BEAUMONT — Lamar’s defense assured coach Mike Schultz the unit would block Incarnate Word’s attempt at a go-ahead field goal.

That was after Cody Seidel pushed a kick to the right from 40 yards out … just after Schultz has called his second timeout to ice him.

“Everybody was going like, ‘Nah, Coach, that’s a good call,’” junior cornerback Garrison Mitchell said. “It’s going to work for us.”

The defense kept its word. Lane Taylor’s block led to Caleb Abrom’s 66-yard return as time expired to give the home Cardinals a 27-21 win over the visiting Cardinals.

With that miracle, Lamar (2-4, 1-3 Southland) ended a four-game Southland losing streak.

The Southland Conference rewarded Abrom, a junior cornerback from DeSoto, with the honor of special teams player of the week. The play also earned national recognition as the highlight led off ESPN’s College Football Final show and was ranked No. 4 on the network’s SportsCenter Top 10 plays.

Football’s big win opened up @ESPNCFB Final this morning!! We need all of Cardinal Nation in the stands this Saturday when @LamarFootball takes on Sam Houston St. at 3pm!! #WeAreLU #TriangleTough pic.twitter.com/5g3sdJ0mgZ

— Lamar Cardinals (@LamarAthletics) October 14, 2018

Abrom said shortly after the game he never made a game-winning play like that before.

“That was my first time, and it feels really good,” Abrom said. He overcame a hamstring pull to play Saturday.

Schultz said Monday he correctly predicted during a pregame meal that Lamar would need a special-teams score to have a chance to beat UIW (3-3, 3-1). Quarterback Darrel Colbert Jr., who threw for 254 yards and two touchdowns, confirmed the prediction after Saturday’s win.

Garrison, a Beaumont Central graduate and Alabama-Birmingham transfer who had two interceptions Saturday, said his teammates were trying to hold each other back on the sideline and avoid a penalty for either excessive celebration or too many men on the field that would have negated the score.

“That was probably the hardest part was keeping everybody back,” Garrison said. “And then, from there, it was just celebration.”

Turns out, Lamar did not escape without penalty. Abrom was flagged 15 yards for diving into the end zone uncontested, but the penalty was never enforced because the clock expired.

 

HIGH ON THE PICK CHART

Lamar intercepted Incarnate Word true freshman Jon Copeland four times, as senior cornerback Rodney Randle and senior free safety Taylor each picked off a pass as well. Copeland, however, threw 39 of 56 passes for 515 yards and two touchdowns, leading UIW down the final drive to set up the potential game-winning kick with 12 seconds to go.

The Cardinals rank fourth nationally in total interceptions with 12, just one behind tri-leaders Northern Arizona, Southern and Georgetown. (Lamar has played one fewer game than the latter two.) Eastern Kentucky is fifth with 11, while the second highest-ranking team from the Southland in that category is Northwestern State with 10.

 

BREAKING THROUGH

Lamar’s players were happy to reward Schultz with his first marquee victory in two seasons in Beaumont. UIW was just a half-game behind McNeese State going into Saturday and still has two more victories than it did last season under Larry Kennan, but the now-denied victory likely would have pushed the San Antonio-based Cardinals into the top-25 polls in the Football Championship Subdivision, a big accomplishment for a program that was launched in 2009.

“Just to be able to pull out this win was great for the team and the coaching staff,” Colbert said. “We’re very happy we were able to give this to coach Schultz.”

Said Garrison: “We knew all the hard work we put in. It’s just good to see that it’s fruitful and all when we’re getting the results that we want.”

 

FIRST LOOK AT SHSU

After a 1-2 start to the season, 14th-ranked Sam Houston State (4-2, 3-1) is still in the hunt for at least a share of the Southland championship.

The Bearkats were favored to reclaim the title this season after Central Arkansas went unbeaten, but suffered a setback in its conference opener losing 27-7 to Nicholls State. SHSU needed overtime to beat Central Arkansas, dominated Stephen F. Austin and is coming off a 42-28 win at Northwestern State.

“I still think the road to this conference championship leads through Sam Houston, along with a couple other places,” said Schultz, a 1979 SHSU graduate. McNeese State (5-1, 4-0) leads the conference.

Running back Kyran Jackson became the first player in the Southland since McNeese’s Toddrick Pendland in 2009 to rush and catch for 100-plus yards each in a game. Against Northwestern State, he rushed 23 times for 152 yards and a touchdown and caught four passes for 116 yards. The achievement earned the Fort Worth sophomore Southland offensive player of the week accolades.

Schultz isn’t terribly concerned Lamar will experience a hangover from beating UIW in trying to take down a program that’s played in five NCAA semifinals since 2011 and played in back-to-back national championship games (2011, 2012).

“It was fun,” Schultz succinctly said Monday about beating UIW before letting out a short laugh. “It was a good win and exciting win. … Just like I told the kids, we’re cutting it, we’re putting it behind us and we’re moving on. We have an extremely good opponent, no doubt about it.”

 

STATS FCS TOP 25

McNeese moved up three spots to No. 6 following a bye week. SHSU moved up one spot to No. 14, followed by No. 15 Central Arkansas (up three spots after beating Stephen F. Austin 27-17) and No. 20 Nicholls (lost 28-12 at Abilene Christian).

 

INJURY REPORT

Lamar sophomore Mason Sikes started at tight end Saturday with converted quarterback Case Robinson out due to a hand injury, but Sikes — who had been battling a shoulder injury — is now listed as questionable with an ankle injury.

Sophomore running back Myles Wanza, who rushed 14 times for 79 yards, is still dealing with a shoulder injury from the Week 2 Texas Tech game that sidelined him until Saturday, and he is listed “day-to-day” for SHSU. Randle reinjured an ankle trying to cover a receiver on a slant route, Schultz said Monday, and is questionable as well. Sophomore defensive back Andre Mulinax is under concussion protocol.

 

HOME GAME PROMOTIONS

Lamar on Monday afternoon announced promotions for its final two home games — Saturday vs. Sam Houston State and Nov. 10 vs. Houston Baptist.

Children ages 5-under can get into a game for free, with those ages 6-12 able to enter for $5. Concession stands will offer $1 hot dogs for all fans.

Education First will hand out pom-poms and megaphones to fans while supplies last.

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I.C. Murrell: 721-2435. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews