Somehow, it always comes down to this when these two teams get together.
McNeese State continued its dominance of Northwestern State, but as is the norm it was not in a comfortable manner.
The Cowboys didn’t put things away offensively when presented the opportunity but escaped with a 30-22 win over the Demons
when Ford Smesny intercepted a Brad Henderson pass at the Cowboy 25-yard line with just over a minute remaining on a rainy
Saturday night at Cowboy Stadium.
Smesny missed the second half of last week’s loss to Southeastern Louisiana with an injury.
“We communicated more in the back end,”
Smesny said. “We did a good job getting the ball tipped the last play
and I just happened
to be in the right spot. The coaches did a good job putting us in
the right spots all week.”
McNeese (4-1, 1-1 Southland) has won eight straight against the Demons, but six of those have been decided by a touchdown
or less.
“These are tough games,” said McNeese head coach Matt Viator. “The kids know each other. Somebody wanted to go here or wanted
to go there. They just always seem to be really tough.”
The Cowboys could have increased the
scoring gap on this one but couldn’t punch the ball over the goal line
on four consecutive
trips into the red zone in the middle of the game. Those drives
resulted in three Josh Lewis field goals and a Champlain Babin
fumble that was recovered by the Demons.
“We just can’t seem to finish it the way we’d like to finish it, but we’ll take a victory any day,” Viator said. “Maybe we
wouldn’t have been in this position at the end had we (scored touchdowns), but Northwestern’s good up front. We just came
close to scoring some more.”
Perhaps the most frustrating of the chances was a methodical 18-play, 64-yard drive in the third quarter that took 9:23 off
the clock but only resulted in a 21-yard Lewis field goal.
Javaris Murray finally brought an end
to the string of touchdown-less red-zone trips with an 18-yard run that
put McNeese
up 30-14 with 9:28 left in the game. The run came two plays after
Cowboys defensive tackle Kevin Dorn recovered a Henderson
fumble.
However, McNeese couldn’t stick with the good fortune for long.
Northwestern State (2-3, 0-1) pulled
back into the game when Henderson found Jovhan Jilbert for a 58-yard
touchdown pass where
two McNeese defensive backs whiffed on tackle attempts. The long
pass finished off an 11-play, 98-yard drive by the Demons.
Big plays were Northwestern’s
bread-and-butter in the second half after getting held off the
scoreboard by the Cowboys before
the break. The Demons opened the half with 60-yard Phillip Harvey
kickoff return to the McNeese 34 before he was forced out
by kicker Jean Breaux.
Three plays later, the Demons were on the board for the first time when Henderson hit Clifton Brown on an 18-yard pass in
the end zone.
The Demons cut the margin down to 20-14 when Henderson and Harvey connected on an impressive 41-yard rainbow in the third
quarter.
McNeese scored the next 10 points with a 31-yard Lewis field goal and Murray’s touchdown run.
The Demons drove into McNeese territory on their final drive before Smesny picked off Henderson. It was Henderson’s first
interception this season. Henderson finished the game with 287 yards and three touchdowns on 24 of 40 passing.
Cody Stroud was 12 of 25 for 195 yards and two touchdowns — a 17-yarder to Josh Jordan and a 43-yarder to Diontae Spencer.
The Cowboys have a bye next week before playing host to Central Arkansas.