Louisiana Christian pounds Lyon 50-3 for fifth straight victory

PINEVILLE- Louisiana Christian University held their senior night festivities trying to extend their winning streak against the Lyon College Scots. The Wildcats led from start to finish in a 50-3 blowout win to extend their winning streak to five consecutive games.

The first and only score of the first quarter came on a one yard run by junior quarterback Sal Palermo III with 3:39 left in the first quarter. Junior kicker Hunter Martensson added the extra point to give LCU a 7-0 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Wildcats turned on the jets in the second quarter where they scored 24 points while only allowing three points to the Scots.

Palermo connected with junior receiver Canaan Leon on a 58-yard touchdown pass to get the scoring started in the second quarter with the Martensson point-after-touchdown extending the LCU lead to 14-0 with 12:08 left in the half.

At the 9:14 mark, Palermo passed to senior receiver Micah Dunn for a 20-yard touchdown pass to put the Wildcats up 21-0.

Lyon College scored their first and only points of the game on a 25-yard field goal by Kevin Kargozar only two minutes later to cut the LCU lead to 21-3. A 24-yard field goal by Martensson and a 19-yard touchdown run by Palermo secured a 31-3 halftime lead for Louisiana Christian.

Early in the third quarter, Palermo scored his third rushing touchdown and fifth overall on a 15-yard scamper to extend the Wildcat lead to 38-3.

Senior James Powell, Jr. entered the game at quarterback in relief of Palermo and he threw a touchdown pass of his own from 39-yards out to Dunn with 2:11 left in the third quarter, giving Louisiana Christian a 44-3 lead after three quarters.

The only score of the fourth quarter came on a one yard touchdown run by senior running back Rob McKnight with 9:11 left in the ball game and Louisiana Christian would hold onto the 50-3 lead until the final whistle to topple Lyon College and avenge their loss to the Scots last season.

The victory is the Wildcats fifth consecutive win and being their final home game, secured an undefeated home record in 2022 at Wildcat Field.

Sal Palermo III finished with six completions on eleven attempts passing and ten carries for 264 total yards and five total touchdowns. Palermo also secured the LCU single season rushing record for a quarterback.

James Powell, Jr. was a perfect 4-for-4 passing for 61 yards and a touchdown in relief of Palermo. Powell also rushed six times for 29 yards. Ten different Wildcats toted the rock on the night with Palermo leading all LCU runners followed by senior Devin Briscoe with 70 yards on eight carries. Micah Dunn finished with 104 yards and two touchdowns on five receptions.

Senior defensive end Micah Latin and junior defensive back D’Mario Weathersby led all Wildcat defenders with six total tackles each. Latin also added 2.5 tackles for loss while Weathersby shared credit for a tackle for loss and had a pass break-up. Sophomore defensive back Tyren Young recorded two tackles and had an interception.

The Wildcats (6-4, 5-3 SAC) will seek to conclude their 2022 campaign on a six-game winning streak when they head to Tyler, Texas next Saturday to face the Texas College Steers (1-8, 1-7 SAC) for a Sooner Athletic Conference match to end the season.