Game story w/ LU firsts

[HoopInsider_Cooper]

BY LAMAR SID

LAKE CHARLES – Lamar University’s Andre Bevil set a school record for passing Saturday night as the Cardinals put a serious scare into 11th-ranked McNeese State in a 30-27 season-opening loss in the school’s first football game in 21 years.

           With a Cowboy Field crowd of 19,235 – the largest since a 2002 game against Grambling looking on, Bevil completed 24 of 41 attempts for 426 yards and three touchdowns. The junior from Navarro College and West Orange-Stark eclipsed the previous record of 412 yards set by Shad Smith in a 1987 game against Louisiana-Monroe.

           Bevil’s touchdown strikes went to Marcus Jackson for 26 yards in the first quarter, 12 yards to Josh Powdrill on the first play of the fourth quarter and 4 yards to J.J. Hayes to register the final score with 3:23 remaining  

           Jackson and Powdrill both went over 100 yards receiving with 123 and 120, respectively, and Hayes finished with 90. Hayes had nine catches, Jackson six and Powdrill four. Kendrick Prejean, who executed a 63-yard catch-and-run play down the right sideline to set up Hayes’ touchdown, had three catches for 87 yards.

           â€œI never dreamed of setting any school records in our first game,” said the 6-fooot-1, 180-pound Bevil. “I didn’t even know what the number (Smith’s 412 yards) was. “We made some mistakes early in the game that if we could’ve avoided them we would’ve had a much better chance of beating this team.”

           Ray Woodard, Lamar’s head coach, was equally as stunned upon learning that his prize quarter had set a school record.

           â€œI knew we would play hard, but I wasn’t thinking about setting any records,” said Woodard. “Andre had a fantastic game, but you haven’t seen the best of Andre yet. That’s not even close to what’s going to be his best game.

           â€œI’m disappointed that we lost the game, but I’m very proud of our effort. The butterflies went away pretty quickly, and I like the way we progressed as the game went along. With the receivers we have, I believe you’re going to see even greater numbers out of our passing game.”

           The Cardinals could, however use a little more punch from their running game. They wound up with a net of 20 ground yards on 16 carries. Tailback Octavious Logan was the team rushing leader  with 14 yards on five carries.

           McNeese State’s offense was much more balanced as the Cowboys opened their season with 207 rushing yards and 288 yards through the air. Backup tailback Marcus Wiltz led the Pokes in rushing with 182 yards on 26 carries, and quarterback Jacob Bower completed 18 of 31 passes for 288 yards and two touchdowns without throwing an interception.

           Bower’s TD passes went 48 yards to Henry Bernardo and 6 yards to DeVio Edmonson, and the senior quarterback also sneaked two yards for the Cowboys’ first touchdown.

           The Cardinals yielded a 37-yard field goal by Josh Lewis on the Cowboys’ second possession, but they bounced back to take a 7-3 lead on two sharp passes by Bevil.

           First, he connected with Hayes, who sidestepped a defender to turn the play into a 57-yard gain to the Cowboys’ 26-yard line. On the next play Bevil hit Jackson near the right sideline for the Cardinals’ first touchdown since the 1989 season.

           Bevil finished the first quarter 8-for-12 for 148 yards and one touchdown, and the Cardinals stretched their lead to 10-3 on Justin Stout’s 32-yard field goal 2:08 deep in the second quarter.

           The Cowboys retaliated with a nine-play, 58-yard touchdown drive to force a 10-10 tie. The score came on a 2-yard sneak by Bower on a clutch fourth-and-one play with 7:58 left in the second quarter.

           Former Jasper standout Malcolm Bronson intercepted a Bevil pass midway through the second quarter to set up Lewis’ 37-yard field goal that gave the Cowboys a 13-10 lead with 4:14 remaining before halftime.

           A three-and-out by the Cardinals on the ensuing possession proved costly as it gave the Cowboys enough time to negotiate the 53 yards needed to set up Lewis’ 25-yard field goal that made it McNeese 16, Lamar 10 at the intermission.

           For the second quarter, the Cardinals had the ball for a mere 3:58 to the Cowboys’ whopping 11:02

Bevil was 11-for-21 for 183 yards with two interceptions at the half, but the Cardinals managed only nine net yards on 10 carries in the first 30 minutes. Meanwhile, the Cowboys accounted for 261 total yards – 118 rushing and 143 passing.

           The Cardinals’ offense came to life on their first possession of the second half as Bevil found Powdrill wide open deep for a 73-yard gain to the Cowboy 7-yard line. The Cowboys’ defense stiffened, however, forcing a fourth and goal at the 3, and Stout kicked a 21-yard field goal to cut the deficit to 16-13 with 10:41 left in the third quarter.

           Again, the Cardinal defense held its ground, forcing a second-straight punt, a 39-yarder that gave Lamar the ball at the 19-yard line. The best the Cardinals could manage, however was one first down on a 12-yard Bevil-to-Hayes pass before they, too had to punt at the halfway mark of the third quarter.

           A 2-yard run on a fake punt play gave the Cowboys a clutch first down on their next possession, and Bower struck quickly with his 48-yard scoring bomb to Henry on the next play to make it 23-13 McNeese with 2:49 left in the third quarter.

           Back-to-back circus catches of 16 and 35 yards by Jackson enabled the Cardinals to briskly move to the Cowboy 12-yard on the final play of the third quarter. Bevil found Powdrill open in the right hand corner of the end zone on the first play of the final quarter, pulling the Cards to within 23-20.

           After outgaining the Cowboys 152 yards to 77 in the third quarter, the Cardinals went three-and-out on their first full possession of the fourth and had to surrender the ball on Kahler’s 53-yard punt.

           The Cardinals will play their first home game this Saturday against Webber International at 6 p.m. in newly-renovated Provost Umphrey Stadium. Webber International, an NAIA school located in Babson Park, Fla., defeated Georgetown College 27-20 Saturday afternoon to move to 2-0 on the season.

         

LAMAR UNIVERSITY FIRSTS



           These are firsts achieved by Lamar University in football for the first time since 1989 on Saturday night in the Cardinals’ season opener against McNeese State:



FIRST KICKOFF RETURN: 25 yards Octavious Logan, 14:55 1st Quarter

FIRST PENALTY: 5 yards, False Start, 14:55 1st Quarter

FIRST RUNNING PLAY: No Gain by Logan, 14:33 1st Quarter

FIRST PASSING PLAY: Incompletion by Andre Bevil 14:48 1st Quarter

FIRST PUNT: 49 yards by Kollin Kahler, 13:13 1st Quarter

FIRST FIRST DOWN: 12-yard pass from Andre Bevil to Marcus Jackson, 11:30 of 1st Quarter

FIRST TACKLE: By Adren Dorsey, 13:00, 1st Quarter

FIRST SACK: By Adren Dorsey for 7-yard loss, 13:00 1st Quarter

FIRST FIRST DOWN ALLOWED: 27-yard pass by Jacob Bower to Champlain Babin, 12:38 1st Quarter

FIRST FUMBLE CAUSED: By Branden Thomas, 11:37 1st Quarter

FIRST FUMBLE RECOVERY: By Michael Allen for touchback, 11:37 of 1st Quarter

FIRST COMPLETION: 12 yards by Andre Bevil to Marcus Jackson, 11:30 of 1st Quarter

FIRST INTERCEPTION THROWN: By Bevil to Brandon Robinson, 9:52 1st Quarter

FIRST FIELD GOAL ALLOWED: 37 yards by Josh Lewis, 7:39 1st Quarter for 3-0 lead

FIRST SACK ALLOWED:12-yard loss by Bevil, 5:52 1st Quarter

FIRST TOUCHDOWN: 26-yard pass from Bevil to Marcus Jackson, 3:05 1st quarter

FIRST EXTRA POINT KICK: By Justin Stout for 7-3 lead 3:05 1st Quarter

FIRST FIELD GOAL: 32 yards by Justin Stout for 10-3 at 12:52, 2nd Quarter

FIRST TOUCHDOWN ALLOWED: 2-yard sneak by Bower, 7:58 2nd Quarter

FIRST PUNT FORCED: 37-yarder by Ben Bourgeois at 13:32, 3rd Quarter

FIRST TOUCHDOWN PASS ALLOWED: 48-yarder to Bernardo Henry at 2:49 3rd Quarter, putting McNeese up 23-13

[CardAmbassador]

Doesn't quoting an entire article violate the new forum rules?

[HoopInsider_Cooper]

[font=Courier]It's from Lamar SID. [u]Can be used for publication[/u].  ::)

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[AggiesAreWe]

[quote name="HoopInsider_Cooper" post="839687" timestamp="1283669870"]
[font=Courier]It's from Lamar SID. [u]Can be used for publication[/u].  ::)

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[/quote]


Correct!

[UNLV]

If Mcneese had won 61-0, Terror would be all over this board.

The pride of the SLC, the flagship of slc football. Next year LU destroys Mneese.