PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana Christian University football program put the rest of the Sooner Athletic Conference on notice Saturday night, proving the first two games were a fluke and that the defending champions are not going away anytime soon, thoroughly manhandling the Langston Lions by a 35-point margin, 50-15.
 
Head Coach Ben McLaughlin fittingly earned his first career collegiate coaching win on the field where he became a legendary quarterback for the Cats, playing under Dennis Dunn from 2006 to 2010.
 
LCU extended its winning streak inside Wildcat Field to 14-in-a-row, having not tasted defeat in Pineville since September 25, 2021.
 
The Basics:
 

• Score
  • Louisiana Christian – 50
  • Langston – 15

 

• Records
  • Louisiana Christian (1-2, 1-0 Sooner)
  • Langston (0-2, 0-1 Sooner)

 

• Location
  • Pineville, Louisiana – Wildcat Field

 

• Series History
  • Wildcats Lead 4-0 (100%)

 

• Winning Streak
  • Wildcats (W4) | Lions' Last Win: N/A

 
Wildcats Top Performers: 
 

• The two-headed rushing attack of Daylon Charles and Datlan Cunningham ran rampant on the Lions defense, leading the Wildcats to 317 yards on the ground and an average of 6.2 yards per carry. 

                    * Charles racked up 137 yards (11.4 per carry) and two scores which included a career-best 76-yard sprint that saw him downed at the five while Cunningham crossed the century mark for the first time, rumbling for 112 yards (7.0 per carry) and a long of 43.
 

• River Thompson threw darts all over the field and four of his ten completions (40%) went for touchdowns, each one to a different receiver as he broke his career-high for the third consecutive week with 218 passing yards for a 21.8 average per catch.

 

• The four recipients of Thompson's six-point strikes were Sammy Feaster, who led the wideout corps in receiving yards (59) on two catches, Ethan Christman who caught a team-most four balls for 58 yards, Trae Grogan who took his lone reception 50 yards to the house, and ASH High School product EJ Scott who logged five touches for only 24 yards but found the end zone twice, once rushing and another receiving.

 

• Coming out of the halftime locker room, Louisiana Christian clung to a ten-point lead (17-7) but the momentum had shifted in favor of the Lions who had drove down for a score on the final possession of the first half and were receiving the second half kickoff. That's when Coach McLaughlin and Special Team Coordinator Josh Graham decided to pull a trick out of the New Orleans Saints' Super Bowl playbook with a surprise onside kick to open the second half, one which worked to perfection as Levi Hilborn grounded a perfectly placed ball towards the LCU sideline and was recovered by Brandon Isaac. The Orange and Blue went on to march down the field and extend its lead to 23-7, getting the ball rolling on a dominant second half where the Cats outscored Langston 33-8.

 

• Hilborn, the leg behind the team's first successful onside kick since 2017, was a stud in all three facets of his kicking game, tying a career-long by making a 42-yard field goal, blasting three touchbacks on his normal kickoff attempts, and downing each of his three punts inside the visitors' red zone.

 

• Tyren Young broke the three-game dry spell in the secondary, picking off Torrence Bardell and racing back the other way 20 yards before being pushed out of bounds. It was the Thibodaux native's sixth career pick while he added a pass breakup and three tackles as well.

 

• Logan Brimmer might not have found his elusive first full sack of the year, but he harassed the offensive line all night long, compiling five quarterback hurries plus a half-sack as he was in the signal-caller's face nearly every time he dropped back.

 

• Judson Mixon burst through the line untouched, walloping the QB for the club's only full sack of the evening, the first of his career, and a loss of six with Kavin Touriac assisted Brimmer in his half-sack to go along with five tackles, three solo.

 

• Jaden Jones led the defense with 1.5 tackles for loss and forced a fumble in addition to four total takedowns (three solo) while Michael Samson (1), Brody Page (1, 12 yard loss), Ardell Reed (1), Nate Sullivan (0.5), Amar Lewis (0.5), and Ted Jamison (0.5) each contributed to the squad's eight TFLs.

 

• David Voorhies III and Jahiem Mitchell shared the top tackler moniker for Defensive Coordinator Tyson Andrus, each stopping six ballcarriers apiece, as Voorhies tallied a pass breakup as well with his tackle total a new personal benchmark.

 

• Last but not least, we would like to acknowledge Kendal Rowan, who should have had a glorious big-man interception after bouncing off a lineman's helmet before he took off with the pigskin for a long return. Sadly, it was called back due to a penalty, however, he was able to notch a pair of QB hurries and a tackle which did count.

 
Next:
  

• The Orange and Blue look to improve to 2-0 in the league and get back to .500 for the season on Saturday in Plainview, Texas when they face the Wayland Baptist Pioneers at 6 p.m. inside Greg Sherwood Memorial Bulldog Stadium.

 

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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).