McNeese State University - Log Yearbook (Lake Charles, LA)

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Demon back, John Stevens dove into the endzone from three yards out. That set up a nail-biter of a fourth quarter in which the Cowboy defense came through, allowing the Demons only one first down in shutting down the visitors’ of- fense and preserving the Cow- boys’ first victory. The Cowboys’ next outing found them at home against a lethargic Southeastern Louisi- ana team. Ricky Stewart ran for three touchdowns and had his first-ever 100-yard game in leading the Pokes past the Lions by a 28-7 score. Stewart put the Pokes on the board first with a three-yard sweep into the end zone towards the end of the first quarter. His run capped a 15-play, 80 yard drive that was representative of the Cowboy effort that night. Stewart again showed his stuff a little later in the contest by rambling 64 yards on a draw play for a TD. The play capped a 74-yard drive by the 118 Sports Cowboy Tough Pokes. Southeastern flexed some muscle in the second quarter with a 67-yard, 15-play drive which ended with a Charlie He- bert touchdown. That drive was just about the only thing the Lions could manage as two turnovers in the second half sealed their doom. Jerry Butler, the Lion's star back, fumbled on the first play of the second half with McNeese’s Bill Kingery reco- vering. Seven plays later, Jor- don swept into the end zone to up the score to 21-7 with 11:30 left in the third. Stewart again scored with 5:10 left in the third to cap a six-play, 33-yard drive. The Cowboys traveled to Thibodeaux for their first away game of the season on Sep- tember 15. The Cowboys struggled with threatening weather and a second half surge by Nicholls State in hold- ing off the hosts for a 24-21 win. continued sripenriongmnree rence ih | |

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Ending the season with a 7-3-1 record proved the Pokes were Cowboy Tough McNeese entered its sec- ond year of the McCann era with an impressive start, win- ning the first four games and occupying the AP 1-AA top ten for several weeks. The fast start fo r the Cow- boys wasn’t the only interest- ing development in the 1984 season. The United States Su- preme Court played a big part. When the NCAA television package was torn apart by the high court, NCAA 1-AA institu- tions, like McNeese, lost guar- antees of not only network television exposure, but guar- antees of the revenue generat- ed by the NCAA-network deals. For McNeese, the loss came to about $100,000 annu- Cowboy wide receiver Flip Johnson of Cheek, Texas (No. 13) skirts the sidelines as he drives for the Cardi- nal goal line during the McNeese-La- mar University game. The Cowboys bested the birds 34-14. (Photo by G. Little) ally. According to athletic di- rector Ernie Duplchin the mon- ey would have to be made up through the reduction of schol- arships and cutting back of other expenses. McNeese did, however, get two doses of TV exposure through a regional network out of Austin, Texas that produced a SLC “Game of the Week’’ package. The Cowboys opened the season September 1 at home with a 17-14 victory against the Northwestern Demons on a hot, humid evening before a crowd of about 18,500. The Cowboys had trouble moving against a stingy De- mon defense in the early going as the visitors held McNeese to only one first down in the first quarter. It took a Flip John- son punt return to the Demon 25 to spark the Cowboys to their first touchdown of the season, a four yard keeper by Don Richards. Richards’ run capped a five play drive, which was highlighted by Si- mon Jordon’'s 17-yard jaunt. Bob Savoie picked off a De- mon pass with about a minute left in the half and returned it for an apparent touchdown, but a clipping call moved the ball back to the MSU 45. From there, a 20-yard pass comple- tion to Keith Ortego and a 20- yard run by Jordon set up a 31- yard Tony Whittington field goal with :03 left on the clock. Richards again found pay- dirt in the third quarter in a drive that was aided by a 33- yard Richards-to-Ortego con- nection. Whittington'’s PAT gave the Cowboys a 10-point lead midway through the third quarter. Northwestern cut that lead to three late in the third when continued Football 117

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The Cowboys prep in the locker room before facing their long-time rival, the Lamar Cardinals. (Photo by D. Gibson) Each August, returning Cowboys Cowboy wide receiver Keith Ortego prepare for the season ahead with (No. 28) and Southeastern’s Robert rigorous training and practice. The Jackson(No. 16) scramble for a pass Cowboys start the ‘Cowboy Mile’ — thrown by Cowboy quarterback Don which signifies the beginning of the — Richards. (Photo by G. Little) practice sessions. (Photo by G. Lit- tle) Football 119