BOX SCORE (COMING SHORTLY)

PHOTO GALLERY

LAKE CHARLES, La. – Missed opportunities haunted the Panthers all game long as McNeese State handed Prairie View A&M a 48-16 loss before a near capacity crowd at Cowboy Stadium on Saturday night.

The Panthers made a defensive statement to open the contest as they stopped the Cowboys on a fourth down conversion deep in PVAMU territory.  Unfortunately, the momentum didn't carry over on the following possession as the PVAMU punt by Travis Jatzlau was short which led to the Cowboys obtaining the ball at their own 41.

The game's first score took place with 7:37 remaining in the first quarter as Derrick Milton rushed for 27 yards en route to a 6-0 lead as the PAT was unsuccessful.  On the ensuing possession, the Panthers finally began to settle down as quarterback Jerry Lovelocke connected with Johnta' Hebert and Greg Thurmond for a pair of big first downs to move into McNeese State territory.  The Panthers drove to the Cowboys' 24 following a defensive holding penalty but had to settle for a 47-yard Chris Barrick field goal as they trailed 7-3 with 4:40 remaining.

The Cowboys used several big plays once again on their third drive to set up a scoring play as Kelvin Bennett rushed in from two yards out for a 13-3 margin following the PAT.  On the first play of PVAMU's next drive, McNeese State's Jermaine Antoine sacked Lovelocke and forced a fumble which was scooped up and ran in for a touchdown.  The PAT upped McNeese's lead to 20-3 with 2:10 left in the quarter.

A 28-yard pass from Lovelocke to Greg Thurmond saw the Panthers move deep into Cowboy territory early in the second quarter but the drive stalled as the Panthers were sacked on a fourth down attempt.  Prairie View A&M's David Metcalf picked off a pass to return the ball back to the Panther offense but another promising drive stalled as they were forced to punt.

With McNeese State driving midway through the second stanza, Metcalf made another diving interception in the endzone to put the ball back in the hands of the offense.  However, the drive stalled after a late personal foul penalty was issued against the Panthers which returned the ball back to McNeese State at the PVAMU 36 after a Jatzlau punt coupled with a holding penalty.

With an opportunity for Prairie View A&M to still remain within striking distance late in the quarter, McNeese State converted a fourth-and-five on the ensuing possession and used the momentum from the rush to move ahead 27-3 on a touchdown run with 1:03 left as the score remained the same entering halftime.

The Cowboys opened the second half with a 19-yard touchdown pass to move ahead 34-3 after the PAT kick.  The Panthers responded with a six-play, 50-yard scoring drive which was capped off by Lovelocke's read option three-yard touchdown run.  Barrick nailed the PAT as the Panthers were now down 34-10. 

The Panthers tried to make it a game in the fourth quarter as several big plays led to a four-yard touchdown run by Lovelocke for a 34-16 deficit.  The two-point conversion failed and from that point, McNeese tacked on two more scores to put the game away.

McNeese State finished the contest with 517 total offensive yards compared to Prairie View A&M's 336 yards.  Hebert rushed for 64 yards on 21 carries while Lovelocke threw for 242 yards on 21-of-52 passing.  Thurmond was the top receiver with 67 yards on five receptions while Damond Jackson finished with a total of nine tackles.

The Panthers return to action next Saturday as they'll host Southern University inside Blackshear Field at 6 p.m.  Seating is extremely limited and is going fast as tickets are currently available on www.PVPANTHERS.com.