Kathryn Gautreaux
September 24, 2007September 26
September 26, 2007NSU Sports Inforation Desk
The Nicholls offense jumped out to a 20-0 lead Saturday against Azusa Pacific, but needed a late game-winning 23-yard field goal by senior Alex Romero with nine seconds left in the game to cap a come-from-behind shootout win against NAIA opponent Azusa Pacific (1-4), 30-28, at John L. Guidry Stadium.
After taking over on their own 26-yard line, Nicholls sophomore quarterback Zach Chauvin completed four consecutive passes and led the Colonels down to the Azusa 36-yard line with 32 seconds remaining in the game.
On the ensuing play, Chauvin scrambled for a 19-yard run to the Cougars 17-yard line with 18 seconds left on the clock.
Nicholls State opted to run one more play and it paid off, as Azusa Pacific was hit with a pass interference call, which gave Nicholls a first and goal at the seven-yard line with only nine seconds remaining in the contest.
The Colonels sent out Romero, who nailed the 23-yarder for the game-winning score for Nicholls, which improved to 3-1 this season.
“I am extremely proud of the way our players fought back on the final drive,” said head coach Jay Thomas. “In many cases when you blow a 20-point lead it can deflate a team’s moral, but that wasn’t the case today. Our players kept their heads high and had a lot of confidence that they could get the job done.”
The Colonels jumped out to a 7-0 lead when senior Broderick Cole capped off a nine play 73-yard drive with a four-yard run. After the Cougars went three and out, the Nicholls offense took over and drove 86 yards on nine plays to take a 13-0 lead on a nine-yard scamper by senior Cal Jones.
After taking a 13-0 lead into the half, sophomore Dominique Daniels ended the Cougars opening drive by intercepting the pass on a third down play and returned it to the two-yard line.
Three plays later senior Joseph Tobias gave the Colonels a 20-0 lead.
Azusa Pacific raced down the field and look as if it was going to settle for a field goal, but holder Rodney Trimm faked the snap and found Jon Davis wide open on the left side for a 10-yard pass and a Cougars touchdown with 14:10 remaining in the contest.
The Colonels answered on the next drive when junior defensive back/quarterback Ladarius Webb raced 76-yards to give the Colonels a 27-7 lead.
The Colonels forced the Cougars to go three and out on their next series and began to nurse the clock, but it failed when Tobias coughed up the ball on their own 27-yard line.
The Cougars took advantage of the turnover and capped an eight-play drive with a 28-yard pass from Rudy Carlton to Jon Davis to cut the lead to 27-14.
Nicholls continue to struggle moving the ball and the Azusa passing attack began to come alive as they forced the Colonels to punt on the next two series and were able to find the endzone on its next two series to take a 28-27 lead.
The Colonels finished the game with 406 total yards, 367 on the ground and 39 through the air, while the Cougars compiled 318 total yards, 308 through the passing attack and only 10 on the ground.
Nicholls will take a week off to get rested up before they begin Southland Conference league play on Oct. 6 against Northwestern State.
Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at John L. Guidry Stadium.
Junior Ladarius Webb was selected by the Southland Conference as the offensive player of the week while senior Alex Romero was named special teams player of the week for their roles in the Colonels 30-28 victory over Azusa Pacific on Saturday.
“It is a great honor for both of them,” said head coach Jay Thomas. “Both of them played well for us in our win against Azusa Pacific, and came up with big plays.”
Webb’s selection marks the second time this season that the Opelika, Alabama native picked up the award, however this is the first time that the junior nabbed the award on offense. He was named defensive player of the week in week one for his role in the Colonels victory over Division I Football Bowl Subdivision participant Rice.
Romero nailed the game-winning, 23-yard field goal with nine seconds left to lift the Colonels past Azusa Pacific, 30-28, on Saturday. He also had six kickoffs with two of them going for touchbacks in helping the Colonels emerge, and on his way to being SLC player of the week.
