LAKE CHARLES - McNeese State opened the second half scoring 31 unanswered to steal a 34-13 victory over Southeastern Louisiana in Southland Conference football action Saturday night at Cowboy Stadium.
For the third straight week, the Lions (2-8, 1-4 SLC) could not sustain their intensity for the full game. After a spirited first half in which Southeastern jumped to a 10-point lead, the Cowboys (5-4, 3-1 SLC) took advantage of several Lion miscues to remain in a tie atop the Southland Conference standings with Sam Houston State.
Freshman quarterback Bradd Schlosser completed 18-of-24 passes for 154 yards, a touchdown and an interception, but had two costly fumbles as well. Sophomore tailback Jay Lucas led Southeastern with 96 total yards and a touchdown.
Toddrick Pendland rushed for 85 yards to lead McNeese State, while Carlese Franklin caught three passes for 41 yards, including two touchdowns. MSU defensive end Bryan Smith, a Buck Buchanan Award candidate, tied a Cowboy record with three sacks.
In 2005, the Lions defeated the Cowboys, 37-13, after pounding a then sixth-ranked McNeese State team, 52-17 in 2004. MSU made sure that Southeastern would not make it three victories in a row taking advantage of the Lions as they stumbled out of the gate to start the second half.
"You can't open the second half with three straight turnovers and expect to win a game against anyone, much less in the Southland Conference," Lions interim head coach Mike Lucas said. "In the first half we played our best half of football all year and I'm proud of the effort we gave in the second half. Despite the adversity, our team continued to play hard."
Southeastern committed four turnovers in the game including three straight to start the third quarter. Aided by the Lion miscues, McNeese exploded for 24 points in the period to erase a 13-3 Southeastern advantage.
MSU, which led 3-0 early in the game, retook the lead with an eight-yard touchdown pass from Derrick Fourroux to Carlese Franklin to put the Cowboys up, 20-13, with 6:45 remaining. The drive started on the Southeastern 35 after Schlosser fumbled the center exchange and Kenneth Lundy recovered for the Cowboys.
After Southeastern was forced to punt on the next drive, Pendland took his first carry of the game 73 yards for a touchdown to put the Cowboys up by two scores with 3:37 left in the third quarter.
McNeese eliminated any chance of a Southeastern comeback with a 27-yard halfback pass by Steven Whitehead to Franklin to put the Cowboys ahead, 34-13 with 13:48 remaining in the game.
On the opening drive of the second half, Schlosser was intercepted by Jamelle Juneau who returned the pick 44 yards to the Southeastern 16-yard line. The Lion defense stiffened, however, forcing a 30-yard field goal by Blake Bercegeay to pull the Cowboys within a touchdown at 13-6 with 11:11 remaining in the third quarter.
McNeese took advantage of another Southeastern mistake on the next drive, as Schlosser could not handle a high snap by Lion senior center Donald Usry and the Cowboys recovered on the Lions' two-yard line. Jamie Leonard knotted the game at 13 with a touchdown run on the next play.
Southeastern out-gained the Cowboys, 176-111, in the opening half and took a 13-3 lead. Schlosser connected on 11-of-13 passes in the opening half for 98 yards and a touchdown. Lucas rushed 12 times for 49 yards and a score in the opening 30 minutes.
McNeese took the opening drive 42 yards on eight plays with Bercegeay capping the march with a 48-yard field goal to put the Cowboys up, 3-0.
Southeastern answered with a methodical 15-play, 62-yard drive, taking over eight minutes off the clock and stalling at the McNeese three-yard line. However, senior Jim Hall pushed his 21-yard field goal attempt wide left to spoil the efficient Lion march.
After the Lions forced the Cowboys to punt on the next drive, Southeastern drove to the McNeese 39, but backup senior quarterback Seth Babin was intercepted by Jonathan Walker to end the Southeastern threat.
The Lions took over at their own 39-yard line after a two-yard punt off the side of Bercegeay's foot. Schlosser returned to the game to engineer an eight-play, 61-yard drive over 2:15 seconds. Lucas finished the drive with a four-yard touchdown run up the middle to put the Lions up, 7-3, with 4:51 left in the half.
The Lions snuffed the ensuing drive by sacking Fourroux on consecutive plays. On the ensuing punt, McNeese linebacker Jared Dolan was flagged for a late hit, allowing Southeastern to start its final drive of the first half in Cowboy territory. Schlosser completed four of his six passes during the drive, including a four-yard scoring strike to Crawford Kilpatrick. Hall pushed the extra point attempt left and the Lions led 13-3.
Southeastern will close out the 2006 season next Saturday, hosting Sam Houston State at 6 p.m. in Strawberry Stadium. The Lions will honor their senior class in a special Senior Day pre-game ceremony before the season finale with the Bearkats.
Box Score (Final)
Southeastern La. vs McNeese State (Nov 04, 2006 at Lake Charles, LA)
Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
----------------- -- -- -- -- -----
Southeastern La..... 0 13 0 0 - 13 Record: (2-8,1-4)
McNeese State....... 3 0 24 7 - 34 Record: (5-4,3-1)
Scoring Summary:
1st
MCN - Bercegeay 48 FG, 10:59
2nd
SLU - Lucas 5 run (Hall kick), 4:51
SLU - Kilpatrick 5 pass from Schlosser (Hall kick failed), 0:27
3rd
MCN - Bercegeay 30 FG, 11;11
MCN - Leonard 2 run (Bercegeay kick), 9:58
MCN - Franklin 8 pass from Fourroux (Bercegeay kick), 6:45
MCN - Pendland 73 run (Bercegeay kick), 3:47
4th
MCN - Franklin 27 pass from Whitehead (Bercegeay kick), 13:48
SLU MCN
FIRST DOWNS................... 17 15
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 37-71 38-194
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 181 130
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 32-23-2 20-11-1
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 69-252 58-324
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 2-17 2-13
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 5-103 2-52
Interception Returns-Yards.... 1-0 2-51
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 3-34.3 5-20.4
Fumbles-Lost.................. 2-2 1-0
Penalties-Yards............... 4-42 9-65
Possession Time............... 29:48 30:12
Third-Down Conversions........ 6 of 13 4 of 12
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 2 0 of 1
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-3 3-3
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 1-9 3-15
RUSHING: SLU-Lucas 13-53; Gilbert 13-34; Adams 5-20; Schlosser 2-minus 1; Betts 1-minus 3; Babin 2-minus 14; TEAM 1-minus 18. MCN-Pendland 3-85; Thomas 4-35; Bush 7-26; Leonard 8-17; Fourroux 7-15; Whitehead 2-11; Friddle 1-6; Jones 3-6; Fontenot 2-5; TEAM 1-minus 12.
PASSING: SLU-Schlosser 18-24-1-158; Babin 5-8-1-23. MCN -Fourroux 6-12-1-72; Fontenot 4-7-0-31; Whitehead 1-1-0-27.
RECEIVING: SLU-Kilpatrick 6-55; Garrett 5-36; Lucas 4-43; Wilson 3-23; Adams 2-12; Gilbert 2-4; Betts 1-8. MCN-Franklin 3-41; Smothers 3-32; Whitehead 2-20; Lawrence 1-22; Leonard 1-14; Thomas 1-1.
