HBU travels to Lake Charles to face McNeese State in SLC football action

Photo by Darla Tamulitis, La Vita Loca Photography
Copyright 2017, All Rights Reserved

By Robert H Kelly
Copyright 2017 All Rights Reserved

HOUSTON, TEXAS (September 23, 2017) The Southland Conference showcases Saturday evening with four football games on tap: headlined by the HBU Huskies facing the McNeese State Cowboys in Lake Charles, Louisiana. The Huskies (1-2) are coming off a 24-3 loss to Abilene Christian last Saturday night (September 16) while the Cowboys (2-1) downed Alcorn State 34-27 on the same day.

Freshmen lead the Huskies  in nearly every offensive category, with quarterback Bailey Zappe (shown right) completing 44-of-86 passes for 481 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions. Running back James Brown has carried 25 times for 163 yards and a  touchdown, while receiver Dennis Houston has made 12 catches for 124 yards. Senior receiver Ethan Fry leads in receiving yards with 150 on eight catches, including a touchdown, while senior running back Terrance Peters has added 138 rushing yards and a score. 

Senior All-America linebacker Garrett Dolan jumped back into the top 10 nationally in tackles by breaking his own school record with 19 tackles last week at Abilene Christian. He is tied for ninth with 11.3 tackles per game and is the career active leader in the FCS with 429 stops. Senior linebacker Cody Moncure is second on the team with 26 tackles and junior defensive end Johnavhon Graham leads the Huskies with 2.0 sacks. Sophomore safety Nicholas Smith has made two interceptions this season and junior cornerback Raphael Lewis has five pass breakups.

McNeese quarterback James Tabary was named this week’s SLC Offensive Player of the Week after he threw for 344 yards and four touchdowns, including the game-winner with 26 seconds left on a 33-yard strike, in a 34-27 win at Alcorn State. He also garnered STATS national player of the week honorable mention honors for his play. The SLC award is the first for Tabary in his career and the first for a McNeese quarterback since Daniel Sams received the honor in November of 2015. It’s the second time in his McNeese career (14 games) that Tabary has thrown for four touchdowns in a game. He tied a school record last year against No. 1 Sam Houston State with 5 TD passes.

In other SLC action, SFA (1-2) faces Abilene Christian on the road while Nicholls (2-1) travels to Huntsville to play Sam Houston (2-0). In Hammond, Louisiana,  Lamar (1-2) meets Southeastern Louisiana.