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THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University football team had three interceptions on defense and scored its first special teams touchdown of the season Saturday against Lamar, but the Cardinals racked up a school record 691 yards on offense to hand the Colonels a 63-21 loss on Saturday evening at John. L. Guidry Stadium.
 
Nicholls falls to 0-8 on the year and 0-4 in Southland play after suffering its 14th consecutive loss. The setback was also the Colonels' fourth straight loss to Lamar, which improved its record to 5-3 and 2-2 in conference. With the win, the Cardinals up their series record to 6-1 against the Colonels.
 
The Colonels were held scoreless for almost the entire first half as Lamar led 42-0 late in the second quarter. But a 21-yard touchdown pass from Kalen Henderson to Xavier Marcus put Nicholls on the board with 33 seconds left in the quarter to send the teams into the locker room with LU leading 42-7. Lamar added three more touchdowns in the final thirty minutes, and Keenan Canty provided the scoring for Nicholls as the senior scored twice in the second half, highlighted by an 83-yard punt return in the third quarter.
 
Along with Lamar's record-breaking day on offense, the Cardinals smothered Nicholls on offense, holding the Red and Gray to just 155 yards. The Colonels finished with 118 yards passing and only netted 37 yards on the ground. Although Nicholls had only one turnover, the offense accounted for just 13 first downs and averaged 2.6 yards per play.
 
Henderson started the game under center, completing 7-of-18 passes for 58 yards and one score. He faced heavy pressure in the first half as Lamar recorded five sacks, resulting in a loss of 49 yards. Beaux Hebert completed 5-of-10 passes for 49 yards and connected with Canty for 5-yard touchdown in the fourth and Dash Duncan added a completion for 11 yards.
 
While Nicholls had only 37 yards rushing as a team, Michael Henry gained 51 yards on 11 carries before leaving the game with an injury. Tobias Lofton added 31 yards on seven carries.
 
Lamar wasted little time in taking the lead as Caleb Berry found Mark Roberts for a 59-yard touchdown with just two minutes off the clock. The Cardinals then moved to the Colonel 23 on their next possession before Byron Cobb halted the drive with an interception in the end zone. However, LU's Kade Harrington scored on a 19-yard run to cap the quarter for a 14-0 lead. Harrington had a big game for Lamar, rushing for 123 yards and four touchdowns while Carl Harris added 116 yards and one score as the Cardinals gashed Nicholls for 362 yards on the ground.
 
In the second, Berry connected with Reggie Begelton for a 4-yard touchdown to polish off a 98-yard scoring drive. Lamar then tacked on three rushing touchdowns, two by Harrington and one by Gratian Gladney, to take a commanding 42-0 lead in the second quarter.
 
Before the break, the Colonels used a 32-yard screen pass to Henry to set up their first touchdown. On third-and-3, Henderson fired a strike to Marcus for the sophomore's first TD of the season.
 
In the third, Harris crossed the goal line from two yards out for the Cardinals to make the score 49-7. Later in the quarter, Canty fielded a punt at the Colonels' 17 yard-line, dodged a few defenders up the middle and sprinted towards the end zone for an 83-yard touchdown. It was the first punt return for a touchdown for Nicholls since 2008 when Lardarius Webb returned one against Stephen F. Austin. Canty had a solid day for the Colonels, finishing with 297 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.
 
Before the end of the third, Harrington scored his fourth touchdown of the game to give LU a 56-14 lead.
 
In the final quarter, Josh Singleton's second interception of the game helped set up Hebert's touchdown pass to Canty. Lamar's backup quarterback Robert Mitchell scored the game's final touchdown, running untouched for a 48-yard score.
 
Berry threw for 330 yards and two touchdowns on 27-of-32 attempts for LU, with Robert accounting for 148 yards receiving on seven catches.
 
On defense for the Colonels, Davin Bovie and Kameryon Brown had 10 tackles each, and Bovie had two tackles for loss. Lamar finished with 10 tackles for loss which included six sacks.
 
Nicholls will return to the field on Saturday, Oct. 25 as the Colonels take on Houston Baptist on ESPN3. Kickoff at Husky Stadium is scheduled for 7 p.m.