Leo Pahlke
October 8, 2007October 10
October 10, 2007NSU Sports Information Desk
The Colonels opened up Southland Conference play with an ear-popping bang as they shut out in-state and conference rival Northwestern State, 58-0, Saturday evening at John L. Guidry Stadium.
“We took a gamble and opted to rest our team to try and get healthy in our off week, and it paid off as we really played well today,” said head coach Jay Thomas. “Our team deserves all the credit for going out there and playing the way they did.”
It was the most lopsided score in the series, and the highest margin of victory in the league’s history.
The 58-point margin topped the previous most- dominant performance when Northwestern State defeated Sam Houston State, 59-3, in 1998.
In the game, the Colonels returned four interceptions for touchdowns, which tied the NCAA record for the most in a game, ironically held by Northwestern State. The four interception returns for touchdowns also set the mark for the most in a half in NCAA history.
The first interception came when senior Kareem Moore picked off the Demons’ Germayne Edmond and took it 49-yards to pay dirt to give the Colonels the 6-0 lead due to a failed PAT attempt by senior Alex Romero at the 12:46 mark of the first quarter.
But one was not good enough for Moore, and he went for another as he intercepted Northwestern State’s Drew Branch and ran it 65-yards to the end zone to increase the lead to 15-0 at the 4:02 mark in the first quarter.
Romero added a 44-yard field goal in between interception scores, and made good on his PAT attempt to give the Colonels a 16-0 lead.
The other two interception touchdown returns came from junior Ladarius Webb, who recorded picks to the house of 42 and 72-yards.
Webb’s two touchdown returns came in the second quarter, which helped the Colonels head into the locker room at the mid-way point with a 44-0 lead.
For the game, Nicholls had five interceptions and held Northwestern State to a measly 35-yards passing and 159-yards of total offense.
The five interception returns alone accounted for 238-yards for the Colonels.
The Demons finished with six turnovers to Nicholls one.
Nicholls would go on to win 58-0, and it would mark the first time that the Colonels had shut out the Demons since a 7-0 victory on October 12, 1974.
It was only the third time in the schools’ 35 meetings that Nicholls had blanked Northwestern State.
Besides tying the NCAA record for the most interceptions returned for touchdowns in a game and setting the mark for most in a half, the Colonels also rewrote some pages in their own history book in the win.
The four interception returns for touchdowns gave Nicholls five on the season, which is a new all-time best in a single season.
It was also the second most interceptions in a game for the Colonels in their history, while setting new marks in interception-return yards with 238 in the contest.
Both Moore and Webb also now hold the most return yards in a game with 114 each.
The Colonels offense also looked like a fine-tune machine as Nicholls grinded out 286-yards rushing and finished with 315 total in the victory.
Sophomore Chris Broussard, sophomore Zach Chauvin, junior Zack Morgan, and senior Joseph Tobias each had a touchdown in the game.
Nicholls will be back in action next week as they head to Nacogdoches, Texas to take on Stephen F. Austin (0-4, 0-0 SLC).
It will be the Lumberjacks first Southland Conference game of the 2007 season.
MOORE, WEBB NAMED SLC DEFENSIVE PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
After helping lead the Colonels to a 58-0 victory over in-state and conference rival Northwestern State, both senior Kareem Moore and junior Ladarius Webb were named SLC co-Defensive Players of the Week.
“It is great honor for both of them. They work well with one another in the defensive back field,” said head coach Jay Thomas. “The award is well deserved, and it is still hard to grasp what they accomplished out there on Saturday.”
Moore and Webb tied the NCAA record with their interception returns on Saturday, and are now each one of 24 players in NCAA history to have two interceptions returned in a game. Their four total interceptions returned for touchdowns also set the NCAA record for most in a half.
This marks the third time that Webb has received a SLC player of the week award with two of them coming on defense and one on offense. This is the first time that Moore, who was the 2006 SLC Newcomer of the Year, has ever received the award. Both currently hold the Colonels’ record for most interception return yards in a game with 114 each.
