Linebacker Isiah Corbett, one of the seniors honored during the senior day ceremony, bats down a pass from the McNeese quarterback.             The Lion’s Roar / Jay Love
 

The Lion’s football team continued to excite their fans with a conference win this past weekend. The fight against rivals McNeese State ended with a staggering score of 28-9.

The game served as the final home game of the Lions’ regular season as well as their senior night.

Starting off, the Cowboys were forced to punt on the opening drive and the Lions began their take down immediately after.

The tone of the game was set when the Lions completed a touchdown with 5:12 remaining in the first quarter and almost immediately accomplished another at 0:35. Playing this game senior quarterback Bryan Bennett threw a record of four touchdowns, despite injuries, both in the first and fourth quarter.

“When you play good teams, they are not just going to let you have your way with them so we came out and had the upper hand early, but they are a good team, and they were not going to give up, they kept fighting and it just became a battle of ‘who is going to fight harder, longer’,” said Bennett.

The Cowboys had tried to get the ball down the field only moments before at 1:55 but the play was shut down quickly with the Lion’s defense when Junior linebacker TJ West blocked the punt.

“We knew that going in, McNeese has a very good defense, I thought our guys did really well,” said head football coach Ron Roberts.

Both defenses continued to hold off attacks, but right before halftime, the cowboys achieved a field goal, mounting their score. This was the only advancing for either team and the quarter ended with the lions remaining on top 14-9, lasting that way through the third.

Senior linebacker Drew Misita believes that it is the defense that always sets the tone and when that tone is set, it helps the offense out as well. 

“There was that one minute drive that got them those three points. They kind of broke play, but we will get the film and watch that. We didn’t execute in that moment but we will fix that,” said Misita.

In the fourth quarter, the Lions continued to add to their lead when Bennett’s pass found junior Jeff Smiley again.  He raced downfield for 28 yards untouched and scored a touchdown with 11:35 left in the game. 

When the Cowboys were in Lion territory, junior Harlan Miller leapt for his second interception of the season and gave the Lions the ball at their own two yard line. 

In the following drive, Bennett reached his final target, senior Devante Scott who ran a 55 yard touchdown, securing the win for the lions with a 19 point final margin.

With a win in hand, the last game was special to many players, especially senior Tyler Stoddard, who was one of the players recognized before the game.

“I just met my dad this January and having him here, being able to walk out for Senior Night with me was amazing,” said Stoddard.

The finale for the Lions will be in Thibodaux on Thursday at 6 p.m. against Nicholls State. They will be playing for the River Bell trophy.

Junior linebacker Herbert Harris caused a fumble in the second quarter of the game versus McNeese. The Lion defense held in check a McNeese offense that was averaging 33.2 points per game. The Lion’s Roar / Maria Goddard.