Stephen F. Austin, McNeese State Share Southland Lead with One Game Remaining
Stephen F. Austin and McNeese State find themselves tied atop the Southland Conference football standings with one week to play. The Lumberjacks got past Southeastern Louisiana, 41-10, in Hammond to improve to 8-2 and 5-1 in conference play. McNeese State also won on the road, picking up a 30-27 victory over Texas State in San Marcos. The Cowboys are now 8-2 overall and 5-1 in conference play after its fifth consecutive victory.
That means if each wins next week, the two will split the regular-season championship. Stephen F. Austin plays at Northwestern State and McNeese State will play host to Central Arkansas. The Lumberjacks hold the tie-breaker against McNeese State after a 16-13 victory on Oct. 10, and would be the Southland's automatic qualifier into the Division I Playoffs if they can beat the winless Demons. For McNeese to be the automatic qualifier, it would need to beat Central Arkansas and have Northwestern State pull the upset against Stephen F. Austin.
Stephen F. Austin 41, Southeastern Louisiana 10
HAMMOND, La. - Stephen F. Austin Lumberjack recorded a total team effort to beat Southeastern Louisiana, 41-10, Saturday afternoon in Hammond, La. The victory keeps SFA in a two-way tie for first in the Southland Conference race with McNeese State, which beat Texas State 30-27.
The win was the eighth of the season (8-2), which is the most since 1999 when the Lumberjacks were co-champions of the Southland Conference.
Stephen F. Austin jumped out of the gate quick Saturday scoring 28 unanswered points. Junior Jeremy Moses found Aaron Rhea from 13 yards out less than 4 minutes into the game to give SFA the early lead and never looked back. The Lumberjacks recorded nearly 300 yards of total offense in the opening 30 minutes, while holding Southeastern Louisiana to 98, including minus-12 yards rushing.
Moses completed 23-of-34 passes for 211 yards and three touchdowns. Along with Rhea, sophomore Brandon Scott and freshman Gralyn Crawford also hauled in touchdown passes in the first half. The Lumberjacks were also strong on the ground carrying the ball 22 times for 83 yards, including a 2-yard touchdown run by senior Vincent Pervis.
The Lions finally cracked the scoreboard with 3:37 remaining in the second quarter. Brian Babin led the Lions on a 10-play, 42-yard drive that ended in a 41-yard Jeff Turner field goal, as SFA carried a 28-3 lead into the locker room.
The Lumberjacks tacked on 13 points in the second, while surrendering only a touchdown to Southeastern Louisiana. SFA finished the game with 512 yards of total offense, including 191 yards on the ground. SFA held the Lions to a season-low 199 yards of total offense, including only 3 yards on the ground. The Lumberjacks finished the game with 31 first downs, while Southeastern only had 10.
Moses completed 36-of-56 passes for 318 yards and four touchdowns. Senior Duane Brooks hauled in 11 passes for 85 yards. Classmate Aaron Rhea had six receptions for 66 yards and a touchdown. Senior Vincent Pervis carried the ball 14 times for 76 yards and a score. The Lumberjack defense was led by sophomore Derrick Choice who recorded 11 tackles, while Baton Rouge, La., native Devin Ducote recorded nine.
The Lumberjacks close out the regular season next Saturday when they travel to Natchitoches, La., to take on Northwestern State. The game is slated to begin at 2 p.m. from Turpin Stadium. A win would guarantee SFA at least a share of its first conference championship since 1999. Southeastern Louisiana will play host to Nicholls Thursday at 6 p.m. in a regionally televised game on the Southland Conference Television Network.
McNeese State 30, Texas State 27
SAN MARCOS, Texas -McNeese State knocked off Texas State 30-27 in Southland Conference competition Saturday with a 28-yard field goal from freshman Josh Lewis in the final minute of play providing the winning points.
It was the fifth consecutive victory for the Cowboys who remain tied for the Southland lead with Stephen F. Austin, both with 5-1 records. The Lumberjacks knocked off Southeastern Louisiana by a 41-10 score.
