LAKE CHARLES – McNeese scored all the points it needed in the first half against Lamar as the Cowboys coasted to a 41-10 win over Lamar in the season finale to cap the year with a winning season for the 12^th-consecutive year.
 
Quarterback James Tabary threw for 235 yards on 18 of 29 passing, six more yards the entire Lamar offense was able to manage against the Cowboys' defense that surrendered just 34 yards rushing.
 
"I thought we played really well in the first half," said head coach Lance Guidry who wrapped up his first season at the helm. "The offense got going and we put the game away. Then we just kind of controlled the game and tried to eat the clock up the rest of the night after that."
 
The Cowboys bid farewell to nine seniors who were playing in the blue and gold for the final time.
 
"We had some rough spots during the season but it was great to send the seniors out with a win."
 
Tabary came up 33 yards shy of setting the school's single-season passing record but did become just the second quarterback in school history to top 3,000 yards in a career.
 
The Cowboys (6-5) wasted little time in getting on the board, scoring the fastest they've had all season in just 1:34 after Ryan Ross rumbled in from 6 yards out to put McNeese up 7-0. That score was set up by a 41-yard kickoff return by Khalil Thomas to open the game.
 
Dylan Long ended his McNeese career by scoring his 26^th career rushing touchdown late in the first quarter, the 29^th overall TD of his career, that gave McNeese a 14-0 lead. A few minutes later, Darious Crawley hauled in a 19-yard pass from Tabary with 13:09 to play in the second quarter to make it 21-0 before Lamar got on the board off a Juan Carrancro 37-yard field goal five minutes later to make it 21-3.
 
McNeese freshman running back Justin Pratt scored on a 3-yard run with 4:23 to put the Cowboys up 28-3. It was Pratt's fifth touchdown in the last four games.
 
Lamar was held to 3-and-outs its first three possessions of the game and punted its first four possessions of the second half.
 
The lone Lamar touchdown came early in the fourth quarter when Martell Hawthorne got away from several Cowboy defenders for a 32-yard catch and run off a pass from Adam Morse.
 
Prior to that, McNeese's Jermaine Antoine put the game away with a 65-yard interception return for a touchdown with 3:11 to play in the third quarter to give the Cowboys a 35-3 lead.
 
Tabary capped off the scoring with a 26-yard scramble for his only rushing TD of the season.
 
McNeese finished with 452 total offensive yards with 158 coming on the ground and 294 through the air. Grant Ashcraft played most of the fourth quarter and completed 3 of 5 passes for 59 yards.
 
Pratt led the Cowboys with 47 yards rushing on nine carries with a touchdown. Tavarious Battiste caught four passes for 47 yards to lead 11 players who had a catch.
 
On defense, Kendal Franklin had a career night with eight tackles, two sacks and four tackles for a loss while Chris Livings added a third sack on the night. Erik Jones also had a pass interception and he corralled a deflected pass late in the third quarter.
 
For the Cardinals, Morse completed 24 of 46 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown with two interceptions.
 
 
WORTH NOTING:
• McNeese ended the season setting a new school record for passing average at 304.2 yards per game, demolishing the record of 242.0 set in 2013.
• Dylan Long scored his 26^th career rushing touchdown in the first quarter. That was also his 29^th career TD, ranking him 6^th on the McNeese career TDs scored list.
• Kent Shelby and Darious Crawley became the first McNeese WR duo to catch at least 40 passes in the same season.
• Justin Pratt scored his 5^th rushing TD of the season. All 5 came in the last four games of the season.
• Jermaine Antoine returned an interception for a touchdown for the second time this season. It was the fourth defensive touchdown this season, third-most in the nation.
• McNeese won its third straight over Lamar and improved to 26-13-1 in the series.
• The Cowboys recognized its 2016 seniors in a pregame ceremony. Those playing in their final game as a Cowboy included: Khalil Thomas, Damon Gladney, Dylan Long, D.J. Gatlin, Zach Hetrick, Jake Grode, Mason Martin, Thor Miller. Also wrapping up his McNeese career is Nesley Ovincy who was injured all season.