LAKE CHARLES – Special teams were definitely special for the McNeese Cowboys in Saturday night's home opening 21-7 win over Southern in front of 17,040 in Cowboy Stadium.
 
McNeese scored 14 points in a 1:36 span midway through the fourth quarter then added a third touchdown late to put the game away.
 
Trailing 7-0 and with Southern threatening to go up 10-0, a 31-yard field goal attempt by Joshua Griffin was blocked by McNeese's Stephen Johnson, scooped up by Levi Wyatt and returned 58 yards to the Southern 6.
 
Two plays later, quarterback Clifton McDowell, who split time behind center with Kamden Sixkiller, ran it in from six yards out to tie the game 7-7 with 11:00 on the clock.
 
On the ensuing possession, Southern lined up to punt the ball away from its own 43 but a bad snap over punter Kenny Pham's head led to Pham chasing down the ball and kicking it out the back of the endzone. An illegal kicking penalty was called along with a loss of down and the Cowboys took over at the 2.
 
McDowell once again reached pay dirt with a 1-yard dive to put McNeese on top 14-7 at the 9:24 mark.
 
McNeese's defense, which played superb all night, forced the sixth of seven Southern punts on the next possession. McDowell followed by churning the offense to another score with a 36-yard run while D'Angelo Durham had a 27-yard gain that set up a 2-yard score of his own to make it a 21-7 game with 5:04 to play.
 
The win evened McNeese's record to 1-1 on the season as they'll step up in competition next week when it visits Texas A&M for an 11:45 a.m. kickoff on the SEC Network.
 
Postgame Notes:
• The Cowboys out-gained Southern 272-198 in total offense.
• The Jaguars managed just 66 rushing yards on the night marking the first time since Nov. 13, 2021 to hold an opponent under 100 yards rushing (7 by HCU).
• It's also the first time since that same game holding a team under 200 yard of total offense (182 by HCU).
• The 7 points allowed are the fewest since HCU scored only 3 back on Nov. 13, 2021.
• The Cowboys have allowed just 7 points over the last 6 quarters of play.
• All-American linebacker Micah Davey recorded 17 tackles in the game and extended his double-digit tackle streak to 14 straight games.
• Davey increased his career tackles total to 252 and moving him into 20^th on the school's all-time tackles list.
• Safety Boogsie Silvera intercepted his first career pass on the night when he picked off a second quarter Southern pass in the endzone and keeping the Jaguars from adding to a 7-0 lead.
• Left guard Cole Leclair made his 23^rd straight start at McNeese and 37^th consecutive start in is college career.
• Transfer receiver Jessie Campbell caught two passes on the night, his first receptions as a Cowboy.
• Finn Lappin had another stellar night punting the ball with a 49.8 average on five kicks including two downed inside the 20 and a 68-yard bomb.
• Freshman speedster Jamaal Levi returned his first kick of the season and dashed out for a 39-yard return.
• McNeese improves to 4-0 all-time vs. Southern and 16-2 against the SWAC… McNeese will host Alcorn State, also of the SWAC, on Sept. 21.
• The Cowboys improve to 45-15 in home openers.