Box Score NATCHITOCHES – Northwestern State didn't need long to take control of its Southland Conference football game at Lamar Saturday night, and the Demons kept the upper hand with timely plays after halftime in a 37-17 road win.
 
NSU dominated the second quarter, scoring 20 points in the final 10 minutes before halftime for a 27-7 lead through two quarters. The Demons weathered some big yardage production by the Cardinals afterwards, but allowed only one touchdown, a 40-yard pass with 4:25 remaining, with a couple of interceptions by Cashas Pollard and Lamont Simmons helping keep Lamar at bay.
 
“Were there mistakes? Yeah,” said Demons' defensive coordinator Brad Laird. “We have to finish better. We had a lead, and it looked like the game was won, but especially against an explosive offense and a talented quarterback who keeps plays alive, you cannot relax.”
 
NSU forced two field goal attempts, one missed, to thwart Lamar's comeback. The Demons remained the league's best in red zone defense, allowing scores on only half of the 10 trips inside the 20 by opponents.
 
“As long as they have to line up and snap it again, we're in good shape. Our kids were resilient with their backs against the wall,” said Laird.

A 45-yard field goal into a stiff wind by John Shaughnessy with 5:33 left to play, followed at the 3:20 mark by a 54-yard touchdown on a Brad Henderson screen pass over a Lamar blitz and an explosive scoring dash down the Cardinals' sideline by D.J. Palmer, were clinching tallies by the Demons.
 
“It turned out to be a good call but it was much better execution,” said NSU offensive coordinator Todd Cooley. “I was hoping to get a first down, but our offensive unit did a great job executing the play and D.J. turned a nice gain into the score that put it away for us.”
 
Northwestern (3-3 overall, 2-1 in the Southland) was in command at halftime, holding Lamar (3-2, 1-1) to only 118 total yards while piling up 270.
 
“We talked about containing the quarterback, and we did that well overall and especially in the first half,” said Laird. “We got off the field and our offense did a great job of driving the ball and scoring.”
 
The Demons finished with 443 total yards, 290 in a 26 of 34 passing performance with no interceptions and touchdowns of 5, 19 and 54 yards from Henderson. NSU's first-half scoring drives were 51, 61, 66 and 76 yards.
 
“We played pretty well. Lamar did a nice job adjusting to us and created some difficulty for us after halftime,” said Cooley. “We need to do a better job of sustaining and finishing. We scored 21 in 10 minutes but we have to play for 60.”
 
Henderson, who was 18 of 20 at one point, rebounded nicely from a 3-interception game last week.
 
“Brad played pretty well. He was very good when he was good with his eyes being in the right place,” said Cooley. “I was happy to see the screen game get going, and that involves a lot of guys doing their jobs well. We got some good plays out of it and had chances for more. We had good balance overall.”
 
Demons' coach Bradley Dale Peveto was not distraught Lamar wound up with 460 yards, 360 passing by quarterback Andre Bevil.
 
“Any time you hold anybody in the teens on the scoreboard, nowadays in football, that's good on defense. We played really well in the first half. Even in the second half, we were in good coverage, had good pressure, but that quarterback threw strikes and they made catches,” said Peveto. “Take your hat off to them.
 
“And take your hat off to our players. I thought we played well on both sides. We beat a good team, and now we have to get ready for a talented in-state rival coming here for our homecoming game Saturday,” he said.
 
NSU plays host to Southeastern Louisiana Saturday evening at 6 in Turpin Stadium.