Raymond Stewart
BEAUMONT – Reed Boyd’s fourth quarter 5-yard touchdown catch in double-coverage from Devin Lippold and a 21-yard Phillip Bradford interception return for a touchdown on Lamar’s first play on the ensuing possession, as McNeese battled to a 21-19 win over 19th-ranked Lamar to re-capture the Battle of the Border trophy.
The win ends the Cowboys’ season at 5-7 overall, 5-5 minus the two FBS losses, while finishing 4-4 in Southland Conference play to mark the first time since 2019 to finish at or above .500 in league play. Lamar ends its regular season at 8-4 overall and 5-3 in league play and will have to wait until Sunday to learn its postseason fate.
McNeese trailed 13-7 in the fourth quarter when the Cowboys took over the ball at its own 20 after forcing Lamar to punt with 13:36 to play.
Coleby Hamm rolled off a 50-yard run to get the ball to the Lamar 14 and three plays later, the Cowboys faced a 4th-and-1 at the 5 when Lippold connected with Boyd for the score to give McNeese a 14-13 lead with 9:10 to play.
Lamar started its next possession on its own 23 when on its first play, Aiden McCown’s pass was snatched out of the sky by Bradford at the 21 and returned for the touchdown, increasing the lead to 21-13.
The Cardinals answered quickly by marching down the field in eight plays, seven of those rushing, and ending with a 9-yard touchdown run by LaDamian McDowell to cut the McNeese lead to 21-19 with 5:41 remaining. A two-point conversion run was stuffed at the line by Cowboy edge rusher AJ Thomas.
McNeese punted the ball away on its next possession with 3:17 to play only to have the Cowboys’ defense come up big once again by forcing Lamar to turn the ball over on downs at the McNeese 43 with 1:15 to play.
The Cowboys were able to run out the clock after Hamm picked up six yards for a first down after Lamar had used all of its timeouts. Those six yards by Hamm gave him a career-high 131 on the night and lifted him past the 1,000-career rushing yards mark with 1,002. Hamm gained 92 of those yards in the second half and 89 of those in the fourth quarter alone.
Lippold completed 11 of 23 passes for 69 yards and a touchdown while Alex Flores, who started the game in place of Jake Strong who suffered an injury in practice during the week, completed 2 of 3 passes for 32 yards. Lippold added 40 yards rushing with a TD.
Boyd caught two passes for 35 yards which included his first career TD catch.
As a team, McNeese finished the night with 359 offensive yards with 258 of those coming on the ground. Lamar recorded 416 of offense, 281 in the rushing department.
The Cowboys had numerous opportunities for more points.
A 91-yard kickoff return for a touchdown by Kameran Senegal was called back due to a holding penalty, and twice the Cowboys found themselves inside the 5-yard line with a first down, only to come up empty in points. But when the Cowboys needed to make the plays, they were successful.
Punter Fabrizio Pinton continuously pinned the Cardinals deep in their own territory, having four of his six punts downed inside the 20 and an average starting line of scrimmage the 19 on all six punts and three drives starting inside of their own 15. Pinton averaged 43.5 yards per punt.
The defense held Lamar to two field goals on drives where the Cardinals appeared to be on their way to the end zone, and picked off two passes, one being Bradford’s pick-6. Shoes Brinkley picked off his team-high third pass of the season towards the end of the first quarter after the Cardinals had just picked up a 30-yard gain to get to near midfield and with a 7-0 lead.
On the ensuing possession, the Cowboys moved the ball to the Lamar 4 after a double-reverse, 30-yard completion by Flores to Boyd. McNeese was stopped four straight plays by the Lamar defense as the Cardinals took over at the 2.
The Cowboys’ defense came up with another stop and nearly an interception for the second straight series and forced a Lamar punt early in the second quarter.
That led to a 5-play, 51-yard scoring drive that ended with an 8-yard touchdown keeper by Lippold, tying the game 7-7 with 6:55 to play in the second quarter.
Lamar began the third quarter by driving down the field, but McNeese’s defense was able to hold the Cardinals to a 25-yard field goal and a 10-7 lead with 11:44 to play in the quarter.
Lamar continued a strong running attack in the second half and moved the ball to the Cowboys’ 10-yard line, but for the second straight possession, the defense held the Cardinals to a field goal, increasing the lead to 13-7 following a 26-yard Ben Woodard kick with 5:08 to play in the quarter.
**MCNEESE PRESS RELEASE**
