Box Score
SEGUIN, TEXAS - There will be no return trip to the NCAA Div. III playoffs for the Louisiana College Wildcats. The Texas Lutheran Bulldogs made sure of that in convincing fashion Saturday as they made the case for their own first-ever trip to the playoffs with a 37-27 victory.
 
The win continued an unbeaten season for TLU (7-0) while the Wildcats dropped their third game of 2013. The Wildcats (5-3) will look to salvage what they can from the rest of the season with final games next Saturday at home against Mississippi College on Senior Day and then on the road to close the season at Hardin-Simmons. 
 
Saturday's game was a matchup of two former foes from the American Southwest Conference. TLU left the ASC following 2012 and is now a member of the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference. Because the SCAC has just four teams, the Bulldogs cannot receive an automatic playoff bid – making their matchup with LC all the more important in their quest for an at-large berth.
 
And the Bulldogs played like a team that knew the importance of the game from the start. On TLU's third possession of the game, quarterback Brent Peavy led his team 57 yards on eight plays – capping things with a four-yard touchdown run. Texas Lutheran led 7-0 with 4:50 left to go in the first quarter.
 
The Wildcats, however, would respond with their best drive of the first half.  Freshman wide receiver Shedrick Davis made two big plays– the first, a 34 yard reception from fellow freshman, Easton Melancon to the TLU 35. Three plays later, Davis took a reverse handoff nine yards tie the game at 7-7 after the first quarter.
 
In the second quarter, the Bulldogs started to separate themselves from LC by wearing down the Wildcat defense with longer, sustained drives. An 11-play, 69-yard drive was capped by Peavy's 10-yard pass to Lewis Williams that gave TLU the lead again at 14-7. Peavy would leave the game in the second quarter with an unspecified injury and did not return, but the Bulldogs offense never seem to miss him.
 
Backup quarterback Trenton White got the Bulldogs into the end zone one final time before halftime by connecting with Peavy's twin brother, Cameron, for six yards with just 14 seconds left. It took just that one play for the Bulldogs to score after Melancon was intercepted deep in LC territory – a play head coach Dennis Dunn later took responsibility for and a play that the Wildcats would never recover from.
 
Even so, the LC defense continued its bend-but-don't-break success in the third quarter – yielding only a 26-yard field goal by Tyler Brandenburg. The Cats, meanwhile, finally got going their running game that had been mostly shut down in the first half. Senior running back Ryan Montague capped a 57-yard drive with a 24-yard touchdown run. Adan Olivares' extra point kick was blocked, however, and the Wildcats still trailed by 11, 24-13, heading to the fourth quarter. For Montague, it was career touchdown number 34 and tied him with Jordan Rideaux for the most touchdowns scored in LC Football history.
 
In the fourth quarter, the Bulldogs seemed to put things away after scoring on successive long drives. Another field goal from Brandenburg and White's second touchdown throw to Cameron Peavy gave Texas Lutheran a 34-13 lead with 7:39 left in the game.
 
The Wildcats would make a final push. Melancon, who at times struggled in the contest by going 18-for-46 for 296 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions, found sophomore Maurice Cooper streaking past the cornerback on the left sideline for a 75-yard touchdown to cut TLU's lead to 34-20 with 6:51. It was the first touchdown for Cooper after missing all of 2012 with a knee injury.
 
Following the touchdown, the Wildcats attempted an onside kick but could not recover. The short field allowed Texas Lutheran to get their final score – Brandenburg's third field goal from 25 yards to make the score 37-20, Bulldogs, with 3:10 to play.
 
LC would add one more touchdown – Melancon to sophomore Ladarius Gardner with 2:02 left. The Cats were back to within ten points, 37-27, but could get no closer. Following Melancon's third interception of the game, TLU would run out the remaining time and then celebrate one of their biggest wins in recent history.
 
Several statistics were telling for the Wildcats. TLU held a substantial edge in time of possession – 35:10 to 23:29 for LC. The Bulldogs also ran 90 total offensive plays to the Wildcats' 73 and held the edge in first downs, 26-16.
 
Individually, Montague finished with just 16 carries for 81 yards for LC, while leading receiver Kyle Galyon caught just one pass for nine yards. Davis finished as the Wildcats top receiver with seven catches for 120 yards.
 
The Wildcats defense was led by senior Dominic Graham who had 17 tackles (6 solo and 11 assisted), Daniel Hebert with 11 (7 solo, 4 assisted and one sack), and 10 tackles each for Grayson Pylant and Beau Brewer.