Henderson Lamar
Gary Hardamon
Brad Henderson hit 26 of 34 passes, 3 for TDs

Second-quarter jolts spark Demons by Cardinals, 37-17

10/8/2011 11:27:00 PM

By: Doug Ireland/Sports Information Director
GAME STATISTICS

BEAUMONT, Texas – Like the surge of electricity that blew the transformers near Lamar's Provost Umphrey Stadium earlier in the day, Northwestern State sizzled decisively for a short period in a 37-17 Southland Conference football win Saturday night.

Northwestern kicked into gear with a 20-point second quarter, scoring three touchdowns in the final 10 minutes before halftime. The Demons had 200 yards in the second period alone and a 27-7 halftime advantage.

That burst contained the greatest jolts in an elegantly efficient 290-yard, three touchdowns, and 26 of 34 with no interceptions passing performance by Brad Henderson, and effectively carried NSU to a 2-1 league record and a 3-3 overall worksheet heading into next Saturday night's homecoming game against Southeastern Louisiana in Turpin Stadium. Lamar, which rallied past SLU 48-38 on the road a week earlier, dipped to 3-2 overall and 1-1 in the conference.

The start of the game was delayed for 90 minutes due to the power outage and the stall continued in a first quarter with 120 combined yards, 71 by the visiting Demons. But NSU rode Henderson's arm and an explosive running game into a commanding lead, then held off a second-half comeback bid by the Cardinals, clinching the outcome with a wonderfully-run 54-yard screen pass and run by sophomore tailback D.J. Palmer into a blitzing Lamar defense on third-and-10 with 3:20 remaining.

Sidney Riley had two of the Demons' four first-half TDs, on runs of 1 and 5 yards bookending two Henderson scoring passes, 5 yards to Trevor Goodie and 19 to Phillip Harvey. NSU got its last two tallies in the final four minutes of the opening half.

The Demons didn't get cheapies. Their scoring drives were 51, 61, 66 and 76 yards.
Goodie's score, on an inside flanker screen, put NSU up to stay. Harvey's touchdown was a backbreaker for the Cardinals, 3:49 before halftime.

NSU got first and goal at the 2 on a pass interference penalty, but an offensive pass interference shoved the Demons back to second-and goal at the 19. An incompletion made it third down, when Henderson found Harvey with his back to the goalline between three defenders at the 10. He bounced off the tacklers, spinning and sprinting toward the end zone for the score.

After a punt, the Demons needed only 1:26 on seven plays to raise the margin to 20 points on Riley's inside counter from the 5.

But Lamar got a 26-yard field goal on its first series after halftime to draw within 27-10, and the Demons cost themselves seven more points when Jamaal White was flagged for a personal foul that wiped out a weaving 89-yard interception runback by Cashas Pollard which would have made it 34-10 midway through the third period.

John Shaughnessy banged through a 45-yard field goal into a stiff wind with 5:33 left to play, but Lamar bounced right back on a 40-yard TD from Andre Bevil to J.J. Hayes 68 seconds later to stay in range with 4:25 showing.

The Palmer screen pass touchdown down the Lamar sideline locked up the outcome.

The Cardinals actually outgained the Demons 460-443, with Bevil showing great escapability in a 360-yard passing output. But he was intercepted three times, with Cortez Paige and Lamont Simmons joining Pollard in the pick parade by NSU.

“In today's football, it's all about the points allowed, not in the yards you give up,” said Demons' head coach Bradley Dale Peveto. “We made it tough on them and didn't give up a lot while we were getting control of the score.”

Indeed, Lamar had only 118 yards at halftime, by which time Northwestern had provided enough voltage to sap the Cardinals' chances of coming back.
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