BEAUMONT — This was the offense Lamar coach Ray Woodard waited for quarterback Carson Earp to engineer.

The senior made his first start since Sept. 10 and turned in a season high in rushing yards in the Cardinals’ 38-14 win over Southeastern Louisiana before 7,032 at Provost Umphrey Stadium. It marked the first time since 2011 the Cardinals beat the Lions.

“Good team win at a time when we needed it,” Woodard said, his team now 1-3 and 1-1 in the Southland Conference. “I really was encouraged by what took place here tonight.”

Taking over for injured Andrew Allen, Earp rushed for two touchdowns and 79 yards on 11 carries. He also completed 9 of 15 passes for 130 yards in his most impressive showing this year.

Allen, who was still bothered by an ankle injury from the Sept. 17 Sam Houston State game, didn’t miss all of the action. He replaced Earp early in the fourth quarter after the latter walked off slowly following a hit on a slide attempt, and rushed 5 yards for his first carrying touchdown at Lamar.

“You saw when Allen scored that touchdown late, he struggled to run,” Woodard said.

Maybe most impressive was senior cornerback Brendan Langley, who intercepted three passes. That did not surprise his classmate Eddie McGill, who like Langley is from the Atlanta, Ga. area.

“That’s my boy,” said McGill, who brought down a pick and collected a sack. “Because we’re both from Atlanta, we got to put on. It’s fun. I know we’ve got each other’s back, and I expect nothing less from him to go out and make big plays.”

Langley tied a single-game record for picks, held by Donald Rawls against Louisiana Tech in 1983 and Pat Gibbs against Arkansas State in 1971.

For his part, McGill thinks he would have laughed and kept going if someone told him he would have a big game of his own.

“The coaches put us in the right position to make plays,” McGill said. “I just do what they say, and good things will happen.”

Senior Kade Harrington also rushed for his first touchdown and first 100-yard game since the season opener against Coastal Carolina. He scored on a 15-yard carry in the third period and finished with 143 yards on 23 carries.

Lamar’s offense totaled 398 yards to SELA’s 356, moving down the field much better after a bye week. Earp’s longest play of the night was a 52-yard strike to Marcus Daggs in the first quarter, which led to a 6-yard end-around touchdown run for Hamshire-Fannett graduate Kendrick King.

QB CHANGE

SELA (1-3, 1-1) did change quarterbacks after starter Justin Alo — who was just 2 for 4 passing — tossed an interception. But D’Shaie Landor, who rushed eight times for 44 yards, was responsible for throwing the other three picks.

Landor finished 7 of 16 for 92 yards.

FIELD GOALS

Lamar senior Alex Ball is still struggling.

His 43-yard attempt with 2:31 left in the second quarter fell short, just missing the right-hand corner of the upright. SELA marched 74 yards in seven plays and 86 seconds to cut a 14-0 deficit in half, but Lamar managed to hustle its field-goal unit onto the field in the final seconds, and Ball put through a 38-yard field goal as time expired.

Ball missed on his third attempt, another 43-yarder, in the fourth. He is now 2 for 5 on the year.

NEXT FOR THE CARDS

Lamar heads to Abilene Christian for a 6 p.m. kickoff next Saturday. ACU (0-5, 0-3 Southland) is one of two remaining winless teams in the conference after a 58-27 loss to Central Arkansas.

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews