,
Beau Hill '26, on the call. All streaming and live stats links will be available on tlubulldogs.com.
For more information on Texas Lutheran football, follow the Bulldogs on X (Twitter) and Instagram (@TLU_Football) and as always you can find updates on all Texas Lutheran athletics on tlubulldogs.com and all official TLU social media channels (@tluathletics on X (Twitter,) @tlu_athletics on Instagram, and @tlubulldogs on Facebook).
