By DOUG IRELAND, Journal Sports
Turns out the lunar eclipse beginning about 9:30 wasn’t the strangest thing seen from Turpin Stadium Thursday night.
Louisiana Christian 42, Northwestern State 37. The Wildcats, 8-3 last fall and Sooner Athletic Conference co-champions, with 18 of 22 starters back, became the first NAIA program to defeat an NCAA Division I scholarship team, ever, according to LCU.
Ben McLaughlin’s third Wildcats team earned it. Outgained by 188 yards, but not outfought.
“I told them before the game, never look at the scoreboard. When we got up 14-13, don’t look at the scoreboard, just keep playing. We got down by over a touchdown, just keep playing. They just kept playing one play at a time, and when you do that, you’ve got a chance to win a ballgame,” he said.
LCU was down 10-0 less than six minutes in, but rallied to stake a 14-13 edge 10 minutes later. Northwestern seemed ready to take command, answering with two touchdowns, the second a 59-yard catch by Alexandria native Jimmie Duncan to go up 27-14 midway through the second period.
The Demons twice moved into the red zone before halftime, but both times, the Wildcats recovered fumbles, in the end zone (Ernest MItchell) and at the 13 (Kristian Doyle). NSU could have put up 41 points before the band show, but didn’t.
Then came a 21-point third period outburst into a 35-30 lead by the visitors, highlighted by a 42-yard pick six down the NSU sideline by the soon-to-be NAIA Defensive Player of the Week, Wildcats redshirt freshman cornerback Mitchell. The spread grew to 42-30 on Omarius Davis’ 52-yard reception from Bryce Perkins just into the final quarter, and the Demons couldn’t answer until 2:47 remained.
They never had possession again. LCU evaporated the rest of the clock with a pair of first downs by 118-yard rusher Datlan Cunningham and Jaterius Johnson, and Wildcats danced out to midfield after the final snap.
“That’s the longest three minutes of my life there at the end, trying to grind out those last couple first downs,” said McLaughlin.
“Our guys just believe. They believed from the beginning,” he said. “We’ve got such an old veteran group that I’m trusting that the confidence they have is the right confidence, and my coaching staff is amazing. I’ll put our coaching staff up against any staff in the nation or any division.”
“So you put the right culture, with the right staff, and you got a special team, and this is (what can happen),” said McLaughlin, whose Wildcats have won 11 of their last 15 games dating back to the end of his first season.
It was a performance that earned admiration from the other sideline. As exasperated as Demons’ third-year coach Blaine McCorkle was afterward, he gave LCU its due.
“I don’t have a lot of words for what happened tonight. I give Louisiana Christian a lot of credit. Really, really good football team. They’re gonna win a lot of games,” said McCorkle, who resurrected a former LCU rival, Division III Belhaven, in six seasons, and is trying to do the same gradual rebuild in Natchitoches.
“I’ve said for a long time, Ben and his staff do a phenomenal job. They’ve got good personnel. They’ve got good schemes. They know what they’re doing. They are an older team. Everything we said, they were, as far as that goes. I think they have a chance to win the whole thing at their level. That’s what that’s what a high, high-end NAIA team looks like. So kudos to them, really proud of them.”
“Very proud of these guys,” said McLaughlin. “The players win games. We try to get them ready, but they were the ones that did this. Those guys were awesome.”
Contact Doug at sbjdoug@gmail.com