In beating Texas State, McNeese, which had entered the game as the nation's leading scorer with a 39.6 mark, sent its record to 8-2 and has only a regular-season ending contest with Central Arkansas remaining on its docket. That game will be played in Cowboy Stadium and will carry a 6 p.m. start and will be carried live by the Southland Conference Television Network.
Besides Lewis, the Cowboy offense was led by quarterback Derrick Fourroux and tailback Toddrick Pendland. Fourroux put his name into the McNeese career record book in passing yardage, passes completed, rushing yards for a quarterback and touchdowns rushing and passing with his performance in the game. Pendland, the nation's leading scorer, tied the school record for total touchdowns scored.
Texas State, now 7-3 overall and 4-2 in league play, held a 13-7 first quarter lead but the Cowboys came back to make it 20-20 at the end of the half. McNeese then went on to outscore the Bobcats 10-7 in the second half, the game winner coming off the leg of Lewis, who had also booted the winning points in McNeese's earlier victory over Appalachian State, also on the road.
Pendland, who rushed for a game-high 187 yards, scored three of the Cowboy touchdowns to lift his career total to 45 (tying the record held by Buford Jordan). He scored on runs of 3, 33 and 5 yards.
Fourroux completed 17-of-23 passes for 222 yards and a scoring shot of 2 yards to tight end Corday Clark. He also rushed for 45 yards. This moves his career totals to 7,951 yards passing, 583 completions, 64 touchdowns, 1,931 rushing yards and 91 combined rushing and passing touchdowns. All are career records except for the 64 touchdown passes which are three shy of the record.
Texas State got scoring in the game from running back Alvin Canady on rushes of 5, 12 and 14 yards and from Mishak Rivas on a 17-yard pass from Bradley George.
Defensive leaders for the Cowboys in the game were Malcolm Bronson with six tackles and a game ending pass interception and Terrance Freeman, Seth Thomas and Ford Smesny with four tackles each.
The Cowboys game winning drive started from their own 16-yard line with Fourroux engineering the effort. In this drive he was 4-for-5 for 45 yards and he also rushed for 11 yards.
Key third down conversions for the Cowboys on that drive were a 16 yards completion from Fourroux to Wes Mangan, a 10-yard run by Fourroux and a 10-yard pass from Fourroux to Chad Davis.
On the game winning field goal, holder Richard Conner picked up a low snap, placed it on the ground and Lewis' boot split the uprights.
Texas State still had one last chance but after moving the ball to the McNeese 39, Bronson intercepted George's pass on the 10-yard line and returned it to the 27, enabling the Cowboys to run out the clock.
It was the fourth time this season that McNeese has scored the winning points in the final minutes of play. Other victories have come this way over Henderson State, Appalachian State and Southeastern Louisiana.
Texas State will play host to Sam Houston State next Saturday in its regular-season finale.
Sam Houston State 17, Central Arkansas 14
HUNTSVILLE, Texas - Vincent Dotson returned a blocked punt 36 yards for a touchdown for the go-ahead score as Sam Houston handed Central Arkansas a 17-14 defeat in a Southland Conference football game Saturday afternoon at Bowers Stadium.
Dotson blocked the punt attempt by Jonathan Beard from the UCA 49-yard line, scoring to put the Bearkats up 10-7 with 8:12 to play.
Chris Poullard capped a five-play 54-yard scoring drive with a 1-yard touchdown to put Sam Houston up 17-7 with 13:52 to play.
Central Arkansas rallied to cut the margin to 17-14 on a Brent Grimes 9-yard run with 9:12.
But a late interception by Cameron Jenkins ended a final Bear threat with 30 seconds remaining.
Leonard Ceasar scored Central Arkansas' first touchdown on a six yard run with 11:17 to play in the first half.
Poulard led the Bearkat offense, rushing 19 times for 56 yards and catching five passes for 37 yards. Quarterback Blake Joseph completed 15-of-24 passes for 165 yards.
