Northwestern St. 34, Nicholls 0

Published Sep. 24, 2011 11:06 p.m. ET

foxsports

With a stout defensive performance and the passing of Brad Henderson, Northwestern State reached a football milestone Saturday: the school's 500th victory. A 34-0 shutout at Nicholls State was the Southland Conference opener for both schools, and no contest at all.

Henderson threw three first-quarter touchdown passes of 9, 2 and 48 yards. He completed 13 of 19 attempts for 187 yards and rushed for 44 more. But this game was also about defense and history. After bad losses to LSU and SMU, the Demons took it out on Nicholls State.

This was the first shutout in 53 games for the Demons (2-2), who preserved the shutout with a goal line stand late in the first half at their 3-yard line. Linebacker Derek Rose made that fourth-down tackle as Northwestern State held the Colonels (1-3) to just 104 total yards.

In 102 seasons of football, Northwestern State is now 500-418-22.