Cards Roll Over Nicholls State

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Beaumont, Texas– Senior quarterback Caleb Berry became Lamar’s all-time leader in completions, yards of total offense and passing yards Saturday as the Cardinals overwhelmed Nicholls, 63-21. The victory improved Lamar to 5-3 overall, and 2-2 in Southland Conference play. The Cardinals have tied their record for wins since reviving the program, with four games remaining on the 2014 schedule.

“We are very happy to pick up the win here this afternoon,” said head coach Ray Woodard. “There are still a lot of positive things that can happen for our team. Now we get to head into the open week with a 5-3 record, we can take care of some of the injuries and get focused on the final stretch run. I like where we are as a team.”

It didn’t take for Lamar long to flex its muscle Saturday as Berry completed his first four passes moving the Cardinals down the field on a four-play, 71-yard drive that took 2:01 off the clock and ended with a 59-yard touchdown pass to classmate Mark Roberts.

Although Lamar’s second drive resulted in no points, Berry became the school’s all-time leader in total offense, passing John Evans (1986-89) who held the record with 6,379 yards. Lamar added to its lead on the third drive when sophomore Kade Harrington scored from 19 yards out to make it a 14-0 score with 3:37 remaining in the first quarter.

Berry set his second Lamar career record of the game on the team’s third drive with his seventh completion. It gave Berry 534 for his career, also surpassing a mark originally set by Evans.

The Cardinals scored the game’s first 42 points led by Harrington’s three first-half rushing touchdowns. Lamar took a 42-7 lead into the locker room after racking up 446 yards of total offense, including 212 on the ground. Berry finished the half completing 20-of-24 passes for 234 yards and two touchdowns. Junior Carl Harris carried the ball five time for 102 yards in the opening half, while Harrington added 96 yards on 12 carries.

Harrington topped the 100-yard rushing mark with his first carry in the second half. The carry gave Lamar two 100-yard rushers in the same game for the first time since the 1967 season when Kevin Montgomery and Tommy Smiley accomplished the feat against Louisiana Tech in 1967.

The Colonels never seriously threatened in second half as Lamar picked up its second conference road win of the season.

Lamar finished the game with a school record 691 yards of total offense, including 362 on the ground. Harrington led the Cardinals with 18 carries for 123 yards and four touchdowns, while Harris added eight for 116 and a score. Berry completed 27-of-32 (.844) passes for 330 yards and two touchdowns. Roberts hauled in a game-high seven passes for 148 yards and a score.

“We knew had the talent to put up a performance like this,” said Woodard. “My concern all week was getting our guys to focus on the task at hand. A lot of times young guys can get caught up in another team’s record and you can’t do that. It is no secret that we haven’t been a good road team, but I thought our guys remained focused throughout the week and the game.”

The Cardinals’ defense was just as dominant holding Nicholls to 155 yards of total offense. Junior Ronnie Jones led Lamar with seven tackles including two sacks.

The Cardinals will take a week off before returning to action, November 1, to host Houston Baptist. The Homecoming game against the Huskies is slated to kick off at 6 p.m. from Provost Umphrey Stadium.

 

 

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