Robbie Park was 11-of-30 for 106 yards passing for the Bears. Grimes rushed 18 times for 68 yards.
Sam Houston upped its season record to 5-5 overall and 3-3 in the Southland. Central Arkansas fell to 5-5 and 2-4.
Sam Houston State will play at Texas State next Saturday at 2 p.m. while Central Arkansas will play at McNeese State at 6 p.m. in the Toyota Game of the Week on the Southland Conference Television Network.
Nicholls 28, Northwestern State 21
THIBODAUX, La. - For the second consecutive week, the Nicholls offense was without a turnover, while the defense forced two in the Colonels' 28-21 victory against Northwestern State Saturday afternoon at John L. Guidry Stadium.
The win ended Nicholls' (2-8, 1-5 Southland) seven-game slide, and left Northwestern State (0-10, 0-6 Southland) still searching for its first win of the 2009 campaign.
"I'm extremely happy for our guys. We have battled though some tough things this season, and for our team to rally around our senior class to get this win was something special," Nicholls coach Jay Thomas said. "We knew they were going to play us tough to the wire, and we got the plays late to get the victory."
Northwestern State had the ball on the Colonels' 15-yard line with a little over a minute left in the contest, threatening to send the game into overtime. On a last chance effort on fourth down, Demons true freshman quarterback Paul Harris had his pass deflected in the end zone, and senior defensive back Dominique Daniels picked it off to secure the victory.
There were 21 Nicholls seniors playing their final game in John L. Guidry Stadium, and all were recognized before the game with their families.
The 21 seniors include: Tyson Andrus, Dominique Daniels, Jarrod Fanguy, Aric Flowers, Josh Green, Trey Hopson, Kyle Hughes, Drew Knight, Marlin Meeks, Quenton Mims, Jordan Nevels, Henry Perez, Jordan Ogletree, Zac Reddix, Antonio Robinson, Ross Schexnayder, Jamal Simmons, Garrick Spain, Kyle Tizzard, A.J. Williams, and Yashua Willis.
"Our seniors have been through so much this season, and to get this win for them was awesome. Our defense stepped up and made the big play at the end, and I'm so proud of them," Thomas said.
The senior class produced on Senior Day with Williams rushing for 94 yards and a score on nine carries, while Robinson showcased his talents, going over the century mark with 115 yards on two receptions and a touchdown. Williams had a run of 65 yards in the win, while Robinson recorded a career-best 82-yard reception.
The defensive charge was led by Spain with nine total tackles (seven solo), and a forced fumble and fumble recovery in the victory. Spain's forced fumble and recovery came in the middle of the fourth quarter with the Colonels leading 21-14, and a play after, Williams took a pitch from redshirt freshman quarterback LaQuintin Caston 65 yards for the touchdown to give Nicholls the 28-14 lead. Caston finished with a career high 197 yards passing and three touchdowns, while completing 5-of-8 passes.
"That was a big time momentum swing for us," Thomas said. "Garrick Spain's strip immediately followed by A.J. Williams' run proved to be the difference in the game. Our seniors did their part today, and the under classmen pitched in as well."
One of those under classmen rising to the challenge was true freshman Mike Barba who had two touchdown receptions to finish with three catches for 84 yards. Barba broke a 7-all tie with 17 second remaining in the first half with his grab in the corner of the end zone to give Nicholls the 14-7 advantage at the midway point. His second score, a 64-yard reception, put Nicholls ahead 21-7 early on in the third quarter.
Other seniors coming up big for the Colonels included Nevels with eight total tackles (four) and two pass breakups, while Fanguy had a career day with seven stops (six solo). Reddix also added five solo tackles to lead the Colonels defense in the win.
The Demons' Harris finished with 261 yards through the air and a score, completing 18-of-30 passes, and added another 59 yards on the ground that included a touchdown. Harris did also have two costly interceptions in the game.
Nicholls will travel to play Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday at 6 p.m. to close out the season. The game will be televised on the Southland Conference Television Network. Northwestern State will play host to Stephen F. Austin next Saturday at 2 p.m.