NATCHITOCHES, La. (AP) — Joshon Barbie rushed for 139 yards and caught a trick-play touchdown pass from freshman wide receiver Jamaal Levi as McNeese breezed to a 35-3 victory over Northwestern State on Saturday, extending the Demons’ winless streak to 24 games.
Neither team scored until Coleby Hamm ran it in from 2 yards out with 11:57 left in the second quarter to give McNeese (6-5, 3-3 Southland Conference) a 7-0 lead.
Reed Honshtein kicked a 25-yard field goal for Northwestern State (0-11, 0-6), but Alex Flores directed a 13-play, 91-yard drive that he finished off with a 2-yard touchdown toss to Logan Mauldin with 29 seconds left for a 14-3 advantage at halftime.
McNeese upped its lead to 21-3 on Bryce Strong’s 16-yard touchdown run. It came on the third play after JT Fayard was intercepted by Caesar Magee III — one of his two in the game — giving the Cowboys the ball on the Demons 27. Levi followed with his 25-yard touchdown pass to Barbie to up the advantage to 28-3 heading to the fourth quarter.
Strong scored on a 1-yard plunge with 1:53 left to play to complete the scoring. He finished with 106 yards on nine carries as the Cowboys piled up 314 yards on the ground.
Northwestern State managed just 61 yards rushing and 96 yards passing.
Northwestern State lost the final two games of the 2022 season and the six games it played last season plus another five by forfeit after the death of a player and the resignation of head coach Brad Laird. The Demons last victory was 41-14 over Texas A&M-Commerce — now East Texas A&M — on Nov. 5, 2022.
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