After a tough loss on the road to Northwestern State University, the Colonels will make one more final attempt for a victory tonight as they host the Southeastern Louisiana University Lions for the River Bell Classic.

The Colonels fell to NSU 48-21 last Saturday despite striking first offensively on their first possession and dominating the time of possession in the game. Northwestern answered immediately with four straight touchdowns before halftime. The Nicholls defense had no answer for the Demons’ offense.

In the third quarter, senior quarterback Beaux Hebert threw a short pass to Demon Bolt, but Northwestern responded quickly entering the fourth quarter leading Nicholls 42-14. The Colonels had 315 yards of total offense on the night.

Tonight, the Colonels will take on the Lions, a team ranked tenth in the top 25 Football Championship Series Coaches Poll, 8-3 overall and tied for first in the Southland Conference.

“Without a doubt, we will have to play our best game of the year. It has to be a complete game, and we have to play well in all phases of the game: offense, defense and kicking game. This is the time to do it and that is our goal,” Interim Head Coach Steve Axman said.

The rivalry began in 1972 and was played annually until 1985 when Southeastern dropped its football program. In 2005, the rivalry resumed and has been exciting ever since. Nicholls leads the series 12-11 and hopes to extend that lead tonight.

“A win would make us forget everything that happened this season. To pull off an upset against the top team in our conference and our rival, it would be amazing. It would be the best thing that would happen here on a Thursday night,” Hebert said.

Featuring this rivalry game will be seniors on a Colonel team that hopes to end this season on a high note.
“It would be great to send this senior class out with a victory against our rival. I remember as a high school recruit, I came to the Southeastern game which Nicholls won,” senior linebacker Davin Bovie said. “It is a big rivalry for us, the alumni and the future. It will help lay the foundation for the off season so you can say you beat Southeastern and got the River Bell.”

Even though this senior class did not experience a winning season, Hebert and Bovie want to send a message to the underclassmen on the team.

“Work hard. We didn’t experience that much success this year as far as the win column is concerned. They should take that as a lesson because we probably didn’t work hard enough this season. Now they see they need to work harder and push themselves more,” Bovie said.

“Never give up no matter what. I’m not giving up, our heads are up, and we are still having fun out here,” Hebert said. “I want to let these freshman and younger guys know that you need to control what you can control, and that’s going out there and giving it your all. When you’re not, you are cheating yourself and teammates.”