Courtesy: Louis Bonnette Tailback Toddrick Pendland follows guard Miguel Gauthreaux (61) into the end zone for the Cowboys first touchdown on Saturday as quarterback Derrick Fourroux (4) looks on.
THIBODAUX, LA - McNeese State's No. 13 ranked Cowboys scored early and in every quarter for a 38-17 Southland Conference victory over Nicholls State on Saturday.
Senior quarterback Derrick Fourroux was sharp with a 19 for 26 passing effort for 155 yards and three touchdowns and the Cowboys totaled 305 offensive yards.
It was the third straight victory for McNeese which ran its season record to 6-2 and its conference mark to 3-1. Nicholls fell to 1-7 and remains winless in league play at 0-4.
The Cowboys held a 14-0 lead at the end of the first quarter, was up 24-7 at the end of the half and then outscored the Colonels 14-10 in the final two periods.
McNeese head coach Matt Viator said he was pleased with the outcome and that he felt his team turned in a strong performance. He also felt that a key to the game was the fact that the Cowboys had good field position throughout the contest.
A total of seven times (out of 11) McNeese began its possession on the Nicholls side of the 50.
Fourroux, who is getting closer in each game to taking over all of the McNeese passing and total offense records, finished with 185 total yards. His touchdown passes went to Javaris Murray for seven yards, to Wes Mangan for three yards and to Corday Clark for five yards.
His total in the Nicholls game sent his career total offense mark to 9,307 (school record of 9676 is held by Kerry Joseph) and his passing yards to 7,539 (record is 7,874).
The three touchdowns he tossed lifts his career mark for tds rushing and passing to 88, only two shy of Joseph's record of 90.
Other scoring in the game for the Cowboys came from senior Toddrick Pendland on runs of one and two yards and on a 32 yard field goal by Josh Lewis who also booted all five PATs.
Pendland, who has missed either all or portions of the last three games because of an injury, only played the first quarter in this contest. He finished with 24 yards on 10 carries. Rookies Murray and Champlain Babin took over the running duties for the Cowboys, Murray coming up with a team high 68 yards on nine trips and Babin 29 on nine. Fourroux also had 30 yards rushing.
Nicholls had the game's leading rusher in Marlin Meeks who ran for 143 yards and a touchdown, scoring the game's final td on a two yard run. Other scores for the Colonels came on an eight yard run by A. J. Williams and on a 24 yard field goal by Ross Schexnayder.
Colonel quarterback Quinten Caston only attempted nine passes and completed six of those for 46 yards.
The Cowboys had the game's leading receivers in Immanuel Friddle and Corday Clark. Friddle caught four passes for 60 yards and Clark had four catches for 35 yards and a score.
Mangan had two catches for the Cowboys and that shoved his career total to 60, now fourth on the all-time reception list for McNeese tight ends.
Defensively, the Cowboys held Nicholls to 294 yards, 248 of them on the ground. Linebackers Geremy Pilate and Joe Narcisse led the team in tackles with seven each. Narcisse also recovered a fumble while Pilate forced one.
McNeese scored on its first possession, going 41 yards following a Nicholls punt. A 31 yard pass from Fourroux to Friddle was the key play in the drive and Pendland scored from the one.
The Cowboys also scored on their next possession, this series starting when Narcisse recovered a Caston fumble on the Colonel 36 yard line. This time a 13 yard pass from Fourroux to Clark put the ball near the red zone and Pendland wound up getting 18 of the next 23 yards, the score coming on his two yard run.
Twice more the Cowboys scored in the first half to take was a commanding 24-7 halftime lead.
The victory gives McNeese a 23-11 edge in the series with Nicholls. Next week McNeese will host Sam Houston State in a Saturday game at Cowboy Stadium, kickoff at 7 pm.
Courtesy: Louis Bonnette
