Northwestern State rallies to beat Houston Baptist 31-28

Oct 28, 2018, 02:34 am

NATCHITOCHES, La. -- Malik Sonnier's interception opened the door for Northwestern State's late drive to beat Houston Baptist 31-28 on Saturday night.

Houston Baptist led most of the evening and was driving to extend its lead in the final quarter when Sonnier picked off Bailey Zappe, returning it 24 yards to his own 45.

Kaleb Fletcher drove the Demons 55 yards in 10 plays for the score, hitting Jazz Ferguson from the 2. Fletcher then passed to Ferguson again to complete the 2-point conversion for a 31-28 lead.

Fletcher threw for 253 yards and three scores with Jaylen Watson grabbing six passes for 96 yards and two scores for Northwestern State (3-5, 2-4 Southland Conference), which had lost four straight games.

Zappe, who threw for three touchdowns and ran 68 yards for another, had just one interception all night but it was the one that kept the Huskies winless in the Southland Conference. HBU (1-6, 0-5) failed to win a conference game last year. Zappe finished with 251 passing yards and 132 yards rushing.