BATON ROUGE, La. - For the second straight outing, the Nicholls State University football team built a sizable halftime lead as the Colonels cruised to a 51-7 win against Southern Saturday night at A.W. Mumford Stadium.

Playing Southern (2-3) for the first time since 2002, Nicholls (2-3) jumped out to a 24-0 advantage after just 13 minutes and added two touchdowns in the second quarter for a 38-0 lead at the break. The Red and Gray tacked on two more TDs in the third to go up 51-0 before the Jaguars scored in the final minutes of the game to prevent a second consecutive shutout by the Colonel defense.

Nicholls caused problems for the Jaguar offense all night, racking up four first-half turnovers while allowing just 223 yards of total offense for the game. Eli Ennis and Rasheed Lovelace each forced a fumble and had seven tackles and Laurence Sullivan Jr. tallied two interceptions before the intermission. Southern totaled 32 yards rushing on a 1.3-yard per carry average.

Quarterback Pat McQuaide tossed a career-high four touchdown passes, completing 12 of 18 attempts for 178 yards. Nicholls needed just five plays to take a 7-0 lead as McQuaide found Christian McNees for a 32-yard score. 

Special teams came into play for the next points. Kylan Dupre booted a 61-yard punt and Josh Wax was able to down it at the Jaguar 1. Southern then shanked a 24-yard punt after a three-and-out and the Colonels turned it into a 39-yard field goal by Gabe Showalter.

The final two scores in the stanza were via a 14-yard rush by Collin Guggenheim and a 27-yard catch by Quincy Brown. Guggenheim led the rushing attack, finishing with 99 yards on 16 carries.

Early in the second quarter, Guggenheim found the end zone again from a yard out after Southern's second lost fumble. Then following Sullivan's second interception with less than three minutes to go, Nicholls scored again when McQuaide tossed a dart to Treylin Whaley for an 11-yard touchdown which was Whaley's first of his career.

In the third, McNees hauled in a 38-yard catch for his second TD of the night. He led the receivers with three receptions for 96 yards. 

The final Colonel points were thanks to a 7-yard rush by Corey Warren Jr. The extra point was blocked to make the score 51-0. Warren finished with 36 yards on the ground while Miequle Brock added 66 on 11 carries.

Southern's touchdown came with 3:26 remaining in the fourth when Jason Gabriel caught a 23-yard pass to make the final.

For the Colonel defense, Quinton Sharkey recorded 1.5 sacks while Jake Dalmado added one.

UP NEXT
Nicholls will open up SLC play with a trip to No. 15 UIW on Oct. 12. Kickoff in San Antonio is scheduled for 6 p.m.