MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. – As long as the trip from Pineville was for the Louisiana Christian football game, the ride home was longer.
The Wildcats would like a do-over in coach Ben McLaughlin’s debut as the lead man of his alma mater, fighting both the sweltering heat (103 heat index), rainy weather and a ferocious 12th-ranked St. Thomas Bobcats team.
The road trip, the heat and the opponent were just too much for the ‘Cats to handle in a 56-10 season-opening loss. The Wildcats came in with a No. 22 NAIA ranking and headed home no doubt ousted from the Top 25 and determined to perform better this Saturday but against another formidable foe – NCAA Division I Houston Christian of the Southland Conference.
LCU will finally play at home in Week 3 on Sept. 21 as Langston visits Wildcat Field.
Saturday morning in Florida, things went awry from the start. LCU fell behind 42-0 less than 20 minutes into the contest before scraping together a touchdown plus a field goal.
River Thompson made his first career start under center for LCU, tossing for 117 yards and his second career score on a 47-yard strike to Brennan Maye-Jordan, the latter’s first catch as a Wildcat. Maye-Jordan, a transfer from Tuskegee University, led the Orange and Blue in receiving yards as a result of his lone reception.
Freshman Datlan Cunningham was one of the brightest spots on a difficult day, rushing for a team-topping 61 yards on 11 carries, showing off his acceleration on a 40-yard rumble and his versatility by catching one ball out of the backfield for a gain of 11.
Ted Jamison was the top tackler for defensive coordinator Tyson Andrus, doubling his previous career-high with a half-dozen stops.
Kavan Touriac only had two tackles but they both came behind the line of scrimmage, fronting the visitors with 1.5 tackles for loss.
Amar Lewis and Khalil Brisco also set career-bests for tackles at five apiece while Tyren Young brought down five ballcarriers as well.
Levi Hilborn, who logged just three punts in his first 17 games on “The Hill,” booted away seven as the first string punter, averaging 38.6 yards per kick (270 total) with two of those going for 50-plus and another being downed inside the Bobcats’ redzone. One of the eight Texans on the squad, he also made his lone field goal attempt from 25 out.
X’zavier Jackson and Brody Page collected a sack each in addition to Jordan Oglesby putting a TFL on his stat line too.