Box Score
In their 45-34 loss at Mary Hardin-Baylor the week before, the Louisiana College Wildcats showed they have the potential to be as good as any Division III team in the country.
 
Saturday, the Wildcats (5-2/3-1 in the American Southwest Conference) made another strong appeal toward that fact as they dominated in almost every way a struggling Sul Ross State University team on their way to a 61-14 homecoming victory before 4, 635 fans at Wildcat Stadium.
 
For a second straight game, freshman quarterback Easton Melancon passed for four touchdowns, and the Wildcats defense was at times suffocating as they prevented the Lobos (0-7/0-3) from getting into any kind of offensive flow.
 
"We limited the big play, played fast, and we didn't miss any tackles this week," said junior linebacker Beau Brewer, who led LC with 11 tackles. "We also played better together. There was no miscommunication and no missed assignments this game."
 
The Wildcat defense did give up 300 yards, but that total was somewhat deceptive as Sul Ross never mounted any kind of serious threat while the game was in doubt in the first half, and more importantly, the defense handed the LC offense tremendous field position nearly every possession of that half as the Wildcats built a 35-7 lead.
 
Leading the LC offense once again was Melancon. With Sul Ross stacking the box in an effort to contain Wildcats running back, Ryan Montague, Melancon, mostly off play action fakes, connected for his four touchdown passes and all but 37 of his 216 yards passing in the first half.
 
"They blitzed from all over, and their defense was really fast," Melancon said. "But, in the end, our O-line did a great job, they gave me plenty of time, and we made the plays."
 
Two of those touchdowns went to junior tight end Josh Edwards. The transfer from Tulane has struggled at times to adapt to the LC offense, but on this day, Melancon connected with Edwards on the game's first touchdown, a three-yard pass to make the score 7-0, and LC's third score, an 18-yard pass play that made the score 21-0 with 8:18 left in the second quarter.
 
"It was tough when I first got here, getting the signals from the sideline," Edwards said. "Now they sit down with me and go over the plays with me, and it's coming to me now. It's clicking."
 
Melancon's other two touchdown passes both went to another freshman, Shedrick Davis. The first was a five-yard pass with 7:49 in the first quarter and the other an eight-yard strike with just 31 seconds left in the first half to give LC the 35-7 margin at the break.
LC's fourth touchdown of the half was perhaps the most impressive. Junior Ira Jewitt, who had returned a kickoff, an interception and a fumble previously in his career at LC, finally added a punt return to his resume – a 68-yard return with seven minutes left in the half – that was greatly helped by a crushing block by sophomore Johnny Dixon on the Lobos' Terrance Willie. For LC, it was the first punt return for a touchdown since Jordan Rideaux's in 2009 against Sul Ross.
 
"I felt it, and I saw it out of the corner of my eye," Jewitt said of Dixon's block. "Kinda like last year when (Brandon) Porter hit the guy from Mississippi College. I mostly heard it, and I hit the sideline when I did."
 
As the third quarter got underway, the LC defense made its presence felt again. When Lobos' quarterback Derrick Bernard tried to scramble out of a botched snap by running into his own end zone, Brewer was able to run him down for a safety. The two points gave LC the 37-7 edge.
 
"We played a simpler defense today, and let one man make the calls and the checks," Brewer said.
 
The Wildcats added to their lead with two more third quarter scores. Junior kicker Adan Olivares, who set the all-time field goal record at LC the week before, upped his career total with a 39-yard kick. With Montague getting a breather the rest of the game, fellow senior Reggie Sims capped a three-play 15-yard drive set up by a Ty Carter fumble recovery with a five-yard touchdown run. LC led 47-7 at that point. Sims finished as LC's leading rusher on the day – 52 yards on 12 carries while Montague had by far his lowest out put of the season – just 10 yards on six carries.
 
As the game continued into the fourth quarter, the LC coaches got to see a number of players who normally serve in reserve roles get their opportunity to shine. One of those was freshman quarterback Lecorey Demease who picked off a Bernard pass at the LC three-yard line and returned it 97 yards for a touchdown to make the score 54-14.
 
The Wildcats' final score came with 1:30 left in the game when sophomore Matt Bridges – getting his first chance to play quarterback in a varsity game at LC – connected with freshman Chanz Moore for an 18-yard strike that would make the final 61-14.
 
"I was probably more excited than Matt," Melancon said. "Matt works hard every day in practice, and when he told me he was going in, I was just praying that he would get one."
 
LC's leading receiver was sophomore Ladarius Gardner who finished with 50 yards on four catches.
 
For LC, the win proved to just what they needed heading in another huge road game next week. The Wildcats will travel to Seguin, Texas next Saturday, November  2 for a 1 p.m. matchup with Texas Lutheran.
 
The Bulldogs ran their season record to 6-0 Saturday with a 35-32 win at Mississippi College. The game will also be a rematch from 2012 when the Wildcats rallied for a thrilling, come-from-behind 44-37 win in overtime to stun the upset-minded Bulldogs. This year, a potential playoff berth could be on the line for both teams.
 
"We really needed this win coming off a heartbreaking loss," Jewitt said. "It's really good having this win going into next week."