PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Christian University football program won its first three contests of 2023 primarily through its ground game but took to the air on Saturday, racking up 360 passing yards and 46 points in the first half alone to put the game away within minutes in a 60-14 drubbing of Wayland Baptist.

The Basics:
 

• Score
  • (RV) Louisiana Christian – 60
  • Wayland Baptist – 14

 

• Records
  • (RV) Louisiana Christian (4-0, 3-0 Sooner)
  • Wayland Baptist (1-3, 0-2 Sooner)

 

• Location
  • Pineville, Louisiana – Wildcat Field

 

• Series History
  • Louisiana Christian Leads 4-0 (100%)

 

• Winning Streak
  • Louisiana Christian (W4) | Wayland Baptist's Last Win: N/A

 
Wildcats Top Performers:
 

• Sal Palermo III led the Wildcats in both passing (369) and rushing yards (39), putting up all but nine of his yards with his arm plus each of his team-high five touchdowns (3 passing, 2 rushing) in the first half alone.

 

• Sammy Feaster must have seemed invisible to the Pioneers defenders in the first quarter because every time Palermo looked up, he was wide open deep downfield with nobody around him. His first quarter stat line ended up being his total, but it was video game worthy with a trio of catches for 195 yards plus a pair of scores to average an insane 65 yards per reception.

 

• Taevion Cunningham received six touches for the evening, five rushes and one catch, scoring on four of them. The Tennessee-Martin transfer hit paydirt three times while toting the rock for 18 yards in addition to his lone grab going 25 yards for six points.

 

•  Andre Reed topped the team with seven tackles including five solos, registered two tackles for loss, and dropped the signal-caller 19 yards behind the line of scrimmage for a massive sack.

 

• Detavius Eldridge notched his first career multi-sack outing, taking down the quarterback on two of his four tackles Saturday.

 

• Both Nate Sullivan and Jahiem Mitchell each showed off their athleticism with acrobatic interception grabs with Sullivan nearly taking his to the house on a 35-yard return that set the Cats up at the WBU five.

 

• Elsewhere in the defensive backfield, Brandon Isaac broke up a pair of passes with teammates Cole Jones as well as Pop McGee swatting away a potential catch too.

 

• Wildcats fans got a possible glimpse into the future late in the matchup as sophomore quarterback River Thompson put his skills on display, completing 3-of-4 passes for 28 yards on top of 30 rushing yards on just five carries.

 

• D'Mario Weathersby was in on seemingly every play in the first half, cataloging six takedowns (five solo) to finish just behind Reed for the club lead.

 

• Other players that stood out in the box score were Glenn White with 25 rushing yards and a touchdown, Jacob Ganote (4 catches for 66 yards) and Ethan Christman (2 catches for 57 yards) finding open space in the receiving game, Logan Brimmer picking up a pair of TFLs including another sack, Ernest Simon and Jayden Davis tallying a sack and tackle for loss, respectively, and Kavin Touriac forcing an incompletion with the game's only QB hurry.

 

• The defending LSWA Special Teams Player of the Week, Mason Ingram, has a strong opportunity to possibly repeat the feat after connecting on four punts for 176 yards including a 50-yard blast and one ball downed inside the 20, adding up to another stellar average of 44 yards per punt.

 
Next:
 

• It is back to the Sooner State for another road tilt as both of its contests away from Pineville will take place in Oklahoma as the next opponent will be Panhandle State at 6 p.m. on Saturday in Goodwell.

 
Follow the football program on Facebook (@LCUWildcatsFootball), Twitter/X (@LCU_Ftball) and Instagram (@LCU_Ftball).
 
Follow the Wildcats on Facebook (@LCUAthletics), Twitter/X (@LCU_Wildcats) and Instagram (@LCU_Wildcats).