McNeese wins share of Southland title

• Advocate news services
• Published: Nov 22, 2009

• Print
• Email
• Save
• Reprints
• Twitter
• Share

• Del.icio.us
• Digg
• Facebook
• Reddit
• 

LAKE CHARLES — McNeese State won a share of its 13th Southland Conference football title here Saturday with a 21-17 triumph over Central Arkansas on a wet, windy and cool night.

The Cowboys (9-2 overall, 5-1 SLC) will share the title with Stephen F. Austin — which defeated winless Northwestern State 19-10 earlier in the day. It was senior night at Cowboy Stadium with 14 McNeese seniors being honored before to the game. And, it was seniors Derrick Fourroux and Toddrick Pendland who led the McNeese offense in the win.

Fourroux completed 11 of 18 passes for 83 yards and rushed 10 times for 50 yards and an 8-yard touchdown. Pendland had 44 yards on 18 carries and scored a TD on a 4-yard run.

The other McNeese touchdown came on Bernardo Henry’s 64-yard end around run in the third quarter that provided the winning points.

Central Arkansas (5-6) scored on runs of 3 and 1 one yard by Brent Grimes, the game’s leading rusher, and on a 28-yard field goal by Eddie Carmona. The Bears end the year against North Dakota next week.

It was the third league title for a Viator-coached team with teams winning in 2006 and 2007.

McNeese, which went into the game ranked No. 8, now awaits the FCS playoffs which will begin next Saturday. The Cowboys expect an at-large bid when the pairings are announced this afternoon.

The game marked milestones for McNeese’s Pendland and Fourroux. Pendland scored his 46th touchdown — a Cowboys record — and ran his points total to 118, a McNeese single season record. Also, Pendland’s 44 yards rushing moved him a little closer to the 1,000 yard mark this season. He now has 992.

Fourroux, with 10,038 total yards, became the first player in McNeese history and the third in SLC history to gain 10,000 total offensive yards in a career.

Central Arkansas got on the scoreboard first on a 28-yard field goal by Carmona.

McNeese came back in the second period with Fourroux scoring on an 8-yard run and Pendland going over from the 4.

Grimes scored both of his touchdowns in the final half and the Cowboys got on the board with Henry’s long run.

Grimes was the game’s leading rusher with 181 yards on 39 carries and Robbie Park completed 17 of 34 passes for 142 yards for the Bears.