Triumphant Cardinals come home to host Northwestern State

[BRI Staff]

BEAUMONT - For the first time since Nov. 1, 1986, Lamar University will play a Southland Conference football game at home when it takes on Northwestern State University Saturday night in Beaumont's 16,000-seat Provost Umphrey Stadium.

 

Lamar enters the 6:05 p.m. kickoff at 3-1 overall and fresh from a 48-38 come-from-behind road victory over Southeastern Louisiana in its 2011 conference opener last week. Northwestern State is 2-3 overall and 1-1 in league play after dropping a 20-18 home decision to 15th-ranked McNeese State last week.

 

For the second year in a row last week, quarterback Andre Bevil threw four touchdown passes in an upset of SLU as he led Lamar to its best offensive showing of the season. The Cardinals produced season highs of 25 first downs, 229 rushing yards, 332 passing yards and 561 total yards.

 

Bevil, a senior from West Orange-Stark, completed 19 of 32 passes for 270 yards with only one interception, and he rushed for a career-high of 77 yards on eight carries. His touchdown tosses went for 44 and 29 yards to Marcus Jackson, 2 yards to Payden McVey and 32 yards to Mike Venson.

 

Jackson's 123 receiving yards on five catches were three shy of his personal high of 126 yards set against Sam Houston State last season, and he also threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to fellow wide receiver J.J. Hayes.

 

Northwestern State hung with McNeese State last week as quarterback Brad Henderson threw a 4-yard touchdown pass to Louis Hollier in the second quarter, and Sidney Riley ran for a 5-yard score late in the fourth quarter. Also, Jo Shaughnessy kicked field goals of 26 and 22 yards for the Demons.

 

Coach Bradley Dale Peveto's Demons held the 3-1 Cowboys to 13 first downs (two rushing), 78 rushing yards and 295 total yards. Henderson completed 16 of 31 passes for 185 yards, and he rushed for a team-best 55 yards, but he threw three interceptions, and the Demons also lost a fumble.

 

For his performance agansit Southeastern Louisiana, Bevil became Lamar's first football player to earn Southland Conference Player of the Week recognition this season. He led the Cardinals on touchdown drives of 43, 93, 80 62, 80, 24 and 66 yards, running his total over the past two games of being at the controls to 12 scoring drives covering 737 yards for an average of 61.4 yards per drive.

 

Honorable mention selections for the Cardinals were linebacker Asim Hicks on defense and punter Kollin Kahler for special teams play. Hicks, a senior from Newark, N.J., had 13 tackles (all solos), and he forced one fumble inside the 10-yard line and recovered another fumble inside the 10. Kahler, a sophomore from Waco, averaged 44.0 yards on six punts, including a first-quarter boot of 72 yards that matched the third-longest in school history.

 

Lamar owns a 7-5-1 edge in its series with Northwestern State. The schools last met on Nov. 10, 1979 in Beaumont's Cardinal Stadium, where coach Larry Kennan's Cardinals defeated the Demons 28-13.

 

Larry Haynes, a 2003 inductee to the Cardinal Hall of Honor, completed 24 of 38 passes for 286 yards and three touchdowns in that game. His scoring passes covered 19 yards to wide receiver Jesse Cavil, 6 yards to running back Ben Booker and 68 yards to split end Howard Robinson, also a 2003 inductee to the Hall of Honor.

 

Freshman running back Floyd Dorsey scored the Cardinals' other touchdown on a 22-yard run early in the fourth quarter. He is the father of this season's starting defensive tackle Adren Dorsey.

 

Robinson led the Cardinals in receiving with eight catches for 148 yards in that 1979 game, and Dorsey was the team's top rusher with 87 yards on 14 carries. Linebacker Kurt Phoenix sparked the defense with 11 solo tackles and five assists, and he had two behind-the-line traps for 15 yards in losses.

 

With his four catches for 92 yards and one touchdown against Southeastern Louisiana Saturday, Cardinal senior split end J.J. Hayes passed the 1,000-yard milestone in his one-plus seasons at Lamar.

 

The 6-foot-3, 205-pounder from Diboll High School by way of Navarro College now has 1,057 receiving yards through 13 games, ranking him 13th on Lamar's all-time list and leaving him 185 yards behind No. 12 Chris Lafferty of the 1986-1989 Cardinals.

 

http://www.lamarcardinals.com/sports/m-footbl/spec-rel/100511aab.html

[BRI Staff]

Game notes for Northwestern State:

 

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/lama/sports/m-footbl/auto_pdf/2011-12/release/release_20111005aaa.pdf

[Guest CardAmbassador]

It's amazing that in two years both JJ Hayes and Bevil will be in the top 10 list for their offensive performances here at LU. Did we ever throw the ball before the 80s? Sure doesn't look like it.