Colonels tame Huskies in 41-20 battering

The Nicholls State University football team defeated the Houston Baptist University Huskies 41-20 in Texas this past Saturday.

The Colonels breezed past the Huskies as they posted a season-high 616 yards of offense.

Nicholls led 27-0 at halftime and 41-7 in the third quarter, as junior quarterback Chase Fourcade threw for 279 yards and two touchdowns and added two touchdown runs, completing 24 out of his 30 passes.

The running game came alive as junior running back Dontrell Taylor led the Colonels with 104 yards on 11 carries and received a 13-yard touchdown pass, while fellow junior running back Kendall Bussey added 64 yards and scored on a 6-yard touchdown run.

Senior wide receiver Damion Jeanpiere, Jr., caught seven passes for 96 yards, and sophomore wide receiver Dai’Jean Dixon hauled in five passes for 74 yards and a touchdown.

The Colonels recorded seven sacks on the day, with junior defensive lineman Sully Laiche earning three sacks, fellow junior defensive lineman Patrick Riley posting two sacks of his own and junior linebacker Allen Pittman getting a sack as well.

Senior kicker Lorran Fonseca set the tone for the game when he gave the Colonels a 3-0 lead in the first quarter after nailing a school-record 56-yard field goal.

The standings show that three teams are tied for first place- McNeese, Nicholls and Incarnate Word- with all three teams posting a (5-2) conference record, putting Nicholls in a position to try to win the Southland Conference title.

McNeese owns a tiebreaker over Nicholls with its 20-10 win back on Sept. 15.

If the Colonels win their final two games and the Cowboys lose one of their final two games, then the Red and Gray earn a berth in the FCS Playoffs for the second year in a row and the Southland Conference regular season title.

For now, the Colonels (6-3, 5-2 SLC) return home to Manning Field and take on the Stephen F. Austin State University Lumberjacks Saturday at 3 p.m.