When Jihad Marks reached the end zone last Saturday on the first half’s final play, he looked toward the sky in search of the football.

Half a field away, McNeese State quarterback Clifton McDowell had twice avoided being sacked and launched a high-fly ball toward the right side just over the goal line and into a sea of players.

Eight of those were Stephen F. Austin defenders.

Events get a little fuzzy from there.

“I just threw it as high and as far as I could,” said McDowell. “I didn’t know who had it.”

Nobody did as several players from both sides scrambled for the ball. When the scrum was over, Marks was holding the pigskin and McNeese had cut the SFA lead to 10-7 going into the break.

Watching replays, Marks didn’t make the catch so much but rather wrestled it away from a pair of Lumberjack defenders.

“That was a big play for us to get back in the game and capture some momentum,” said McNeese head coach Gary Goff.

The Cowboys rallied to win the Southland Conference opener 28-24 and are now getting ready to host Alcorn this Saturday night with a chance to go over .500 for the first time since the spring season of 2021.

For that to happen, they will need to continue to improve their passing game. Against SFA, McDowell became the first McNeese quarterback to throw for 300 yards (313) in three seasons. He claims a lot of that is because of the extra work the receivers and himself have put in after practices as well.

“Working on timing and chemistry,” said McDowell.

Wednesday McDowell and a group of his receivers stayed after practice working together so long the coaches had to force them to stop.

“They were out there for nearly an hour,” said Goff. “They were running so much we worried about their legs getting tired. They are really working hard to build that chemistry.

While Jer’Michael Carter has been the main target with team-highs in catches (12) and yards (142) he is far from alone. A total of 17 Cowboys have caught passes from McDowell and backup Kamden Sixkiller in just four games. Five of them have TD grabs.

“We like to use all our weapons and spread it around,” said Goff. “We have a lot of talent in that room. We need them to keep working hard like they have. They are starting to build confidence in each other.”

McDowell not only hit Marks with the 54-yard Hail Mary pass but also connected with Jessie Campbell on a 23-yard scoring strike. His other two TD passes went to Matt McCallister for 80 yards on Jamal Levi for 43.

Campbell was targeted five times, grabbing four passes for 52 yards against SFA.

“I think Jesse Campbell had a little bit of a breakout game, it was good to see him get in the end zone,” said Goff. “It was good to see him get out there and make some tough catches.”

Carter had five catches for 67 yards last week on six targets.

“We are getting better and better with our passing game,” said Carter. “Chemistry is a big part of it. We have a chance to have a big-play offense.”

Nobody has worked harder in the receiving room than Carter dating back to last spring’s workouts. The sophomore has taken a big step forward in his game.

“J-Mike has been just a war daddy since the summer, he’s going to be a big-time player here,” said Goff. “It was great to see him kind of elevate his game Saturday night and he has become Mr. Reliable and Cliff looks for him.”

“He is a big, strong target and hard to bring down.”

As for getting into the end zone himself, Carter isn’t worried.

“It’s coming, it will happen,” said Carter. “I know it’s going to happen.”

After watching Marks make his amazing grab last week, anything is possible.