Colonels win home-opener over Muleriders, 31-13

NSU Sports Inform ation Desk

The Colonels muscled out 447 yards of total offense while limiting Southern Arkansas to 229 to win their home opener over the Muleriders 31-13 in their first game of the 2007 season in John L. Guidry Stadium.

It was also their first game playing on the newly installed field named Manning Field Built by AstroTurf.

&#8220It was great to get the win, but we came out the gate slow and struggled early on,” said head coach Jay Thomas about the game. &#8220We are going to have to get better and minimize our mistakes, but I am very proud of my guys in how hard they played.”

The win marked the ninth straight victory for the Colonels (2-0) in home openers, and Thomas is now 4-0 when debuting in John L. Guidry Stadium.

It also marked the second consecutive year that Nicholls defeated the Muleriders (1-1) in their season home opener. Nicholls is now 25-10 when playing their home opener in John L. Guidry Stadium.

Nicholls started off the scoring in the first quarter when senior Alex Romero put a 41-yard field goal through the uprights to give the Colonels the early 3-0 lead at the 8:22 mark. The Colonels scored two touchdowns in the second quarter with senior fullback Cal Jones running 41-yards to the end zone. Romero tacked on the extra point to make the score 10-0 at the 13:53 mark. The next touchdown for the Colonels in the second quarter came courtesy of a 1-yard run by senior fullback Broderick Cole. Romero added the extra point for the Colonels to take a 17-0 lead at the 10:59 mark. Jones finished the game with 97 yards of total offense and the one touchdown that came in the second quarter.

Cole finished the game with 72-yards rushing and one touchdown, which gave him 1,597 yards for his career and placed him ninth on the all-time list surpassing Yale Vannoy with his performance tonight. The New Orleans, La. native and West Jefferson product also has 138 points to his credit, which places him just two points behind Brian Stopolo for ninth on the all-time scoring list.

After the Colonels took the 17-0 lead, the Muleriders fired back with 13 unanswered points to close out the half only down four points, 17-13.

Southern Arkansas was fueled by running back Steven Ashley who broke free for a 52-yard scamper to pay dirt. Noe Cuevas added the extra point to make the score 17-7 at the 8:54 mark. After some offensive miscues and a resurgence from the Muleriders offense, Josh SanFilippo capped off an 11 play 80-yard drive with a 1-yard touchdown dive at the 50 second mark of the second quarter.

Cuevas’ point after attempt was blocked, and both teams headed into the locker room with the score 17-13.

Both teams failed to score in the third quarter, but Nicholls found its grove in the fourth as they scored 14 points to ice Southern Arkansas.

Senior fullback Joseph Tobias scored his first touchdown of the year from 2-yards out in the fourth quarter at the 10:58 mark, and so did senior wide receiver Michael Okoronkwo when he caught a 42-yard pass from sophomore quarterback Zach Chauvin at the 6:09 spot. The defense took over from there, and the Muleriders failed to score for the

remainder of the game.

Standing out defensively was junior Dwayne Jones, who converted from fullback in the spring to middle linebacker. Jones had a team high tie of 5.5 tackles in the contest with junior defensive back Lance Moore.

Nicholls will be back in action next week as they take to the road to play the Nevada Wolfpack next Saturday September 15. Kickoff is set for 8 p.m. CST with ESPN regional broadcasting the game and Cox Sports Television televising the game locally.