Almost Famous: Colonels fall on late-game 2-point try in overtime

Port Fourchon plans ahead

September 27, 2016

Lack of field turf is embarrassing

September 28, 2016

For the second time this season, the Nicholls State University football team proved that it could play with the big movers and shakers in the college football landscape.

This time, the team was just a yard or two short of victory.

The Colonels traveled to South Alabama this weekend to battle the Jaguars – a well-respected program that earned acclaim in week one when they beat Mississippi State on the road.

Nicholls never backed down, overcoming an early 14-0 deficit to push the game into overtime in a 34-all tie.

The Jaguars got the ball first and scored.

Three plays later, Nicholls answered – a 4-yard run from halfback Dontrell Taylor to make the score 41-40.

Instead of kicking an extra point and extending the game, Colonels coach Tim Rebowe opted to go for the win and a 2-point conversion. The gutsy call backfired, as a run attempt was stopped short of the end zone, sealing the Jaguars’ one-point win.

After the game, Rebowe said he was proud of his group for again showing toughness against a school far greater than Nicholls in terms of its size.

“What a crazy, wild ballgame,” Rebowe said. “I’m very proud of the effort. Those guys fought. … We came back and had a chance at the ballgame. We came here to win, and that’s what we wanted to do (on the last play).”

For the third-straight week, Nicholls’ offense looked razor sharp under the leadership of true freshman Chase Fourcade.

He got some help from his defense and special teams against South Alabama, too.

As a passer, Fourcade wasn’t dynamic, completing 10-of-19 passes for 69 yards and a touchdowns.

But the quarterback was mistake-free, which allowed the Colonels to gash the Jaguars on the ground to the tune of 161 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 43 carries in the game.

In a 23-point second quarter, the Colonels also got touchdowns in other phases, first on a 33-yard pick-six from Chris Major and then on a blocked field goal return for a touchdown from Christian Boutte on the next drive of the game – scores that allowed the Colonels to hold a 23-14 lead midway through the second quarter.

South Alabama closed the half with a vengeance, generating a touchdown and field goal to go up 24-23 at halftime.

“I thought that it was about three quarters long,” Rebowe said with a laugh when asked about the second quarter. “It was just wild and seemed like it lasted forever. I was pleased where we were when we went into halftime.”

In the second half, Nicholls stayed tough, trading field goals with the Jaguars before taking a 34-27 lead in the fourth quarter on a pass from Fourcade to Damion Jeanpiere.

That lead nearly held up until the end of the game, but the Jaguars’ offense awoke in the nick of time, converting a fourth-down pass from quarterback Dallas Davis to Tyrone Williams for a touchdown with 16 seconds to go in regulation to tie the game and send it to overtime.

While there, the Jaguars scored in six plays to strike first and go up 41-34.

Nicholls only needed three plays to answer, but the team’s 2-point conversion try fell limp – a failed running attempt that was bottled up by the South Alabama defense.

Rebowe said after the game that he doesn’t regret the decision.

He said the Colonels were getting fatigued, and he liked the chances of converting the play.

“They were wearing us down a little bit and we knew it,” Rebowe said. “We decided to go for it and we had a chance on the one-and-a-half yard line to get it in.”