LAFAYETTE – Kimani Vidal scored on a 22-yard run with five seconds remaining and Sun Belt West Division leader Troy scored on four of its five possessions in the second half to rally for a 23-17 win over the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns on Saturday at Cajun Field.
Louisiana (4-5, 2-4 SBC) led 17-0 after Ben Wooldridge’s acrobatic 10-yard TD run with 8:36 remaining in the third quarter before Troy (7-2, 5-1 SBC) would get on the scoreboard with a methodical 20-play, 75-yard scoring drive which would take up the rest of the period.
Gabe Watson capped off the drive for the Trojans, who won their sixth straight game, connecting with Michael Vice on a 3-yard scoring pass on fourth-and-goal on the final play of the third period.
Louisiana, which was held to 14 of its 315 yards of total offense in the final period, would then punt on four of its drives as the Trojans would creep back into the game.
After forcing a three-and-out, Troy cut the deficit to 17-14 as Watson found Deyunkrea Lewis alone for a 35-yard scoring pass to cap a six-play, 67-yard drive.
After the teams traded punts on the next three combined possessions, the Trojans would strike after Watson tossed a 25-yard pass to Tez Johnson before connecting with RaJae’ Johnson for a 35-yard pass to the UL 14.
Louisiana’s defense would stiffen as Zi’Yon Hill-Green sacked Watson for a 7-yard loss on second down and Kam Pedescleaux broke up Watson’s in the end zone to Tez Johnson. The Trojans would knot the score at 17-17 as Brooks Buce would hit a 37-yard field goal with 2:41 remaining.
Troy forced a three-and-out on Louisiana’s next possession and took over from its own 32 with 1:22 remaining.
Louisiana was called for a pass interference penalty on third-and-5 at the Troy 37 and Vidal gained 10 yards on third-and-6 to the UL 22. Vidal, who rushed for 112 yards on 21 carries, would give the Trojans the lead when he scampered down the right sideline and scored with a diving attempt which hit the pylon for the eventual game-winner.
Louisiana broke a scoreless contest with 5:39 remaining in the first half when Wooldridge scored untouched on an 11-yard option to cap a 13-play, 80-yard drive. The junior signal-caller connected with Peter LeBlanc on a 16-yard pass from the UL 33 while Terrence Williams and Chris Smith kept the drive alive with three third-down conversions.
Bralen Trahan picked off an errant pass from Watson at the Troy 49 and the Ragin’ Cajuns drove 36 yards in nine plays, capped off by Kenneth Almendares’ 30-yard field goal.
Smith led Louisiana on the ground with 97 yards on a season-high 18 carries. Williams gained 51 yards on the ground for the Ragin’ Cajuns, which recorded 203 yards on the ground against Troy – the most allowed by the Trojans this season and more than double the average (102.8) given up in nine games.
Pedescleaux and Trahan would each post six tackles to lead Louisiana with Andre Jones, KC Ossai and Kris Moncrief each tallying five. Hill-Green recorded four stops for the Ragin’ Cajuns – all for loss in setting a career high which included a pair of sacks.
Louisiana will close out the home portion of its schedule on Thursday (Nov. 10) when it hosts Georgia Southern in a game televised nationally on ESPNU. Kickoff is scheduled for 6:30 p.m.
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