HOUSTON – After HBU sophomore kicker
Alec Chadwick hit a 35-yard field goal in the second overtime, Nicholls running back C.J. Okpalobi answered with a 12-yard touchdown run as the Colonels escaped with a 33-30 victory in Southland Conference football Saturday night at Husky Stadium.
Senior quarterback
Tony Dawson rushed for a school-record 191 yards on 25 carries and a touchdown, while completing 19-of-35 passes for 165 yards, a touchdown and his first interception of the season for the Huskies (2-4, 1-3 SLC). Junior running back
B.J. Kelly rushed 18 times for 78 yards, while junior running back
Terrance Peters had 18 carries for 52 yards. Junior wide receiver
Wesley Lewis made seven catches for 63 yards and senior
Ricardo Barnett made three receptions for 28 yards and a score.
Junior linebacker
Garrett Dolan led the Huskies with 12 tackles, while senior linebacker
Dorrin Turner made nine stops and recorded HBU's first interception of the season. Junior linebacker
Cody Moncure and junior cornerback
Derek Broussard each made six tackles and freshman defensive end
Andre Walker had 1.5 sacks.
Chadwick made three-of-five field goals, having one blocked and missing a potential game-winner in the first overtime. Junior punter
Christian Guzman averaged 46.5 yards on four attempts, including a 58-yarder and a 52-yard effort.
Okpalobi rushed 23 times for 103 yards and the overtime touchdown for the Colonels (3-3, 3-1). Quarterback Chase Fourcade completed 16-of-26 passes for 218 yards and a touchdown and rushed 12 times for 26 yards and a touchdown. Damion Jeanpiere caught four passes for 90 yards and a score.
Allen Pittman led Nicholls with 14 tackles, while B.T. Sanders made 11 and Ahmani Martin and Christian Boutte each had nine. Jeff Hall had the Colonels' interception and Darryl Adams had the team's lone sack. David McKey hit two-of-three field goals, with his miss coming in the first overtime, while Tyler St. Germain punted seven times for a 34.8-yard average.
HBU outgained Nicholls, 510-344, with 345 of those yards coming on the ground. The Huskies had the ball for 39:32, compared to 20:28 for the Colonels. One of the keys to the game was HBU was penalized 13 times for 116 yards, while Nicholls was only flagged four times for 37 yards.
HBU took the opening kickoff and marched on a 15-play drive that lasted nearly six minutes. The Huskies' drive stalled out at the Nicholls 17 and was capped by Chadwick's 34-yard field goal. The Huskies forced a three-and-out after Nicholls nearly lost the kickoff and started their second drive with good field position at their own 45. Dawson had a 20-yard run, then a 12-yard run down to the Nicholls 7, but HBU had to settle for a 26-yard field goal attempt by Chadwick. The kick was blocked by Sully Laiche and returned by Ronald Ollie 84 yards for a touchdown to put Nicholls ahead, 7-3.
A 15-yard screen pass to Peters and a 24-yard run by Kelly were the highlights of the Huskies 12-play 75-yard drive which was capped by Kelly's two-yard touchdown run to give the Huskies a 10-7 lead with 14:22 remaining in the second quarter. Struggling to get anything going on offense, Fourcade hit Jeanpiere with a short pass and the receiver did the rest as he went 50 yards for a touchdown. Later in the quarter, Okpalobi had a 58 yard run to the HBU 10, then Fourcade took it in from there to put the Colonels up, 21-10, heading into halftime.
Nicholls went three-and-out to open the second half, then Dawson had a pair of 18-yard runs that led to his six-yard touchdown pass to Barnett to cut Nicholls' lead to 21-17 with 10:50 to go in the third. The Huskies added Chadwick's 35-yard field goal with 2:07 remaining in the quarter to get back to within one at 21-20. Nicholls got on the scoreboard for the first time in the second half on McKey's 44-yard field goal with 11:26 to go in the fourth quarter.
The Huskies got the ball with 7:07 remaining and Dawson ripped off another 18-yard run to midfield. Dawson completed a pair of passes to Lewis, then scampered 24 yards for a touchdown to give the Huskies a 27-24 lead with 1:25 left on the clock.
On their own 35, Fourcade completed a short pass to Jarrell Rogers, but HBU was called for a holding penalty and a personal foul that move the ball an additional 25 yards to the HBU 40. Fourcade drove the Colonels down to the 18, then McKey hit a 35-yard field goal with six seconds left to send the game into overtime.
Both kickers, McKey from 23 yards and Chadwick from 39, missed field goals in the first overtime.
HBU will play three-straight games on the road, beginning with Southeastern Louisiana Oct. 22 at 4 p.m. at Strawberry Stadium in Hammond, Louisiana.
