Box Score NACOGDOCHES – Daniel Sams' 76-yard touchdown run with 6:05 to play in the fourth quarter capped off a brilliant final three quarters by the 21^st-ranked McNeese Cowboys in a 28-14 Southland Conference win to improve to 2-0 on the year.
 
That was one of two plays of the game that helped put the Cowboys on top. The other was when Bo Brown collided in mid-air with SFA quarterback Zach Conque on a goalline leap, dislodging the ball, and Wallace Scott scooping it up at the 3-yard line and sprinting 97 yards for the touchdown.
 
And thanks to replay, what appeared to be a SFA touchdown by Fred Ford two plays before, was instead ruled down at the 1. The Cowboys made it count two plays later.
 
The hit by Brown on Conque was with so much force, it ripped Brown's helmet off his head. And with his quick thinking knowing that he's no longer allowed to participate in the play, Brown ran off the field with his hands raised in the air as Scott made his way towards the endzone.
 
"This is a big win," said head coach Matt Viator. "To get a win on the road, I don't care if it's 2-0, it's big."
 
Sams finished the game with 164 yards rushing on 17 carries and a touchdown run while adding another 134 yards through the air on 14 of 28 passing for a touchdown. His 100-yard rushing game ties him with Kerry Joseph with four in his career – the most by a quarterback in school history.
 
McNeese ended with 400 total offensive yards with 360 of those coming after the first quarter.
 
SFA (0-3, 0-1) meanwhile posted 235 of its 406 total yards in the first quarter alone as it rolled up a 14-7 early lead.
 
The Cowboys ended the night was 261 yards rushing while holding SFA to 159 – just 26 after the first quarter.
 
Regular Lumberjack starting QB Conque did not start the game due to a knee injury but came into the game in the fourth quarter to try to spark the Lumberjacks' attack when trailing 21-14.
 
After the Cowboys forced SFA to punt for the fifth time in as many possessions in the second half, Sams took a 3^rd-and-6 snap around the end and burst up the sideline for a 76-yard jaunt to give McNeese a 28-14 lead with 6:05 to play. It was the second longest rushing touchdown by a quarterback in school history (Joseph 83 yards vs. Idaho in 1994).
 
SFA was never able to get its offense clicking after the first quarter.
 
Things didn't start out like the Cowboys would've liked as they didn't pick up their first 1^st-down of the game until under a minute to play in the first quarter and managed to put just 40 yards of offense in the books while SFA dominated the quarter with 235 total offensive yards and a 7-to-1 margin in first downs.
 
After Scott's 97 yard fumble return to start the scoring, SFA responded quickly with a 51-yard scamper by Fred Ford that helped set up a 14-yard pass from Hunter Taylor to Aaron Thomas to tie the game with 8:43 to play in the quarter.
 
The Lumberjacks forced the Cowboys into their third straight 3-and-out and capitalized with a 55-yard scoring pass from Taylor to Braxton Bearden to put the 'Jacks up 14-7 with 1:35 to play in the quarter.
 
McNeese tied things up early in the second quarter when Sams found David Bush in the corner of the endzone from 22 yards out, a play that capped a 13-play, 75-yard drive that took 6:13 off the clock. The key play that set up the score was a 4^th-and-6 conversion when Sams found Kent Shelby for 12 yards. Four plays later, Sams found David Bush in the back corner of the endzone for a 22-yard score to tie the game at 14-14 with 10:17 to play in the second quarter.
 
A three-and-out forced by the Cowboys' defense set up McNeese's next score but it came in the form of backup QB Grant Ashcraft who replaced Sams after he left the game for unknown reasons.
 
Facing a 3^rd-and-goal at the 5-yard line, Ashcraft hit Shelby from five yards out to give the Cowboys the lead for good at 21-14 with 5:11 to play in the half.
 
That score was set up by another fourth-and-long conversion five plays earlier when Sams found Dillon Bauer for 10 yards on a 4^th-and-9 route that got the ball to the SFA 22 yard line.
 
"I think when we got the offense going in the second quarter, that gave our defense time to settle a bit and played really good the rest of the game," said Viator.
 
Shelby led McNeese with 7 catches for 81 yards and a score – career highs in both receptions and receiving yards.
 
Scott led the Cowboys with seven tackles and Ashari Goins had two sacks, both coming in the final two plays of the game.
 
McNeese will take a break from conference action next week when it hosts Mississippi College at 6.
 
WORTH NOTING: McNeese held SFA scoreless after the first quarter. So far this season, the Cowboys have held opponents scoreless in 6 of 8 quarters played on the year… Wallace Scott's 97-yard fumble return for a TD is the second longest in school history (Marcus LeBlanc 100 yard return vs. Youngstown State in 1995)… McNeese is 2-0 to start conference play for the fourth time under head coach Matt Viator… McNeese improves to 19-14-2 over SFA in the all-time series.