NATCHITOCHES – A night of missed chances and relentless rushing ended in a frustrating and disappointing Homecoming night for Northwestern State in its 40-10 loss to East Texas A&M.
 
The theme of the night played out in the first two drives of the night. Antonio Hall returned the opening kickoff 65 yard setting the Demons (1-4, 0-1) up in prime field position. Six plays later a missed field goal, the first of two misses in the game for the Demons, left it a scoreless affair.
 
East Texas A&M (1-4, 1-0) responded with a nine-play touchdown drive, gaining 27 yards on the ground on seven rushing plays ending in a two-yard score by EJ Oakmon, giving the Lions the lead they would not relinquish.
 
The Lions rushed for 261 yards on 52 attempts behind a trio of backs to control the clock and the line of scrimmage.
 
"Can't say I saw that one coming," head coach Blaine McCorkle said. "Think that was one we all thought and hoped we would have played a lot better and have a chance to win. We still have a lot of work to do. We have a lot of looking in the mirror to do as players, as coaches, with schemes, with how we practice, how we prepare our bodies. 
 
"All we can do is go back to work. Nobody said this thing was going to be easy. We're frustrated now but the beauty is you get another chance next week."
 
The missed field goal on the opening drive was the first of two major misses in the first half for the Demons.
 
A blocked punt by Ty Moore following a defensive 3-and-out set the Demons up in plus territory at the Lion 31 yard line. A sack on third down pushed the Demons back, leading to a field goal attempt that sailed wide left, leaving the drive empty and NSU still trailing 10-0.
 
The Lions took the ensuing possession down the field on a 14-play drive, the longest of the night, gaining 50 of the 80 yards on the trip via the rushing attack, culminating in a 5-yard touchdown run stretching the lead to 17-0.
 
The Demons found a spark on its final possession of the half that started with a Fernando Washington interception, his first as a Demon, at his own six-yard line. His jersey number brother, quarterback Abram Johnston, engineered a quick and clean scoring drive to get the Demons on the board just before half.
 
A long completion to Camryn Davis and a long run from Kolbe Burrell put the Demons in position to convert on a Cooper Evans 30-yard field goal as time expired.
 
Any momentum the Demons gained with the scoring drive was squelched by the Lions to open the third quarter ad KJ Shankle took the handoff around the right side for a 24-yard scoring run, pushing the lead back to three scores.
 
The Lions rushed for 139 yards on 28 carries in the second half, scored touchdowns on all three of their third-quarter possessions and produced scoring drives four times on their five total in the second half.
 
The youthful Demons saw a pair of freshmen help fuel NSU's lone scoring drive in the second half. Trevor Allen and Brenden Webb accounted for 34 yards on an eight-play drive the ended with a Kolbe Burrell rushing touchdown, his first of the season.
 
"You saw Brenden Webb get his first action touching the ball and he showed that he can make plays, and same thing with Jimmie Duncan," McCorkle said. "Trevor Allen got his first action of the season tonight and showed his capabilities. We had some guys step in on defense in their who had not played a snap yet this year. Proud of all those guys for that and we saw some more young guys get a chance to grow and develop."
 
NSU plays its next two games on the road beginning next Saturday at HCU.