RICHMOND, Ky. - A touchdown on the opening drive were the only points the Nicholls State University football team could muster as the Colonels fell 27-7 to EKU on Saturday night at Roy Kidd Stadium.

With the loss, Nicholls (1-4) suffered its fourth straight setback and dropped to 1-2 against the FCS this season. EKU improved to 2-3 overall and extended its home winning streak to nine games.

Miequle Brock Jr. started the scoring with a 60-yard catch-and-run on a screen pass for an early 7-0 lead. But EKU answered with its own long touchdown, a 68-yard rush by Brady Hensley, to send the teams into the half tied at 7-7.

EKU then went up 14-7 on a short interception return for a touchdown in the third. The Colonels put the game away with an 11-yard touchdown pass by Myles Burkett in the fourth before tacking on a field goal.

Nicholls dominated the game in the first quarter with 130 yards of offense compared to six for EKU. However, after Brock's touchdown, the Colonels failed on two fourth-down tries that kept the score 7-0. The first was just outside of field goal range at the EKU34 while the second came early in the second on a 4th-and-4 from the 12.

Three possessions later, EKU cracked the scoring column on Hensley's long run. He finished the game with 148 yards rushing on 14 carries.

Coming out of the half, Nicholls forced a punt to get the ball back at the 17. But on a screen pass to Brock, he fell to the turf and EKU's Kaden Smith picked it off and ran 16 yards for a touchdown and a 14-7 lead. The EKU defense flipped the script in the second half with three turnovers to shutout Nicholls the rest of the way.

Despite scoring the lone touchdown on the opening drive, Nicholls finished with a season-high 330 yards on offense. Brock totaled 124 yards with 67 receiving and had a career-high 16 carries, while Shane Lee rushed 12 times for a career-high 65 yards. Deuce Hogan completed 20 of 31 passes for 213 yards with Solo Lewis totaling eight catches for 46 yards.

Jake Dalmado led the defense with 11 tackles and Hayden Shaheen added nine with a half sack. EKU totaled 314 yards with 242 coming on the ground.

UP NEXT
Nicholls (1-0 SLC) will return to Southland play with another road game at Lamar (0-0 SLC). Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. on Saturday, Oct. 4.