Southern Miss linebacker Michael Boley (27) takes down North Texas running back Jamario Thomas for one of his eight tackles in Tuesday night’s New Orleans Bowl. Assisting on the tackle is Akeem Lockett. Boley also returned an interception for a touchdown in the Golden Eagles’ 31-10 win. (Jon GiffinThe Vicksburg Post)

[12/15/04]NEW ORLEANS Michael Boley and Co. pulled the curtain on the New Orleans premier of the Jamario Thomas Show with no chance for an encore performance.

Southern Miss ended Thomas’ streak of 100-yard games at seven, sacked North Texas quarterback Scott Hall six times and got a 62-yard touchdown on Boley’s interception of an attempted screen pass. The result was a 31-10 victory in the New Orleans Bowl on Tuesday night, Southern Miss’ first postseason triumph in four years.

Thomas, who came into the game as the leading rusher in the nation, gained a mere 2 yards in the second half and was kept out of the end zone for the first time since becoming the Mean Green’s featured back in the second game of the season.

“I have no explanation,” said Thomas, who averaged 189 yards per game coming into the contest and finished with 92. “They were everywhere.”

Boley, the Conerly Trophy winner and second-team All-American, led the Golden Eagles with eight tackles, four tackles for loss, two sacks and an interception return for a touchdown that put a spark back into the Golden Eagles and made a North Texas comeback virtually impossible.

“That play, that was an All-American play,” said Southern Miss (7-6) coach Jeff Bower who completed his 14th season with the Golden Eagles, and 11th straight winning season. “We had to have that play. We had been struggling on offense in the third quarter.”

With 12:52 left in the fourth quarter and Southern Miss leading 17-3, Hall dropped back to pass and Boley fell back into pass coverage when he saw the play action. Hall was hit and tried to throw it over Boley’s head, but the senior from Athens, Ala., leaped high in the air, snagged the pass and raced 62 yards for a touchdown and a 24-3 Golden Eagles lead.

“He’s an outstanding football player, and very athletic as you saw from the interception,” said UNT coach Darrell Dickey, who led his team to a 7-5 season and its fourth straight New Orleans Bowl appearance. “Our players commented before the game that he wasn’t very big, but he sure played that way.”

The Boley-led defense sacked Hall six times, intercepted him twice and forced a fumble which former South Delta star Antoine Cash recovered.

It was a quick-strike offense in the first quarter, though, that set the pace.

Southern Miss quarterback Dustin Almond, who threw for 247 yards and a touchdown, connected with Otho Graves on a 37-yard TD pass four minutes into the game for a 7-0 lead. Five minutes later, Almond scored on a 1-yard quarterback keeper that was set up by a 47-yard completion to freshman receiver Tavarres Williams.

“We wanted to come out and make a statement with our first few drives of the game,” Almond said. “We got into a rut in the third quarter.”

Southern Miss led 17-3 at halftime, but kicker Darren McCaleb missed a pair of third-quarter field goals to keep the lead at 14 points.

“We had some mental errors and penalties in that third quarter,” Bower said. “I was thinking, we’re letting these guys hang around and they know how to win games.’

“We knew they were going to give us their best shot and make a run at us. I thought that interception turned it all around.”

After Boley’s touchdown upped the lead to 21 points, Hall was intercepted by Trevis Coley, the Mean Green punted on their next possession and then Cash recovered a fumble deep in North Texas territory to set up the Golden Eagles’ final score.

Sherron Moore, a senior playing his final game, scored on a 1-yard plunge to give Southern Miss a 31-3 lead.

“Our running game had been struggling a lot this season,” Southern Miss tailback Anthony Harris said. “We were able to get it going tonight.”

Harris ran for a game-high 104 yards and the Eagles gained 156 yards on the ground. In all, Southern Miss gained 403 yards while holding North Texas to 212.

“They brought it today,” Hall said of the Eagles’ defense. “Guys were coming off the edge all night. They took away our play-action game. They executed.”

North Texas scored a touchdown with one second to play when Hall connected on an 11-yard touchdown to Johnny Quinn against several of the Golden Eagle reserves.

“This was a great win,” said Boley, who was voted as the game’s Most Valuable Player. “The defense gave up yards, but we didn’t give up points. All-in-all, it was a great game played by the defense.”