Published: November 08, 2009 12:02 am      

Steamrolled

Cowboys rush for 400-plus yards in Southland shootout

LAKE CHARLES, La. — The Cowboys ran and ran and ran some more. They ran circles around Sam Houston State on Saturday.

Running back Toddrick Pendland waltzed into the end zone three times in the first half, then capped a 14-point third quarter with a 23-yard scoring run to lift McNeese State to a 63-42 victory at Cowboys Stadium.

The Cowboys (4-1 in SLC, 7-2 overall) rushed for 418 yards in the win with Pendland gaining 171 and quarterback Derrick Fourroux chipping in 118.

Running back Champlain Babin and wide receiver Richard Conner produced touchdown runs of 76 and 43 yards, respectively, to drop the Bearkats to 2-3 in the SLC and 4-5 on the season.

“This was their best effort of the year, except for maybe when they beat Appalachian State,” Sam Houston head coach Todd Whitten said. “They are very, very fast and explosive offensively. What can you say about their quarterback and running back? Both of those guys are very talented players.

“Again, we gave up some big plays, which has been a problem for us this season. When they got in the open field, we couldn’t catch them.”

Lost in the poor performance of the Bearkat defense was how well the offense played.

Sam Houston quarterback Blake Joseph was right on the money Saturday. The senior completed 20-of-28 passes for 300 yards and four touchdowns. Two of those scoring plays went to senior wide receiver Jason Madkins, the first from 30 yards out to trim McNeese State’s lead to 35-21 in the third.

Joseph later connected with Madkins, who had six catches for 142 yards, on a 66-yard pitch and catch two minutes into the fourth quarter to get the Bearkats back to within 14 at 49-35.

“I felt like our offense played well today, but it was just one of those things when we would score and then they would score,” Joseph said. “It went back and forth. I felt like our offensive line did a great job tonight and our receivers did a great job. I wish we would have scored a few more points, but it didn’t work out that way.”

The way the Cowboys moved the ball with ease, it wouldn’t have mattered if the Bearkats would have scored more points. Sam Houston had no answer for McNeese State’s rushing attack.

Two turnovers in the first quarter, an interception by defensive tackle Kevin Smith and a fumble recover on a kickoff by Madkins, were the only highlights.

The Bearkats scored following both takeaways with running back Chris Poullard plunging into the end zone on a 1-yard run and Joseph hitting wide receiver Chris Lucas for a 23-yard touchdown to give Sam Houston its only lead of the game at 14-7.

It was all McNeese State after that. The Cowboys got two unanswered touchdowns on a run by Pendland and a pass from Fourroux to Chad Davis that gave McNeese a 28-14 advantage at the half.

“It is very heartbreaking,” Smith said. “The offensive played a hell of a game. I mean I can’t really say much about it. Defense, we tackled very poorly and gave them a lot of big runs they shouldn’t have had. That is the only way to put it.”

The Kats never got closer than 14 points the rest of the night. Every time Sam Houston would score, McNeese would answer.

Sophomore running back Torian Wilkins scored the Kats’ final touchdown on a 10-yard run off another turnover with 1:58 left in the game, but McNeese had already iced it with two straight scoring drives thanks to Conner and Babin.