The McNeese Cowboys put together a dominant performance Saturday night, overwhelming the Northwestern State Demons 50–3 at Navarre Stadium.  

Northwestern State struck first, taking a 3-0 lead on a 33-yard field goal by Grayson Lytton. But from there, McNeese took control of the game. 

The Cowboys racked up 461 total yards of offense and a season-high 313 rushing yards. Quarterback Jake Strong completed 11 of 17 passes for 121 yards with a touchdown and added 94 yards and a score on the ground.  

Coleby Hamm ran for two touchdowns, and Tre’Vonte Citizen added another. Devin Lippold and Jaylen Robinson also found the end zone. 

Defensively, McNeese held the Demons to just 178 total yards, forced multiple negative plays (nine tackles for loss), and sacked the quarterback three times. 

Head Coach Matt Viator expressed satisfaction with how the Cowboys played. 

“I thought we did a really good job both sides of the line of scrimmage, which I’ve thought we’ve been needing to do,” Viator said. “I don’t know if I’ve been involved in a game with zero penalties, so that was positive. I thought we were really physical, which was good to see in all three phases of the game.” 

With the win, McNeese improves to 3-6 overall and 2-3 in Southland Conference play, while Northwestern State falls to 1-8 and 0-5 in the conference.  

The Cowboys will face off against East Texas A&M at 4 p.m. Saturday in Commerce, Texas.