The Colonels football team won the “NSU Challenge” game over the Demons of Northwestern 40-30 under a rain soaked sky last Saturday at Turpin Stadium in Natchitoches.
The victory was the Colonels’ (3-4, 1-0 SLC) first win over Northwestern (6-3, 1-0 SLC) in Natchitoches since a 19-7 victory on Sept. 9, 1990. The 40 points were the most the Colonels ever scored against Northwestern.
“This is a huge win for our program,” Daryl Daye, Colonels head coach said. “I am so proud of the players and coaching staff. We established ourselves in the trenches, and I thought we just physically outplayed them.”
In a press release from the Northwestern Sports Information office, Demon coach Scott Stoker said the Colonels just played better overall throughout the game.
“Give Nicholls credit; they did a great job executing their offense and gave us fits in the first half,” Stoker said. “I thought we played pretty well offensively in the first half and very well defensively in the second half, but we couldn’t put a complete game together. You can’t pinpoint one aspect of the game that made the difference. They just played better than we did today in all phases of the game.”
The Colonels accounted for 415 total yards offensively, gaining 236 rushing yards and 183 passing yards. Northwestern rushed for 144 yards and 220 passing yards. The Colonels controlled time of possession over Northwestern 34:28 to 23:32.
Senior quarterback Josh Son led the Colonels on the ground and through the air offensively. He rushed 17 times for 70 yards with one touchdown, and was 5-for-8 for 183 yards and a touchdown through the air.
Junior running back Colt Colletti rushed 13 times for 63 yards and two touchdowns; senior running back Phillip Brock rushed for 23 yards and one touchdown, and senior running back Rudy August rushed eight times for 23 yards.
Junior wide receiver Vince Butler caught three passes for 154 yards and one touchdown, and junior receiver Marcus Richardson caught a pass for 32 yards.
Daye said Butler’s 85-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was a huge momentum swing for the Colonels.
“It turned out to be a big play,” Daye said. “Nobody thought we were going to pass. In the past two games, Vince has demanded a lot of attention. You can throw pop-routes to him, and he can go up and get them. He has really come on and become a quality player.”
Defensively the Colonels were led by senior cornerback Chris Thompson, who had 13 tackles, four pass breakups and one interception.
Junior defensive back Joseph Ogletree contributed 10 tackles; junior defensive back David Willis added nine tackles and one pass breakup. Senior linebacker Torrian Thomas and senior defensive lineman Phillip Robin both added sacks.
On special teams, sophomore defensive back Chris Crawford provided the Colonels with excellent field positioning by returning five kickoffs for 111 yards, which translates into 33 yards a carry.
Several of the Colonels players won Southland Conference honors this week. Thompson won his third Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week award, which is the most of any player in the Southland Conference. Son made the offensive honor roll list, and Crawford made the special teams honor roll.
Daye said the Colonels are starting to get healthier as the season goes on.
“Some people are starting to get healthy, who haven’t been healthy in a while,” Daye said. “David Willis is starting to get back and (defensive back Gareth) Dibetta’s foot was better. That is the healthiest we’ve been since South Florida, and we played Northwestern very similarly to how we played South Florida.”
This weekend the Colonels will play host to Sam Houston (1-6, 0-2 SLC) in a homecoming contest in Guidry Stadium at 6 p.m. Daye said it is important for the Colonels to put the huge emotional win against Northwestern behind them and focus on Sam Houston.
“We are two football teams that are very much alike. Both of us are not happy with our records. This will make for an excellent home contest,” Daye said.
“This is no team to mess with. Their key is the offensive line. They have a spread offensive and will feature a tight end. For the most part, they want to spread you out,” Daye said. “They are a tackling squad defensively, and they haven’t played an option team this year, so it is going to be interesting to see how they compete. We need to get people on the ground and take away some of their athleticism on defense by using our cut blocks.”
With the pressures and activities of homecoming looming this week, Daye said it is important for the team to focus on schoolwork and getting rest for Sam Houston.
“We have to rely on our team leadership, and we have to rely on the overall maturity as a football team to understand we have some big games before us,” Daye said. “Let’s don’t get caught up in the hoopla of homecoming. We are in no position to overlook anybody to start with, so let’s make sure that we do our job.”
Laginappe: Following the Colonels win, the team and coaching staff were greeted by Nicholls president Stephen T. Hulbert… The Nicholls students and fans, comprised of fraternities, sororities and members of the softball team, took over the student section at Northwestern. “It was the best crowd on the road since we’ve been here,” Daye said…The Colonels lead the all-time series over Sam Houston 9-8-1, including last year’s 34-16 win in Huntsville, Texas.