In their first home game of the 2007 season, the Colonels football team defeated the Southern Arkansas University Muleriders 31-13 and improved to 2-0, a feat that has not been accomplished since 1994. Nicholls entered the contest coming off a 16-14 emotional win against the Rice Owls and Southern Arkansas entered the game 1-0 after beating Arkansas-Monticello 38-21 in week one.
Southern Arkansas competes in the NCAA Division II and is a member of the Gulf South Conference.
The game marked the first time the Colonels played on the Manning Field Built by Astroturf.
The win was the ninth straight home opening victory for the Colonels and the second consecutive season win against the Muleriders. Historically, the Colonels are 25-10 in home openers.
Following the win, the Colonels jumped seven spots to No. 18 in the Sports Network Poll.
The Colonels offense showed balance by putting up 226 yards rushing and 221 yards through the air and limited SAU to 229 total yards.
Head coach Jay Thomas said he was proud of the team and happy about the outcome of the game, but said he did see areas for improvement.
“I was really proud at how hard our guys played and pleased with the win over Southern Arkansas,” Thomas said. ” At the same time, we must improve in certain areas and minimize mistakes on the field.”
Nicholls jumped on top in the first quarter of the game 3-0 when Alex Romero put up a 41-yard field goal at the 8:22 mark.
The Colonels began pulling away in the second quarter as Cal Jones broke a 41-yard touchdown run at the 13:53 mark. Romero tacked on the extra point to give the Colonels a 10-0 lead. Two minutes and 53 seconds later, Broderick Cole burst in the end zone on a one-yard run. Following Romero’s field goal, the Colonels led 17-0.
With a 17-0 lead with 10:59 remaining before halftime, Nicholls appeared to be in complete control, but the Muleriders had other plans by posting 13 unanswered points before the half.
After Nicholls kicked off following the touchdown, the Muleriders went 65 yards on four plays ending with a 52-yard touchdown run by halfback Steven Ashley cutting the lead to 17-7 with 8:54 remaining.
The Colonels were forced to punt on their next possession and the Muleriders mounted an 11 play, 80-yard drive that resulted in quarterback Josh San Fillipo’s rushing for a one-yard touchdown that cut the lead to 17-13 seconds before the half. The Colonels blocked the PAT.
Neither team was able to find the end zone in the third quarter but the Colonels took control in the fourth by posting back-to-back touchdowns. The Colonels defense held the Muleriders to just 61 yards on six possessions in the second half.
Joseph Tobias scored his first touchdown of the year by racing to the endzone on a two-yard run at the 10:58 mark. Romero tacked on the extra point to give the Colonels a 24-13 lead.
With 6:09 remaining in the game, sophomore quarterback Zach Chauvin found senior wide receiver Michael Orkoronkwo on a 47 yard touchdown pass to ice the game. Romero’s field goal was good to give the Colonels the final score of 31-13.
The talk to the game was probably the 221 passing yards that Vincent Montgomery and Chauvin chalked up. Montgomery finished 8-15 for 162 yards and Chauvin finished 2-2 for 59 yards and a touchdown.
The defensive players of the game were former fullback Dwayne Jones and Lance Moore, who both had 5.5 tackles each.
The Colonels fumbled the ball four times against Southern Arkansas, two of which were turnovers.
Thomas said the offense has to keep turnovers to a minimum in order to be successful this weekend.
“It is critical that we protect the football and our goal this week is to make every drive end with a kick,” Thomas said.
Nicholls will travel to Reno this weekend to face the Nevada Wolfpack in week three of the schedule.
Nevada, who is in the Western Athletic Conference, enters the game 0-2 coming off a 31-36 loss to Northwestern and a 10-52 loss at Nebraska.
The Wolfpacks’ offense is very unique in that they use the pistol formation on offense. The pistol entails a quarterback lined up 4-5 feet behind center in shotgun and the halfback straight behind the quarterback. Besides creating a confusing look for defenses, the formation allows for the quarterback to get the ball quicker and makes it easier for the center to snap the ball.
Thomas said the pistol is challenging to defend but the Colonels have seen it before with Sam Houston State using it sparingly in last year’s game.
“The pistol offense is unique and challenging,” Thomas said. “Nevada is a very well coached team with a lot of power on offense. We have to minimize errors and be sound on offense, defense and special teams.”
The Colonels game against the University of Nevada is slated for this Saturday at 8 p.m. in Mackay Stadium in Reno. The game will be televised on ESPN regional programming and Cox sports locally.
