{"id":347690,"date":"2025-11-01T09:49:23","date_gmt":"2025-11-01T09:49:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/347690\/"},"modified":"2025-11-01T09:49:23","modified_gmt":"2025-11-01T09:49:23","slug":"la-tech-routs-sam-houston-on-halloween-night","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/347690\/","title":{"rendered":"LA Tech Routs Sam Houston on Halloween Night"},"content":{"rendered":"\n


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\"Delaware\"\/<\/p>\n

Next Game:<\/p>\n

at Delaware<\/p>\n

11\/8\/2025 | 2:00 p.m.<\/p>\n


\n Nov. 08 (Sat) \/ 2:00 p.m. \n <\/p>\n

\"Delaware\"\/<\/p>\n


\n at\u00a0Delaware \n <\/p>\n

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RUSTON \u2013<\/strong> Louisiana Tech delivered a frightfully dominant performance on Halloween night Friday, steamrolling Sam Houston 55-14 behind a relentless rushing attack at Origin Bank Field at Joe Aillet Stadium.
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\nLA Tech (5-3, 3-2 CUSA) totaled 646 yards of offense, piled up 425 rushing yards and six touchdowns on the ground while averaging nearly 11 yards per carry, scoring multiple touchdowns in every quarter.
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\nThe Bulldogs wasted no time setting the tone. \u00a0On the opening drive, Blake Baker<\/a> connected with Devin Gandy<\/a> for a 36-yard touchdown to give LA Tech an early 7-0 lead. \u00a0Moments later, Clay Thevenin<\/a> found the end zone from six yards out, capping a 58-yard drive to make it 14-0 after one quarter.
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\nThevenin struck again early in the second with a 50-yard burst, and Baker added a 1-yard keeper later in the frame to push the halftime margin to 27-0.
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\nSam Houston (0-8, 0-5 CUSA) briefly found life after the break with a 28-yard touchdown run by Elijah Green, but LA Tech answered immediately. \u00a0Omiri Wiggins<\/a> punched in a 16-yard score, and Thevenin followed with his third touchdown of the night \u2013 a 25-yard sprint that made it 41-7 late in the third quarter.
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\nThe Bulldogs’ defense then joined the fun, as Jacob Fields<\/a> jumped a route and returned an interception 85 yards for a touchdown early in the fourth. \u00a0On the next possession, Andrew Burnette<\/a> provided the exclamation point, racing 66 yards to the house to seal the 55-14 victory.
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\nBaker finished 17-of-21 for 221 yards and one passing score, while Thevenin (143 yards), Wiggins (136), and Burnette (72) led a ground game that turned the Joe into a Halloween horror show for the Bearkats.
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\nQUOTABLES<\/strong>
\nDB Jacob Fields<\/a><\/strong>
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\nJacob on his pick six:<\/strong>
\n“First\u2014I just want to shout out Coach Olson, because I give him such a hard time every day. And the one thing he doesn’t stop doing is coming to work and just pouring into me. The next person I want to give credit to is Kenyatta McNeese<\/a>. He stays in my corner, whether his reps go the way they want it to go or if he gets zero snaps or 40 snaps. That’s one dude I can always go to and he’ll always pick me up. Before the pick, I messed up on a couple of plays and both of those dudes came and talked to me and lifted me up. I knew I was going to have to make a play after that. Then, I performed my job and executed and after that I just took off.”
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\nJacob on Coach Olson’s ‘take-it’ mentality:<\/strong>
\n“I feel like that’s perfect for the guys we have on this defense. I’ve talked about it\u2014the confidence we have and the want-to spreads throughout the whole locker room\u2014whether its offense, defense or special teams. With us being able to have a coach with the same approach, it just makes it easier and elevates us.”
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\nJacob on facing a winless team and not overlooking their opponent:<\/strong>
\n“We talked about it all week\u2014nameless, faceless opponents, it doesn’t matter who it is. We’re just going to go on that field and do our job, execute, and do what we’re supposed to do no matter who we’re going against.”
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\nRB Clay Thevenin<\/a> <\/strong>
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\nClay on his personal and the team’s rushing performance tonight:<\/strong>
\n“Give credit to the offensive line, of course. It’s just a testament of the hard work we’ve been putting in. We came up short the last two games and we wanted to make a statement on the ground, for sure, and we came out tonight and did that.”
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\nClay on what the offense was able to show tonight after the last two games:<\/strong>
\n“Whatever we wanted to do, I felt like we were able to do it. In the game of football, to win games I feel like you have to run the ball. So, we went out there and showed that we’re fully capable of doing that.”
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\nClay on a big win like this instilling confidence back in the team:<\/strong>
\n“I feel like we always have that confidence. Those last two games\u2014they don’t define us. We come in and put in the work, day in and day out, and still have a close brotherhood. I feel like those losses don’t do anything but just make us better.”
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\nHead Coach Sonny Cumbie<\/a><\/strong>
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\nOpening Statement:<\/strong>
\n“I’m excited about how our football team played tonight. I think that the guys have continued to progressively get better each week that we’ve been out. I think tonight was really an accumulation of that. I thought we played our best first quarter all season, and possibly the best first half we’ve played this season. I think there were a lot of parties involved when it comes to that in terms of the offense\u2014when you rush the ball like we were able to do it tonight, especially with a really good plan\u2014our players made that happen tonight. Our offensive line, tight ends, obviously our backs ran extremely well. Receivers blocked well down field. I was just proud of how we were able to move the football, and the turnover was the only time tonight that we stopped ourselves. Defensively, we had great red zone stops in the first half. We had the pick six with Jacob Fields<\/a> to score again on the defensive side. I think the second half there were some missed fits and missed tackles that allowed Sam Houston to have some explosive runs, which we’ve got to get corrected. I think on special teams, we played one of our more complete games there to affect the game in a positive way. Whether it was Dedrick Latulas<\/a> getting a fair catch and not letting the ball roll or getting a return, so I was proud of our guys there. John Hoyet Chance<\/a> came up big with a kickoff from the 20 and knocking it through the end zone. I’m just really excited about our football team. I thought the student section and the crowd in the first half was unbelievable. There was a lot of energy and enthusiasm that our kids fed off of, and so I’m really appreciative of the turnout from that standpoint. I hope the Alumni, fans and former players here saw a team that they were proud of in terms of how hard they played and how well they executed, and obviously also getting the win.”
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\nNOTABLES<\/strong><\/p>\n