Box Score NATCHITOCHES – After breaking Northwestern State single-game records with five touchdown passes and 36 points responsible for Saturday night in a 48-21 rout of winless Nicholls State, Demons senior quarterback Zach Adkins was shaking his head about his three incompletions.

"It's like watching a video game at times," said Demons' head coach Jay Thomas. "He's incredibly good because he prepares extremely well and he has a lot of ability and heart. He'd tied that touchdown passes in a game record four times this year, and tonight he finally got it all to himself, like he deserves."

Northwestern State (6-5 overall, 4-3 in the Southland) led 35-7 after the first series of the second half. After answering a game-opening touchdown drive by Nicholls (0-11, 0-7) with two of its own, Northwestern State took command with two long second-period TD marches of 90 and 80 yards.

The last one was vintage Adkins, one of 23 Demons recognized pregame on Senior Night at Turpin Stadium, as 4,189 watched on a chilly evening.

For the fourth time this season, he led NSU downfield for a score in the final minute before halftime. His 24-yard TD to Cody Jones came with 28 seconds to go before halftime and capped a 7-play drive in 1:14 for a 28-7 advantage.

Jones caught his second scoring toss from Adkins, a 10-yarder, to wrap up an 11-play, 63-yard march opening the third quarter to all but resolve the outcome and give the Demons quarterback four TD passes for the fifth time this season.

Adkins finally surpassed Dale Hoffpauir (1958), Kenny Philibert (1977), future NFL star Bobby Hebert (1980), Warren Patterson (1998), Brad Spangler (1998) and Paul Harris (2011) with a 7-yard toss to Tuff McClain 2:35 before the end of the third quarter for a 42-14 lead.

He capped his performance with a 2-yard run up the middle on NSU's next series to make it 48-14.

"You want to play the perfect game and he almost did it," said Thomas.

"I'm thinking about the ones we didn't complete," said Adkins, who had two of those on receivers' hands. "It was fun. It wasn't just me. The O-line did a great job again. The receivers did their jobs well, and our running game was very good, which made it tough for Nicholls to defend the pass."

The Demons ran for an even 300 yards on 48 carries, with Daniel Taylor's 80 yards on 11 runs setting the pace among seven ballcarriers. Adkins went 17-of-20 for 180 yards, using seven receivers, with Shakeir Ryan catching five for 47 yards and Jones getting four for 68, including his two TDs.

Adkins' roommate, fellow senior Bryant Mitchell, caught a 10-yard scoring throw to tie the game at 7. Senior running back Garrett Atzenweiler put the Demons on top for good with a 1-yard run late in the first quarter on NSU's second series.

Tight end Zach White's 17-yard touchdown catch from Adkins 12:36 before halftime capped a 9-play, 90-yard march for a 21-7 advantage.

Nicholls, coming off an open date, battled throughout in the 21^st annual "NSU Challenge" game created by the student governments at both institutions.

"Hey, you have to give credit to Nicholls for a great effort. Those guys played very well," said Thomas, who coached at Nicholls for 14 seasons and was head coach there from 2004-09.  "I know how much this game means to both schools. It's a great rivalry and we knew we'd get their best shot. We did."

Hebert's son, Nicholls senior quarterback Beaux Hebert, went 14-of-23 for 113 yards and a second-half 2-yard TD pass to Demon Bolt. Colonels tailback Michael Henry ran for 146 yards on 29 carries, including a 19-yard score to cap a game-opening 79-yard, 8-play drive.

The Demons, winning their second straight, got 12 tackles from the top stopper in the Southland Conference, senior linebacker Marion Chapman. Chase Collins made an interception and senior defensive end Chris Dever followed a sack with a fumble recovery on the next play.

With 202 yards, junior receiver and returner Ed Eagan ran by his all-purpose yardage average of 178.6 that ranks third nationally in the FCS. He had a 57-yard kickoff return and a 25-yard punt return while posting 179 yards on eight runbacks, and added 23 yards on three receptions after collecting 23 grabs for 354 yards in the previous two games.

The Demons secured no worse than a .500 record for the second straight year, the first time since 2003-04 NSU has done that.

After last year's 6-6 mark, Thomas' team will aim for a 7-5 finish and a chance to be considered as an FCS playoff at-large selection if it can retain the biggest trophy in sports, "Chief Caddo," a 7-foot-6-inch statue of a mythical Native American, in next Saturday's 3 p.m. traditional season finale at Stephen F. Austin.