By James Crawford
The Advocate
The inaugural home game for the Louisiana Bayou Beast turned into an offensive shootout, as the Beast raced past the Madison Mad Dogs 67-33 in the Pete Maravich Assembly Center on Sunday afternoon.
While the teams combined for 100 points, much to the delight of the more than 250 fans in attendance, the scoring didn't begin until late in the first quarter.
Beast quarterback Doug Coleman connected with wideout Michael Lewis on a 45-yard touchdown pass with 21.2 seconds remaining in the first quarter to put Louisiana ahead 7-0.
The win for the Beast was its second straight over the Mad Dogs. Last week, the Beast (2-0) beat the Mad Dogs (0-2) 36-28 in Madison, Wis.
"We started out shaky," said Beast starting quarterback Melvin Hill, who threw for 137 yards and three TDs. "We came back and everyone started playing and it turned out pretty good.
"Last week we wanted to play so bad that we made too many mistakes. We beat ourselves, and that was why the score was so close."
This week proved to be different. Lewis, who last week caught one touchdown pass, finished with four receptions for 148 yards and three TDs Sunday.
Coleman and Hill rotated at quarterback and combined to pass for 228 yards and six touchdowns. Coleman also ran for two scores, while Hill had one TD run.
"We have two good quarterbacks," Beast coach Buford Jordan said. "We're going to rotate them all year long. I have confidence in both of them."
Madison's quarterbacks, however, struggled throughout. The trio of Mark Wilson, Glen Ellis and Mark Martinez combined for 76 yards and one TD on 6-of-20 passing.
"This week we cut down on a lot of mental errors," Jordan said. "We executed a lot better. Last week the errors made the game closer. We cut down on the mental errors, and that was the difference."
Lewis, who did not play college football like the majority of his teammates, made Sunday's game a personal showcase.
In addition to the receiving yardage, the 5-9, 170-pound receiver returned three kickoffs for 48 yards. His three touchdown receptions were from 45, 37 and 40 yards.
"When the ball is in my area, I'm going after it," Lewis said. "I pull my heart out for it. The last couple of passes I caught, I called them. One play was over the top, and I called it, and the guy tried to hold me, but I still hauled it in."
Jordan said the poor attendance was because of the LSU baseball doubleheader at the same time.
"Today we competed with LSU baseball," Jordan said. "If we keep winning, people will start coming to games. The clock doesn't stop, players are hitting the walls and that makes the game more exciting."
Madison 0 15 0 18 33
Louisiana 7 21 20 19 67
First Quarter
LA- :21 Michael Lewis 45 yd pass from Doug Coleman,
Matt Huerkamp PAT 7-0
Second Quarter
LA- 11:52 Lewis 37 yd pass from Coleman, Huerkamp PAT 14-0
Mad- 8:58 Michael Farley 42 yd Field Goal 14-3
Mad- 7:37 Kerry Henderson 1 yd run, 2pt conversion failed 14-9
LA- 4:54 Melvin Hill 1 yd run, Huerkamp PAT 21-9
LA- :43 Byron Allen 9 yd pass from Coleman, Kuerkamp PAT 28-9
Mad- :00 Henderson 24 yd Return, Farley PAT blocked 28-15
Third Quarter
LA- 7:52 Derrick Fobb 42 yd pass from Hill,
Huerkamp PAT blocked 34-15
LA- 3:08 Byron Allen 4 yd run, Huerkamp PAT 41-15
LA- :20 Allen 35 yd pass from Hill, Huerkamp PAT 48-15
Fourth Quarter
Mad-13:49 Mark Wilson 5 yd run, 2pt conv. failed 48-21
LA- 12:32 Lewis 40 yd pass from Hill, PAT failed 54-21
LA- 6:07 Coleman 1 yd run, Huerkamp PAT blocked 60-21
Mad- 3:40 Wilson 1 yd run, 2pt conv failed 60-27
LA- 1:16 Coleman 9 yd run, Huerkamp PAT 67-27
Mad- :15 Nick Johnson 16 yd pass from Wilson, 2pt conv. failed 67-33
Team Stats Louisiana Madison
First Downs 13 9
Rushing 5 6
Passing 8 3
Penalty 0 0
Rushing Attempts 16 26
Yards Rushing 60 73
Passing Yards 228 67
Passes Attempted 20 20
Passes Completed 11 6
Had Intercepted 3 1
Total Offensive Plays 38 48
Total net Yards 285 140
Fumbles: Number-Lost 2-0 5-1
Penalties: Number-Lost 4-32 2-15
Kickoff Returns: No.-Yards 4-63 7-134
Possession Time 27:35 32:25
3rd Down Conversions 1-6 1-12
4th Down Conversions 0-0 0-1
Sacks by: Number-Yards 2-9 3-24
Individual Stats
Rushing-Mad- Henderon 19-46, John Smith 3-20, M. Wilson 3-6, Connery Wilson;
LA-Allen 11-33-1, Coleman 3-21-2, Hill 2-3
Passing-Mad- M. Wilson 3-5-50-1-0, Smith 3-4-26-0-0, Mark Martinez 0-11-0-0;
LA-Hill 6-11-137-3-1, Coleman 5-9-115-3-2
Pass Receiving-Mad- Johnson 4-67, Derek Schaefer 1-9, Mark Wilson 1-0;
LA-Lewis 4-148-3, Fobb 4-41-1, Allen 2-44-2, Joe Valencia 1-19
Field Goals-Mad-Farley 1-8 (made 42 missed 49,50,58,19,32,50,32);
LA-Huerkamp 0-3 (missed 45,48,58)
Extra Points-Mad-Farley 0-1;LA-Huerkamp 4-4
Kickoff Returns-Mad-Johnson 6-108, Frank Martin 1-26;
LA-Lewis 3-48, Fobb 1-15
Interceptions-Mad-Martin 1-33, #43 1-4, Farley 1-1
Attendance 1344
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