Warren Taylor
October 4, 2017
Vandebilt students earn National Merit Scholar honor
October 4, 2017
The third time was the charm for the Nicholls football team when it comes to playing in Texas.
After losses at Texas A&M and Sam Houston State earlier this season, the Colonels returned to the Lone Star State in style this weekend, crushing Lamar 41-14 in a game that was completely dominated by Nicholls.
The Colonels led comfortably throughout, outgaining the Cardinals 506-237 to secure their third win of the seasonwhile also improving to 2-1 in Southland Conference action.
“We think our defense has a chance to be a special group,” Nicholls coach Tim Rebowe said earlier this season. “We think our coaching staff has done a great job there recruiting and developing our players and we’ve really simplified things a lot on that side of the ball to try and focus on blocking, tackling and making the routine plays. I think we’ve started doing that and it’s helping us in games.”
Nicholls avenged last week’s loss in a big way throughout Saturday night’s win – especially on the defensive side of the ball.
The Colonels were gashed against Sam Houston, surrendering more than 600 yards of offense and 60 points.
But against Lamar, the Colonels set the tone right away, limiting the Cardinals without any success for the first quarter.
Offensively, Nicholls rewarded its defense with an early score – a 28-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Chase Fourcade to Chris Booker to go ahead 6-0 after a blocked extra point.
That lead held up throughout the rest of the first quarter as the Colonels’ defense stiffened and Nicholls squandered promising field position on drives, including a short field goal miss which could have added some insurance to the lead.
Nicholls didn’t miss those chances in the second quarter.
After forcing a punt deep inside Lamar’s territory, the Colonels started their first second-quarter drive at their own 44-yard-line.
They cashed in good field position in a big way with a six-play, 56-yard drive capped by a one-yard touchdown run from Kyran Irvin, which put the Colonels up 13-0.
The defense got the next big blow.
On third down and three at the Nicholls 38-yard-line, defender Allen Pittman intercepted a pass at the 46-yard-line and took it 54 yards to the house for a pick-six touchdown, which put the Colonels up 20-0 and in firm control for good.
After the pick-six, each team traded touchdowns before half to put the Colonels up 27-7 at the midway point of the game.
Nicholls’ score had some local flare – a 16-yard touchdown run from E.D. White graduate Jeremy Rounds, who rushed for more than 100 yards in the win.
Irvin also eclipsed the century mark, rushing for 152 yards on 24 carries with two touchdowns.
As a team, the Colonels rushed 65 times for 354 yards while limiting Lamar to just 116 yards on the ground on 33 tries.
Most of the third quarter was status quo, with both the Colonels and Cardinals exchanging punts and failed offensive possessions, carrying the 27-7 halftime lead deep into the quarter.
But in the final 2:41 of the quarter, Nicholls exploded and put the game away for good – first with a 10-yard touchdown run from Tuskani Figaro to go up 34-7.
After another interception – this one returned to the Lamar 2-yard-line, the Colonels scored just a few seconds later on a short run from Irvin, which put the Colonels on top 41-7.
In the final quarter, the Colonels cleared their starters out and the Cardinals got a garbage time touchdown from Andrew Allen, which sent the game to its final margin.
But the outcome was never in question, and all three phases of the game stepped to the plate and shined to help the Colonels get the win.
After two-straight road games, the Colonels will now be home for a while.
The team’s next two games are both at John L. Guidry Stadium, beginning Saturday night with a rivalry matchup with Northwestern State.
The Demons come into Saturday’s game with a 1-3 record, including a 1-1 record in Southland Conference play.
Like Nicholls, they, too, beat Lamar – a 35-28 victory over the Cardinals on Sept. 16.
The small margin of victory over a team the Colonels just blew out would seemingly indicate an advantage for Nicholls, but in this rivalry, history shows that the standings mean little.
Last year, Nicholls beat Northwestern State 31-14 in Natchitoches, overcoming a 14-all tie at halftime with 17-straight second-half points.
In 2015, the Demons came into Thibodaux and won, defeating the Colonels 37-21.
Saturday’s game is set to kickoff at 6:30 p.m. and the game will be televised on Cox Sports TV. If unable to attend or watch on TV, it will also be broadcast on ESPN – New Orleans (100.3 FM).•
Follow Casey on Twitter for more.
https://twitter.com/casey_gisclair
