Nov. 10, 2007

Box Score

THIBODAUX, La. - By the time most of the 5,154 fans on hand for Family Day had settled into their seats, the hometown Colonels had taken a 14-0 lead as Nicholls State rolled to a 52-28 win Saturday at John L. Guidry Stadium.

Nicholls scored on its first possession then held Texas State to three-and-out to set up a school and Southland Conference record punt return by Ladarius Webb to put the Colonels up 14-0 at the 10:01 mark.

Nicholls State needed seven plays to drive 52 yards as quarterback Vin Montgomery capped the series with a three-yard touchdown run. Webb set up the opening drive with a 31-yard kickoff return to near midfield. Montgomery then carried the ball five times on the seven-play series, running for 21 yards to the Texas State 14 on one play.

After the Bobcats managed seven yards on their first drive, Chris MacDonald drilled a 55-yard punt that Webb fielded in traffic at the four. The junior defensive back ran toward the near sideline before cutting back across the field and through traffic. He finally found a seam then raced toward the end zone, pushing teammate Andre Kelly out of the way en route to his fourth return for a score (one punt return and three interceptions).

With the win, Nicholls State improved to 6-4 and 3-3 while the Bobcats dropped to 4-6 and 3-3. The two teams close out their seasons next week with rivalry games. Texas State plays host to Sam Houston State Thursday in a 7 p.m. game which will air on Fox Sports Net Southwest. The Colonels travel across the Mississippi River to play Southeastern Louisiana on Saturday.

After Webb's return, Texas State would put together a scoring drive to cut Nicholls' lead to 14-7.

A 32-yard return by Karrington Bush would give the Bobcats the ball at the 35. An offsides call on the Colonels would give Texas State a second-and-short that was easily converted on a five-yard run by Blake Burton. Texas State quarterback Bradley George would then complete a 19-yard pass to Bush and later find Cameron Luke for a 15-yard pickup.

Stan Zwinggi would close the series with three straight runs, including a four-yard scoring plunge with 5:47 to play.

But Nicholls State would go on to score on its first four offensive series to build a 31-7 lead at the break.

Montgomery, who finished with 131 yards on 18 carries, scored his second touchdown on a four-yard run at the 2:08 mark. Following the score, a sky kick by Alex Romero was recovered by Jarrod Fungy at the Bobcat 23. Fullback Broderick Cole, who went over the 2,000-yard rushing mark for his career, carried the ball three straight times running for 19 and three yards before scoring from one yard out and giving the Colonels a 28-7 lead with 1:05 to play in the first quarter.

Romero closed out the first-half scoring with a 42-yard field goal early in the second quarter.

Cole would add two, second-half touchdowns to finish with three scores along with 76 yards on 18 carries.

Nicholls State finished with 457 yards of total offense, with all but 30 coming on the ground.

Texas State's offense managed 346 yards of total offense, including 219 after the break.

Defensively, Webb added seven tackles including one for lost yards. Kareem Moore led Nicholls with 12 tackles. Texas State's defense was led by Marcus Clark with 11 tackles while Nick Clark and Michael Rutledge had nine stops apiece.