By Brad Welborn, Northwestern State Assistant Sports Information Director; featured photo by Dan Bowden, Lamar Athletics
BEAUMONT, Texas – A handful of explosive plays gave No. 13 Lamar an early cushion, and the Cardinals used it to pull away from Northwestern State 42-14 Saturday night.
Lamar (4-1, 2-0) scored on three plays of at least 35 yards in the first half, using a balanced attack to build a 35-7 halftime advantage. The Cardinals finished the first half with 293 yards, splitting them evenly between the ground and air.
The Demons (0-6, 0-3) answered Lamar’s opening touchdown with their most impressive scoring drive of the season, going 75 yards in 13 plays to tie the game.
Two fourth-down conversions kept the drive alive, including an 11-yard connection from Zach Wilcke to Joseph Moreland on fourth-and-eight. Wilcke then found Brendan Webb for a seven-yard touchdown on fourth-and-two, giving Webb a touchdown reception in three straight games.
“That drive is who we need to be,” head coach Blaine McCorkle said. “It was as impressive of a drive as we’ve had all year. We’ve had good drives early in games before but had miscues near the end of them. Tonight we put it in the end zone. I think we’ve got a lot in this bye week that we can build on.”
Lamar answered just 52 seconds later with a 37-yard touchdown pass to regain the lead.
The Demons had another opportunity to pull even in the second quarter after Diego Sanchez recovered a fumble at midfield. Moreland again converted a fourth down, hauling in a 17-yard pass to move NSU deep into Lamar territory.
The drive stalled in the red zone, however, when a pass intended for Moreland sailed just over his hands in the end zone. Lamar responded with a 39-yard touchdown run, beginning a stretch in which the Cardinals scored on four straight possessions spanning the first and second halves.
Despite the deficit, the Demon defense continued to fight and kept Lamar off the scoreboard over the final 26 minutes.
Lamar drove deep into NSU territory on its second possession of the second half, but the Demons stopped the Cardinals twice on short-yardage plays before a holding penalty pushed Lamar back 10 yards. The Cardinals missed a 24-yard field goal, allowing NSU to turn the defensive stand into points.
Amaaz Eugene provided the spark.
The junior took a screen pass 47 yards down the sideline, pushing his receiving total past 100 yards for the first time in his career. Eugene finished with seven catches for a career-high 108 yards, leading all players in the game.
“He’s one of our few older players on offense and he’s a gritty competitor,” McCorkle said. “Found a way to get open and make a play on that first big drive and did a great job of getting the ball where it needed to be on that screen. Happy for him. He’s a guy that loves the team, works hard and doesn’t say a word. He’s capable of making those plays and I think he’ll make a few more in the back half of the season.”
Eugene’s 47-yard gain set up Zay Davis’ 24-yard touchdown run, his second rushing touchdown of the season, cutting the Lamar lead to 35-14.
The Demons then forced another turnover on Lamar’s next possession when Keshawn Reed punched the ball loose and Danny Sears recovered at the Lamar 41-yard line.
NSU could not turn the takeaway into additional points, but the defensive stand capped a second half in which the Demons showed their standard resilience after Lamar’s explosive first half.
“We played a really good football team tonight, the best FCS team we’ve played for sure,” McCorkle said. “Gave up a lot of explosive plays on defense and you can’t do that. We had the ball for 46 plays and 22 minutes in the first half but only came away with seven points. There’s a lot to clean up for us on all three phases. We didn’t do the things that hurt us in the game the past two weeks but we really didn’t do anything to help ourselves either.”
The Demons enter their bye week before returning to action Oct. 17 against McNeese, where it will then play four of five games inside Turpin Stadium.