Wildcats Look for Homecoming Win vs McMurry

10/13/2017 11:30:00 AM

By: LC Sports Information

GAME NOTES
LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS
LIVE AUDIO

For the second time this season it was a dominant rushing attack that spelled trouble for the Louisiana College football team. Like the Southwestern game three weeks ago, Texas Luthern held the football for over 40 minutes of game time, limiting the Wildcats chances with the ball, while in turn wearing down the defense. LC still managed to put up 30 points for the third straight week and over 300 yards, but TLU's ball control offense was too much for the Wildcats to overcome.

D'Ondre Joseph had another solid outing as the Wildcats main signal caller, throwing for 277 yards on 17-of-27 attempts with three touchdowns. One of those touchdown passes went to Shedrick Davis, who eclipsed the 100 yard receiving mark for the third straight week. His eight total catches and 120 yards moved him into second place in school history in both career receptions and receiving yards, behind only Jordan Rideaux. Although the defense struggled to keep the Bulldogs off the field, Orel Ledet Jr. had an impressive night forcing a fumble, making 11 tackles, and returning an interception 40-yards for a touchdown.

The Wildcats have the third ranked scoring offense in the American Southwest Conference, but sit in the middle of the pack in offensive yardage per game at 422.6, tied with Texas Lutheran for fifth overall. McMurry sits at seventh in the conference averaging 368.8 yards per game. Both teams have had the bulk of their offensive success this year through the air with the Wildcats picking up 307.4 yards per game through the air and McMurry with 256.3. Neither team has significant success on the ground, with both averaging less than 120 yards per game rushing.

The defenses for both teams have also had their share of issues thus far this season, ranking ninth and 10th in total defense in the ASC. McMurry and LC are the only two schools that are allowing over 500 yards of offense to their opponents this year. Last week, the War Hawks gave up 497 yards to Belhaven while the Wildcats allowed 538 to Texas Lutheran.

McMurry quarterback Kevin Hurley Jr. threw for 245 yards and four touchdowns in the War Hawks win over Belhaven, completing 11 of his 14 passes on the afternoon. Receiver Justin Eaton caught three balls for 118 yards and two touchdowns, including a 63-yard strike in the third quarter. The War Hawks allowed 449 passing yards to Belhaven's Watson Fondren but not a single touchdown pass in the game. The Blazers rushed for 122 yards before 62 yards in sacks and a bad snap brought the total down to 48 yards in the game.

This will be the 15th meeting between the two schools on the football field, with LC holding a 9-59 overall record over the War Hawks. McMurry got the better of the Wildcats in last year's game in Abilene and have won two of the last three meetings. The last time McMurry made the trip to Pineville, during the 2015 season, LC won the game 28-15 on the legs of a 261 yard rushing performance from Aurren Cooksey and Brett Sylve. Prior to the 2015 game the Wildcats and War Hawks played last in 2011, a 49-28 War Hawk win in Pineville.

The parking lot between the stadium and Cottingham Hall is reserved for season ticket holders, LC Board of Visitor members, and LC trustees. General parking is available throughout campus on a first come, first serve basis. Gates open one hour before kickoff and general admission tickets are available for $10 or $8 for non-LC students, children 12 and under get in for free. Reserved chair back seats are also available for purchase at the gate for $25.

Saturday's game will be live streamed, under the supervision of Mr. Jeff Young, by students in the Louisiana College Convergence Media Department. The game can also be heard live on 104.3 FM "The Bridge" with the voice of the Wildcats Rich Dupree, along with Doug Gann and Al Quartemont. Pregame coverage begins at 5:30 pm. Louisiana College will recognize the 2017 Athletic Hall of Fame inductees prior to the game, and present the 2017 Homecoming court during the halftime festivities.

QUOTES FROM COACH JUSTIN CHARLES

ON PLAYING ANOTHER DUAL THREAT QB...We're playing another good quarterback and so if we can get in there and contain him, keep him in the pocket, and do a good job on the back end covering, and try and get a lot of pressure on him, I think we'll be able to neutralize him a little bit.

ON RECENT OFFENSIVE SUCCESS...I think we're starting to figure out our identity on that side of the ball, which has turned into a pretty aggressive style of offense. We're going to try and take what the defense gives us. This week we're going to try aid the game, take what they give us, allow our defense not to be on the field as much, play the field position game at times, those kinds of things.

ON BEING MORE BALANCED OFFENSIVELY...We talked about it as a staff and it wasn't that we completely vacated the run game last week, we fell behind and felt that we needed to throw the ball a little bit more against the secondary that we were up against. We've got to make sure we are balanced in a certain way, and we have been for the most part this year, and making teams respect our running game and not just sit back waiting for the pass all day.

AROUND THE ASC

THIS WEEK'S GAMES
Howard Payne at #1 Mary Hardin-Baylor - Belton, TX - 1pm
Texas Lutheran at East Texas Baptist - Marshall, TX - 2pm
Southwestern at Belhaven - Jackson, MS - 6pm
Hardin-Simmons at Sul Ross State - Alpine, TX - 6pm
McMurry at Louisiana College - Pineville, LA - 6pm

WEEK 6 PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Kevin Hurley Jr., QB, So., McMurry
McMurry University sophomore quarterback Kevin Hurley Jr. (Diboll, Texas / Diboll HS) took over at quarterback in the second half and engineered a 42-30 win over Belhaven while erasing a 23-7 halftime deficit. Hurley went 11-of-14 for 245 yards and four touchdowns. His TD passes were of 63, 10, 22 and 51 yards. Hurley also ran 10 times for 36 yards.

CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Kris Brown, CB, Sr., Mary Hardin-Baylor
University of Mary Hardin-Baylor senior cornerback Kris Brown (Sealy, Texas / Sealy HS) returned a 64-yard touchdown on the game's opening series in the top-ranked Cru's 17-7 victory at #5 Hardin-Simmons. He also added eight tackles and broke up two passes, limiting the Cowboys - the nation's top offense coming into the game - to 191 yards of total offense. This is the second Defensive Player of the Week award in Brown's career.

CO-DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Ty Parsons, LB, Sr., East Texas Baptist
East Texas Baptist University senior linebacker Ty Parsons (Rowlett, Texas / Dallas Christian) led the Tigers with 11 tackles and a 49-yard interception return in the Tigers' 57-7 victory at Howard Payne to earn his second Defensive Player of the Week award this season.

SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK – Luke Fierst, K, So., Southwestern
Southwestern University sophomore kicker Luke Fierst (Kerrville, Texas / Tivy HS) kicked a game-winning field goal for the second time this season, giving the Pirates a 29-27 win against Sul Ross State. He kicked an 18-yarder as time expired for the victory. He also made a 36-yard field goal to earn his second Special Teams Player of the Week award of the year.

Print Friendly Version