BEAUMONT — Ray Woodard finally gave up Saturday night in Provost Umphrey Stadium around 9:30 p.m. The Lamar football coach was not embarrassed or disappointed about giving up either.

Woodard had permitted Langston’s Lions two and a half hours to try and catch his sophomore receiver-kick returner Kevin Johnson.

By that point, Johnson had gathered in a career-best three touchdown receptions and set up a fourth touchdown with a 72-yard kickoff return. So Woodard found it safe to conclude that if Langston had not caught up to Kevin by then, .... well, forget it.

Lamar 31, Langston 0 primarily was the Kevin Johnson show on offense and the salt-and-pepper end display of Jesse Dickson (pepper) and Mark Murrill (salt) in recording four sacks, numerous negative plays for Langston’s offense and most importantly another 31-0 homefield shutout.

Woodard missed out on the terrific pre-game tailgate atmosphere which adorned the stadium area all afternoon prior to the 7 o’clock kickoff. Lamar fans absolutely enjoyed their tailgating in the 3, 4, 5, and 6 o’clock hours but only 12,383 fans clicked the turnstiles, apparently assuming a Cardinals victory would be in the bag.

“I think a lot of people may have stayed home and taken this one for granted,” Woodard said after his LU men evened their season mark at 2-2. “We really need those fans out here next week. We open our conference schedule and we need them to pack the house.”

Provost Umphrey tailgating will have to begin much earlier this Saturday when LU will face Southeastern Louisiana in a regionally televised Southland Conference opener at 3 p.m.

Lamar and Langston begin right at 7 and Langston was chasing after the 4.4 Johnson before the clock hit 7:01. The Houston-area receiver treated several family and friends to a memorable opening kick return. Taking the ball at LU’s 5, Johnson angled toward Langston’s side and scooted 72 yards to the Lions’ 23.

That simplified Lamar’s pursuit of its first touchdown, just 36 seconds into the game. Kevin added 34, 14 and 33-yard touchdown receptions. Those catches improved KJ’s season total to five – all at Provost Umphrey Stadium.

A Top 100 Texas prep recruit from Cypress Ridge High School in Houston, Johnson redshirted at Oklahoma State in 2010 and received limited playing minutes last fall. He caught three balls in OSU’s 2012 spring game but he thought his playing time would be limited again this season. So bye-bye OSU, and hello LU... as in Lamar University, not Langston University.

“(OSU head coach Mike) Gundy was a great guy,” Johnson reflected on his time at Stillwater. “But I wanted the opportunity to play and I didn’t want to have to go to another Division I school (and have to sit out another year).

“I really wanted to help to make Lamar a winner.”

Johnson grabbed four balls for 84 yards on a night when LU’s defense solved the rest of the proceedings with relative ease, especially after Langston botched a handoff near LU’s goal line early in the second quarter. The Redbirds already led 14-0 by then and defensive coordinator Bill Bradley’s tacklers dominated the night after that fumble recovery.

The Cardinals were within a yard of surrendering their season’s first home field points when Langston tailback William Taylor gained three yards on first-and-goal from the 4. Then the Lions started to backpedal. Blake Chavis and Jestin White hauled down Taylor for a one-yard loss on second down. Woodard called a time-out to give his tacklers a breather before third and goal at the 2.

“I just thought it was a good time to call time-out,” Woodard recalled later.

When Langston’s quarterback and tailback missed connections on the next handoff, Lamar safety Chad Allen pounced on the free ball at Lamar’s 6. The visitors never tailgated into Lamar territory the rest of the night.

Salt and pepper – Murrill and Dickson – combined for 10 tackles. Backup corner Tyrus McGlothen was superb at containing Langston’s sideways pass. Bradley should like the fact that Lamar’s defenders caused Langston to have eight plays with negative yardage during the first half.

Even though their number of plays were virtually identical (Lamar 57 snaps and Langston 58), the Redbirds doubled the Lions’ total yards, 327-263.