A pair of Southland Conference programs stumbled out of the gates Thursday to kick off Louisiana’s college football season.
But another in-state program, Louisiana Christian, did the spoiling honors in one of those two upsets, bringing a historic 42-30 victory at Northwestern State back on the short ride home to Pineville.
The Wildcats’ win is not only the biggest in school history, but a rare feat by any NAIA program in the association’s 70-year existence.
Louisiana Christian becomes just the 13th member to upset an NCAA Division-I program and the first to beat a Southland opponent since that league joined Division-I in 1982.
Louisiana Christian swung the game on the Demons’ head with a pair of quick touchdowns to start the third quarter and a 28-3 run overall in the second half.
Former Alexandria running back Datlan Cunningham capped the quick, 65-yard opening drive out of the locker room to pull the Wildcats back within 27-21, and former East Ascension cornerback Ernest Mitchell housed a 42-yard interception just over a minute later to set up a go-ahead extra-point by Preston Baker, another former Spartan.
The teams traded leads another couple times late in the third quarter, but Louisiana Christian came away with a fourth-down stop just before the quarter break and needed just over a minute to more than double its lead to 42-30 on a 52-yard strike from quarterback Bryce Perkins to Omarius Davis.
The Wildcats’ defense forced back-to-back punts to help turn the clock and the vice against the Demons.
And when Northwestern State finally found the end zone again with 2:47 to play, Louisiana Christian was able to comfortably run out the remaining clock to ice the accomplishment.
Cunningham, the redshirt junior, racked up 117 yards and two touchdowns on 14 carries, and redshirt freshman Jaterrius Johnson (West Feliciana) added 43 yards and another score on his 13 runs.
Davis, a redshirt junior from Florida, led the receivers with 81 yards on five catches, including his dagger score to start the fourth quarter.
And former Alexandria standout Darius Washington added three receptions for 32 yards, including the 24-yard go-ahead score late in the third.
Perkins finished 14-for-25 for 178 yards, two touchdowns and an interception.
Northwestern State outgained its guests, 515 to 337, and dominated the time of possession, 36:53 to 23:07.
But three turnovers proved costly as a pair of fumbles late in the first half kept the Demons from extending their lead and an interception early in the third quarter relinquished it.
Northwestern State quarterback Abram Johnston (Parkview Baptist) finished 30-for-42 for 319 yards, two touchdowns and an interception and rushed 14 times for 35 yards and an end-zone punch-in of his own.
Running back Zay Davis ran 12 times for a game-high 124 yards and a score.
Former Alexandria star Jimmie Duncan caught three passes for a game-high 93 yards and a 59-yard touchdown, and junior Dylan Rhodes added 55 yards and a touchdown on six catches.
