The Nicholls Colonels could not escape their season opener with a win against the Air Force Academy Falcons in Colorado this past Saturday.
The Colonels fell to the Falcons 44-16 due to the inability of stopping the run.
“The triple option is hard to defend. Air Force is really good at it, we have to pursue better,” Coach Charlie Stubbs said. The Falcons rushed for 539 yards on 73 carries. In the entire game, Air Force quarterback Kale Pearson only completed 3 passes of 6 attempts for 19 yards.
“We will get a better evaluation of how our defense is in the next few weeks when we play other teams,” Stubbs said.
Kalen Henderson led the Colonels’ offense and passed 12-of-25 for 136 yards. He also ignited a rushing attack leading to a Tobias Lofton’s 18 yard running touchdown, placing Nicholls at just a two-point deficit in the first quarter. “I felt like we did some good things, and I still think we were the better team,” Henderson said. “We should have come home with a win, and we didn’t make the plays like we should have done.”
Nicholls place kicker Francisco Condado’s extra point was blocked by the Falcons, favoring them to a 6-9 lead over the Colonels in the last moments of the first quarter.
In the second quarter, Colonels defense seized Pearson on a keeper on 4th-and-3 that caused the Falcons to turn it over on downs at midfield. The Colonels put together a drive that consisted of seven plays that led to a field goal tying the game at nine.
After the field goal, Air Force responded with two more touchdowns making the score 9-23 at halftime.
After half time, the Colonels offense was completely shut down in the third quarter. They could not keep a consistent rhythm in the passing game. Instead, the team punted the ball away on all three possessions. The Falcons’ triple option turned up the heat and created more problems for the Nicholls defense. Air Force scored two touchdowns resulting in a 9-37 lead over the Colonels at the end of the quarter.
In the final quarter, Air Force scored another touchdown, extending their lead over Nicholls 44-9.
In the Colonels final possession, the team called on senior quarterback Beaux Hebert to take over for Henderson. Hebert put together an 11 play 75 yard scoring drive, passing a 10 yard touchdown strike to junior wide receiver Darryl Watson II.
“I thought it was a good performance by us. We came out ready to go, and we didn’t finish,” Hebert said. “They did not stop us. We stopped ourselves.”
The Colonels will return to action when they battle against the University of Arkansas Razorbacks in Fayetteville this Saturday.
“All I’m looking for is for us to be better than we were last Saturday and keep getting better each week,” Stubbs said. “When we get closer to conference play, I want us to be the best we can be.”