Bounces go wrong way in Louisiana College loss to No. 16 OUAZ

PINEVILLE, La. – The Louisiana College football team knew it faced a stiff challenge in #16 Ottawa of Arizona, but all the key bounces seemed to go against the Wildcats in a 49-19 loss to the Spirit Saturday afternoon at Wildcat Field.

The first key bounce came on OUAZ’s first score of the game as the Spirit receiver fumbled at the one, but the ball fell perfectly to another OUAZ player right at the goal line for a touchdown. LC had a good drive going, having moved into a first and goal situation, when the ball popped out on a run to the goal line and took a hope away from the Wildcats and into the hands of a Spirit defender at the OUAZ 2-yard line. OUAZ went 98 yards and capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown rush for a 14-0 lead.

After a personal foul penalty set up LC with good starting field position at their own 40 for the ensuing possession, the Wildcats made it pay off as the feet of Markaylin Milburn and James Powell, Jr. got LC into the scoring position, and a shot to the end zone drew a pass interference penalty that put the Wildcats on the doorstep of the goal line at the two. Micah Dunn finished off the drive as he took the direct snap and raced around the left side and snuck inside the pylon to get LC on the board at 14-6 right at the end of the first quarter.

Trailing 21-6 with less than a minute before halftime, Tre’mond Converse gave the Wildcats hope for a late score as he intercepted the OUAZ quarterback and set up the LC offense near midfield. The Wildcats got in position for a 45-yard field goal attempt to close out the first half, looking to get some momentum heading into the second half. But that field goal attempt was not only blocked, but once again the bounce hopped perfectly to a Spirit player who raced to the end zone to extend the lead at halftime, 28-6.

Now down 35-6 in the third, the bounces continued to go against the Wildcats as the Spirit quarterback fumbled nine yards behind the line of scrimmage on third and ten, only for the ball to hop to the OUAZ running back eight yards upfield, who gained another 19 yards to keep the drive alive and set up another OUAZ score several plays later.

LC would get some momentum to close out the game, scoring the contest’s final 13 points, first off a James Powell, Jr. 20-yard touchdown pass to Micah Dunn. That was later followed by a Powell, Jr. 56-yard pass to Sammy Feaster which set up a 1-yard plunge into the end zone by Gabe Bulliard to close out the scoring.

James Powell, Jr. had an efficient day for the Wildcats, going eight of 14 passing for 148 yards and a touchdown while also rushing ten times for 64 yards. After missing the last two contests, Sal Palermo III made his return to the line-up during the third quarter, going five of 11 for 54 yards and an interception.

Devin Briscoe led the Wildcats on the ground, taking 23 handoffs throughout the game for 98 yards. Markaylin Milburn ran 12 times for 40 yards.

Through the air, Micah Dunn had three catches for 50 yards and a score. Zion Williams had three catches for 55 yards. Sammy Feaster’s one catch went for 56 yards to lead the team in receiving yards.

Defensively, D’Mario Weathersby led the team in tackles with nine total stops. Tyren Young had eight tackles, one for loss as well as a sack, a quarterback hurry, and forced a fumble, which he also recovered. Cole Jones had seven tackles and forced two fumbles.

The Wildcats (0-5, 0-3 SAC) look for that elusively first victory at home again next Saturday as against Oklahoma Panhandle State. Kickoff against the Aggies (2-3, 2-2 SAC) is set for 2:00 P.M. at Wildcat Field.