Falling at the hands of the Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks 16-13 at home Saturday, any hopes of repeating as conference champions were lost on the final play of regulation when freshman quarterback Vince Montgomery was intercepted with three seconds left in the fourth quarter. While SFA has a possible conference championship to play for, the Colonels (4-6 overall, 2-3 in conference) can play the role of spoiler as the team travels to McNeese St. Saturday in hopes of ruining the Cowboys’ chances of earning a bid into the playoffs.

McNeese (6-4, 4-1) is riding on a four-game winning streak with key victories over both Sam Houston St. and SFA, putting the Cowboys in the driver’s seat for the conference championship and the automatic playoff berth in the conference.

In McNeese’s most recent win it took an overtime thriller for the team to pull a 29-26 victory over Northwestern St. in Natchitoches.

Cowboy kicker Blake Barcegay kicked five field goals in the game, including the 39-yarder that tied the game and the game winner in overtime, tying state, conference and school records for most field goals in a game.

Nicholls kept SFA quarterback Danny Southall out of the end zone for 59 minutes during Saturday’s contest but was unable to keep the junior quarterback from making the big play late when Southall connected with receiver Dominique Edison for a 42-yard touchdown reception with 40 seconds left in the game.

“That’s why you play for 60 minutes and not 59,” Head Coach Jay Thomas said. “We did enough to win the game, but you have to hand it to Stephen F. for making the big play when they needed it.”

The Colonels had led the ballgame right up until the final minute with two field goals by junior kicker Alex Romero and a 26-yard touchdown run by Montgomery, giving Nicholls its 13 points.

However, using favorable field position along with long sustained drives that seemed to stall in the red zone, the Jacks were able to get three field goals in the third and fourth quarter to put SFA down by one then by four with a minute left in the game.

Southall had over 224 total yards in the game with 182 passing and 43 yards rushing.

This was one of the first times the Colonels were outgained in yards, giving up 307 total yards.

Along with giving up 307 yards, Nicholls also had its lowest offensive output of the season only gaining 280 yards with 250 of those yards coming on the ground.

Although it may seem to outsiders Nicholls has nothing to play for, Thomas knows his players would like nothing more than to go into a visitors’ stadium, get a win and end the season on a high note.

“It’s always a tough game, and there’s no doubt there’s still a lot to play for,” Thomas said. “What we do next week against McNeese is what will roll over into spring practice, then into next season, giving our players the drive to want another championship.