Box Score NATCHITOCHES -- After his pair of 42-yard field goals in the fourth quarter Saturday night brought Northwestern State from behind for a one-point win over Nicholls State, Demons' senior kicker John Shaughnessy was named the Southland Conference football Special Teams Player of the Week on Monday.
 
Shaughnessy's final field goal with 8:57 left to play boosted Northwestern (4-4 overall, 2-2 in the Southland Conference) ahead 27-26. The Demons' defense did the rest, coming up with quarterback sacks by Cornist Broadway and Cortez Paige to repel Nicholls' two penetrations into Northwestern territory late in the game.
 
The Demons' kicker also converted all three of his extra points, and his accurate placement of kickoffs helped limit Nicholls to 14.8 yards per return.
 
Shaughnessy, a Shreveport-Byrd product who is an Academic All-America candidate with a 3.7 grade point average in biology, raised his field goal accuracy rate to 12-of-15 this season. He has been good on 26 of his last 31 tries dating back to the start of last season.
 
He has been very reliable from distance. He's made 12 of his last 14 from 40 yards and beyond, going 14-of-22 in his career, including 7-of-9 this year.
 
He ranks seventh nationally with 1.5 field goals per game and is 50^th in scoring with a 7.4 average.
 
This season, Shaughnessy has kicked three of the four longest field goals of his career this season, going 47, 47 and 46 yards.
 
The Demons will travel to play league-leading Central Arkansas, ranked 13^th nationally, on Saturday night in a Southland TV network game. Their final home game is Nov. 10 against defending Southland champion Sam Houston State.