Sixkiller gives McNeese hope in defeat

Published 7:09 pm Saturday, November 4, 2023

The Cowboys lost another game Saturday but they may have found their future.

McNeese State turned their offensive over to a true freshman quarterback and he delivered a performance of hope for a struggling fan base.

Kamden Sixkiller got his first taste of college football and pumped life into the McNeese offense during an improved second half.

While the outcome was more of the same, the feeling afterward was a bit different.

Still, the Cowboys fell to another struggling Southland Conference team, Southeastern, 38-24 inside Strawberry Stadium in Hammond. The loss dropped the Pokes to 1-8, 1-4 with their only victory coming by way of a forfeit.

The Lions, the defending co-champs and preseason favorites, improved to just 2-7, 2-3 after starting their season also with seven straight defeats.

But the story of the day was Sixkiller, who sparked the McNeese offense and behind a big third quarter had the Cowboys in position to even possibly win.

Playing just over a half Sixkiller led McNeese to 17 points, cutting the Lions’ lead to 28-24 with 20 minutes still to play. His 77-yard touchdown pass to Jihad Marks on the first play of the second half was the spark the Pokes have been looking for most of the season.

With that throw, he became the first true freshman to throw for a Poke touchdown since Cody Stroud turned the trick in 2010.

Sixkiller finished 9-of-19 for 130 yards. He did throw an interception to go with his TD pass. He also ran for an additional 32 yards.

“I thought Sixkiller made some nice plays and some rookie mistakes which is to be expected,” said McNeese head coach Gary Goff. “Sixkiller showed some flashes of being the quarterback of the future but it is just one game. There are still two more games he will get to play in so we will see how he handles the pressure.

“Overall pretty pleased with his play but not the outcome of the game.”

Once again the biggest issue for McNeese was stopping the run. The Cowboys simply could not match up with the Lions’ veteran offensive line.

Southeastern rushed for 333 yards, averaging 6.8 per run led by quarterback Zack Clements who ran for 114 yards on 14 carries. He also had a pair of touchdown passes while finishing 15-of-27 for 158 yards and a pair of interceptions.

“We just had trouble stopping the quarterback run for the most part,” said Goff. “We had some people make some plays and we missed some plays when we had them in position.”

Rodeo Graham ran for three touchdowns and 71 yards for the Lions. Graham scored on runs of 15, 6 and 3 yards.

McNeese cut the lead to four on D’Angelo Durham’s 4-yard touchdown run but the Lions rallied to score the only 10 points of the fourth quarter to end the Pokes’ hopes. Durham returned from injury to run for 78 yards on 14 carries while Joshon Barbie ended with another 68 on 10 attempts.

“They made the plays down the stretch,” said Goff. “I thought we showed flashes tonight, just not consistent enough to win the game.”

Both teams started fast as Clement threw a 17-yard TD pass to Darius Lewis on the game’s first drive and McNeese quickly followed when Ryan Roberts hit Jonathan Lewis with a 54-yard pass-and-run touchdown.

Graham’s first two scoring runs gave SLU a 21-7 halftime lead.

Micah Davey once again led the McNeese defense with 16 tackles including a strip sack and fumble recovery that led to a 41-yard Garrison Smith field goal. Davey entered the game second in the nation on the FCS level with 13.7 tackles a game. He now has 112 on the season.

McNeese will attempt to win its first game on the field next week when they host Houston Christian (4-4, 3-2) in their home finale.