Southeastern La. defeats Colonels in ‘tale of two halves’

NSU Sports Information Desk

Southeastern Louisiana came out of the locker room after halftime a different team and erased a 13-0 deficit to defeat Nicholls State 17-13 in Strawberry Stadium.

The Lions win over the Colonels marked the first time in eight tries that they had defeated Nicholls.

Nicholls’ loss also meant that they had to give up the River Bell, which is the symbol of the regional rivalry the two teams play for each game in the series.

“We had controlled the momentum of the game until the third quarter. We let them hang around and they made us pay for it,” said Nicholls coach Jay Thomas. “Some things did not go our way tonight, but when things went wrong, we never recovered from them.”

Senior Broderick Cole closed out his career with Nicholls as the all-time leader in rushing touchdowns with 33, fourth on the all-time rushing list with 2,111 yards and sixth on the all-time scoring list with 198.

The Colonels (6-5, 3-4) cracked the scoreboard first in the game with a 1-yard touchdown run by quarterback Zach Chauvin. The drive went a total of 11 plays for 63 yards and used 5:34 of the game clock. Alex Romero added the extra point to give the Colonels the 7-0 lead at the 2:55 mark of the first quarter.

The scoring continued for Nicholls in the second quarter with Lance Moore taking an interception to the house. Moore intercepted Mike Neville’s first pass attempt of the game for a 39-yard touchdown, his first score on the collegiate level. Romero’s extra point failed, and Nicholls led 13-0 at the 5:19 mark of the second quarter.

Nicholls led 13-0 at the half on the strength of stifling defense that held SE Louisiana to 144 first-half yards in the half and forced three turnovers – all interceptions. Nicholls only mustered 126 yards in the half, in part due to the absence of quarterback Vincent Montgomery, who left the game in the first quarter with an injury and did not return.

It didn’t take long in the third quarter for the Lions to put points on the scoreboard as Jay Lucas sprinted 62 yards on the first play of the second half to the end zone. Jeff Turner’s point after was good to make the score 13-7.

On the ensuing kickoff, Andre Kelly fumbled the return setting up SE Louisiana on the Colonels 39-yard line.

However, the Colonels defense came up with the stop an forced the Lions to punt.

After both teams traded punts, the Lions took control of the game when Lucas ran for his second touchdown of the game. Lucas’ score came at the 3:13 mark of the third quarter from four yards out as SE Louisiana tied the game up at 13 on their nine play 80-yard drive. Turner’s extra point was good, and the Lions took a 14-13 lead.

Lucas had 110 yards on nine carries for two touchdowns in the third quarter alone and finished the game with 183 yards on 25 carries to go along with the two touchdowns.

Both teams had a cease-fire in scoring until Turner hit a 27-yard field goal at the 3:42 mark of the fourth quarter. The drive went a total of nine plays and 45 yards and took 3:54 to make the score 17-13.

Even though Nicholls put forth a valiant effort in the fourth quarter, their strides fell short as the final score was 17-13 in favor of the Lions.