NATCHITOCHES – When a team has gone more than 1,000 days between victories, what difference does another hour-plus make?
 
The Northwestern State football team exploded out of the gates in its 2025 season opener against Alcorn State on Thursday night only to see its momentum momentarily delayed by a lightning delay that lasted longer than an hour.
 
Still, the Demons delivered the type of tough-minded performance second-year head coach Blaine McCorkle sought as Northwestern doubled up the visiting Braves, 20-10, to snap a 20-game losing streak.
 
"I don't think I've ever seen a team and a campus and a city as in need of a win as this football team, this university and Natchitoches did," McCorkle said. "It allows everybody to take a sigh of relief and lets people know that this football program, this city and this campus loves so much is alive and well, and we're going to be A-OK. A new day's coming."
 
Northwestern (1-0) earned its first season-opening win since 2013 and its first victory overall since Nov. 5, 2022, by demonstrating its toughness – especially in the second half.
 
The Demons authored a near-perfect first quarter before a lightning delay hit with 13:47 to play in the second quarter.
 
Northwestern needed just three plays to score on its first drive of the game as Myion Hicks busted free for a 51-yard run on the second play from scrimmage to set up Abram Johnston's 15-yard scoring pass to Ty Moore.
 
The grab was just the start for Moore, who later returned a bad snap of an Alcorn State (0-1) punt 8 yards for his second touchdown of the quarter.
 
"I saw it go over (the punter's) head and I saw two guys in front of me," Moore said. "I know he's going to try to punt it out of the back (of the end zone). In the back of my mind, I'm thinking, 'What if he misses the punt?' That's exactly what happened. The other guys were too close to him to react to it, so I grabbed it and started stumbling, so I had to do a little flip into the end zone."
 
Moore's fumble recovery was part of a three-takeaway first half for Northwestern, which snuffed consecutive Alcorn State drives with end-zone interceptions.
 
The first came when Christian Williams was in perfect position to play a carom off an Antonio Hall breakup while sophomore safety Kaden Mackey came away with a highlight-reel one-handed pick in nearly the same spot as Williams' interception.
 
"Can I say I loved it?" Mackey asked sheepishly following the game. "As soon as I got into his hip, I looked back and one-handed it and got ready to celebrate with the team."
 
The consecutive interceptions allowed the Demons to maintain their 13-point advantage until momentum shifted to the visiting sideline in a four-play stretch.
 
Orlandus McLaurin's 72-yard pick-six put Alcorn on the board before a Myion Hicks fumble on the Demons' second play from scrimmage following the score set up a Braves field goal to pull Alcorn within three with 23 seconds remaining in the third quarter.
 
From there, the Demon offensive line put the game on its collective back.
 
Northwestern answered the 51-yard field goal with a 12-play, 68-yard drive that took 6:17 off the clock and finished with a 1-yard touchdown from fullback Ryan Tyler, who earlier in the week had been announced as a team captain.
 
All 12 plays were run plays with the biggest coming on a 3^rd-and-4 from the Demon 38-yard line.
 
Senior running back Kolbe Burrell appeared to be stopped for little to no gain before spinning left out of a pile and turning the play into a drive-sparking 38-yard rush.
 
"I thought he was tackled for a loss," Johnston said. "Him slipping out and going, there was nothing there. Kolbe's always been like that – gritty. He'll pop out of a pile all of the time."
 
Johnston helped set up Tyler's clinching score with a 14-yard keeper on an option call, part of his team-high 69 rushing yards.
 
"Our team embodies (toughness) as our character," Johnston said. "We have five stars (in our culture), but toughness is our character. It's who we are. We're tough. We talk about it all the time, but tonight really showed it."
 
That toughness allowed the Demons to end a 20-game losing streak that covered 1,027 days between victories, and it flipped over because of a defense that surrendered only three points to a Braves team that averaged 24.4 points against FCS competition a season ago.
 
"Now it's zero," McCorkle said. "I told the guys in the locker room, 'When we woke up this morning, we had the longest losing streak in the country. Saturday night, when all of the games are over, we'll have a longer winning streak than half the country.' That's pretty cool to think about."