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PINEVILLE, LA - Coming off back-to-back wins in recent weeks in American Southwest Conference play, the Louisiana College Wildcats turned their focus to No. 2 Mary Hardin-Baylor, as a win over the Crusaders could save the Wildcats season and put them right back in the thick of the ASC championship and NCAA playoff race.
 
But the Wildcats would not be able to crush the giant that has haunted them for so long now, as the Crusaders shut down the Cats offense and racked up 566 yards of total offense on their way to a 54-6 win over LC on Saturday afternoon at Wildcat Field in Pineville.
 
The Wildcat defense came out strong early on, as they completely disrupted the flow of UMHB's potent running attack in the 1^st quarter, allowing -4 rushing yards on the Cru's first 11 carries.
 
That resulted in the vistors having to settle for two field goals on their first three possessions despite starting all three drives with tremendous field position.
 
But the Crusaders would show off their ability to take advantage of LC's mistakes with 2:46 remaining in the first quarter when UMHB's Matt Cody picked off Easton Melancon and returned the ball 31 yards to the LC 19 yard line, which was followed one play later by a 19 yard touchdown pass from Zach Anderson to DeNerian Thomas to put the Cru ahead 13-0.
 
UMHB would add two more touchdowns before halftime, as Anderson broke loose for a 36 yard touchdown run with 9:31 left in the second quarter and followed that with a 13 yard touchdown pass on UMHB's next possession to take a commanding 27-0 lead heading into the locker room.
 
The Crusaders would not look back from there, as they scored three times in the third quarter and one final time in the fourth quarter to run away with a 54-6 win over the Wildcats.
 
The Wildcats did have several bright spots offensively in the second half from several of their reserves, namely freshman running back Brett Sylve, who had a highlight reel caliber 55 yard touchdown run on the first play of the fourth quarter that accounted for LC's only score of the afternoon.
 
Melancon, who had thrown for a combined 802 yards passing in his first two career games against UMHB, was held in check all day before an injury sidelined him in the third quarter for the rest of the day.
 
The junior quarterback was held to a career-low 92 yards passing on 12-for-23 aim while ASC rushing leader Aurren Cooksey was held to just 33 yards rushing on 16 attempts.
 
For LC, the loss dropped them to 2-4 overall and 2-2 in ASC play, essentially eliminating them from NCAA playoff contention for the time being.
 
The schedule will get no easier for the Wildcats next week, as they will travel to Owensboro, Kentucky to take on Division II opponent Kentucky Wesleyan in a game slated to begin at 1:00 p.m.
 
The game will mark the first matchup in school history between the two schools.