GOODWELL, Okla. – The Louisiana Christian University football team went the distance to stay unbeaten Saturday night, while posting its 11th straight win dating back to last season.
The Wildcats were backed up on their own 1-yard line with a five-point lead and just over 11 minutes remaining. In a pressure-packed situation on the road in a hostile environment, LCU marched 18 plays while chewing up 9:09 off the clock and turned a nerve-wracking final quarter into a two-score contest, securing a 29-17 victory at Oklahoma Panhandle State.
Louisiana Christian stayed unbeaten this season, 5-0 overall and 4-0 in the Sooner Athletic Conference. Oklahoma Panhandle (2-3, 2-2) gave the Wildcats their toughest test so far in 2023 and avenged a 28-16 loss to OPSU last season in Pineville.
It’s not often that a placekicker gets the spotlight, but Levi Hilborn deserved it, going a perfect 3-for-3 on field goals with makes from 30, 25, and 20 yards. His foot gave the Wildcats a 9-7 halftime edge.
Daylon Charles was the leader of the ground game with a season-high 128 yards on 18 carries for a 7.1 average per rush. Taevion Cunningham was next in line with another season-best of 80 which included a personal-long rush of 37 yards and his third multi-touchdown game of the year, hitting paydirt from 15 and 8 yards out.
Sal Palermo III set a new campaign-best in the rushing category as well with 72 yards and the game-icing score ending the 99-yard drive that ate up most of the final quarter. The LCU signalcaller was also 14-of-18 passing for 146 yards.
Ethan Christman had a career evening in terms of receiving yards, posting game highs in both receptions (5) and receiving yards (65).
Ernest Simon topped the defense with seven tackles while adding an additional 1.5 tackles for loss to his line and also registering his first career pass breakup.
Andre Reed kept his TFL streak intact by the slimmest of margins, contributing a half-TFL to give him at least 0.5 in each contest.
Detavius Eldridge took part in both quarterback takedowns as he collected 1.5 sacks against the Aggies with Logan Brimmer chipping in the other half-a-sack.
Defensively, the Orange and Blue put together statistics as if they were playing Madden on rookie mode, surrendering only four OPSU catches for 27 yards over 22 attempts for a completion percentage of merely 18 percent.
The Wildcats lost three fumbles and had a minus-3 turnover margin but still earned the decision, claiming a victory despite that poor a deficiency for the first time in seven seasons.
LCU’s 70 carries and 364 rushing yards were the most in a Sooner Athletic Conference matchup in school history while the latter is the second-highest total since rejoining the NAIA.
The first day game of this season beckons on Saturday when the Orange and Blue hosts North American at 2 p.m.