The McNeese Cowboys welcomed their rival the Lamar Cardinals to town for the regular season finale looking to finish 7-5. After 14 unanswered points from the Cowboys to take the lead late, Lamar found the endzone on the final play of the game to win 26-24.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
After a critical McNeese turnover on their first offensive possession, Lamar punched it in on a four-play, 58-yard scoring drive capped off with a touchdown run from RJ Carver to put the Cardinals ahead 7-0.
On their next possession, Lamar added a field goal from Ben Woodard that extended the lead to double digits on the road in the season finale.
Both teams then traded punts before Lamar further extended their lead to 17 points with another touchdown drive, this time going 73 yards in five plays before Robert Coleman found Sevonne Rhea for the score.
McNeese finally got on the scoreboard with a touchdown drive with an 11-play, 75-yard drive that ended with a Joshon Barbie touchdown to cut the lead to 17-7 at the break.
With 6:14 remaining in the third quarter, the Cowboys added a field goal from Tyler Larco to make it a seven-point game at home.
Lamar got three points back after a good drive put them inside the 10-yard line of McNeese, but the Cowboys defense was able to get a big stand and force the field goal from Woodard to make it 20-10.
To start the fourth quarter, the Cowboys defense got their second straight key stand, except this one was on fourth and goal from the one yard line as Lamar turned it over on downs. However, McNeese had to punt it near midfield after a holding penalty on a converted fourth down play forced them into a punting situation.
After a quick three and out from Lamar, McNeese answered with a 15-yard touchdown from Alex Flores to Jermichael Carter to make it 20-17 late in the contest.
On the ensuing Lamar possession, a fumble from RJ Carver was recovered by McNeese and put the Cowboys in position to take the lead. Six plays later, Devin Lippold cashed in from three yards out to give McNeese the 24-20 lead with 1:45 remaining.
Lamar marched down the field with their backup quarterback Jacolby Longino after Coleman was ejected from the contest. With just one second remaining, the Cardinals found the endzone but the touchdown was taken off the board due to an offensive pass interference call. Then, from the 20 yard line, Longino finds Kyndon Fuselier for a 20-yard touchdown to win the game in the final second.
BIG NUMBER: 21
21 points were scored in the final four minutes of the contest, but none bigger than the 20-yard walk off from Longino to Fuselier to win it for Lamar.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Jacolby Longino
The backup quarterback for Lamar that stepped in for the ejected Robert Coleman delivered the game winning drive, including the walk off touchdown strike.