The Colonels football team annihilated the Bethel College Wildcats 70-0 last Thursday night in front of 5,485 fans in Guidry Stadium.
The 70 points is the second most points ever scored by the Colonels (1-0, 0-0 SLC) since they defeated Livingston 77-7 on Sept. 10, 1994 in Guidry Stadium.
The victory jumped the Colonels from No. 22 to No. 17 in the recent Division 1-AA Sports Network polls.
Darryl Daye, Colonels football coach, said the Colonels did not want to run the score up on Bethel.
“It was tough because they kept throwing the football, and I was hoping that they would run and get the game over. I think the game could have been in the forties or maybe the fifties. We were trying to get the game over and not run the score up, but they gave us so many opportunities by continuing to run the ball,” Daye said.
Since they are a team consisted of 80 percent freshmen and sophomores, Bethel football coach Dino Kaklis said his team has no excuses for the 70-point loss.
“Obviously they are a good team. They are not ranked 22nd in the nation for nothing, and we have a lot to work on,” Kaklis said.
Although Bethel (0-1) controlled the game clock for 36 minutes compared to the Colonels 23, the Colonels out-gained Bethel in total yards with 444 to 152.
The Colonels reached the end zone 10 times, and eight different players scored against Bethel.
Junior running back Travis Felder led the Colonels offensively with 102 total rushing yards and two touchdowns. Felder rushed six times and averaged 17 yards per rush.
Felder said the credit goes to the offensive line for opening up holes in the Bethel defensive line.
“I have to give credit to the offensive line. If the offensive line wasn’t there to set up the blocks, it wouldn’t have been possible for me to run. Our offense came out with a lot of fire, and we blew them off the ball,” Felder said.
Senior running back Phillip Brock rushed five times for 84 yards, while junior Colt Colletti rushed for 58 yards with three touchdowns.
Freshman running back George Henley, junior quarterback Yale Vannoy, sophomore running back Sedgwyn Thigpen and junior quarterback James Morales each scored a touchdown for the Colonels.
Defensively, the Colonels sacked Bethel quarterbacks Brent Dearmon and Eddie Cunningham 12 times. Sophomore defensive end Michael Young collected ten tackles, six of which were for a loss of 48-yards. Young also came up with six sacks, which broke the Division I-AA record of five. Young’s record setting night against Bethel made him Southland Conference defensive player of the week.
Young said the entire defensive line did a great job on controlling the line of scrimmage, which was a decisive part in the 12 sacks of the night.
“The defensive tackles got the push in the middle that flushed out the quarterback, which led to a lot of sacks. It is not just one person, but the whole defensive line should be counted in all the sacks that we had,” Young said.
Senior defensive lineman Zo Walker collected 10 tackles, in which four was for losses of 27 yards. Walker also notched 3 sacks on the night. Freshman defensive lineman Brian Paille was third on the Colonels with seven tackles and two sacks. Senior defensive back Stephen Archangel collected five tackles and one sack and senior defensive line Phillip Robin and junior defensive lineman Chris Hester each collected two sacks.
With two punt blocks, senior defensive back Chris Thompson was named Southland Conference special teams player of the week. One of Thompson’s blocks resulted in seven points for the Colonels.
“I just watch a lot of film and came out and made plays. I just made an inside move on the line, and I was there,” Thompson said.
This week, the Colonels will travel to Tampa, Fla. to take on Division I-A member South Florida, who was 9-2 overall last season in the Conference USA. Last weekend, South Florida lost to Alabama 40-17.
“They are a quality football program, and they have come a long way in a short time. We can’t go down there and turn the ball over, and we can’t make a lot of mistakes. Not many people are going to give us a chance. Regardless of what happens, our kids are going to play with them for four quarters,” Daye said.
Because South Florida uses a lot of different formations on offense, Daye said the Colonels defense have to be prepared for anything they throw at them.
“They are very focused this week, and (defensive back coach) Coach Kelly is working them overtime. They are quick and try to confuse you with their formations and substitutions. The speed is going to be different, and we have to prepare for that style of offense,” Daye said.