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Gold edges Blue in McNeese spring football game

McNeese’s annual Blue-Gold spring scrimmage Saturday was headlined by former coaches Bobby Keasler and Tommy Tate as the two took the reigns as honorary coaches for the game – Keasler the Gold team and Tate, the Blue.
And just like Keasler’s teams from the 1990s with their numerous late-game heroics that had folks calling his squads the “Cardia Cowboys,” that persona made a return in Cowboy Stadium Saturday as Keasler’s Gold team rallied from a 13-0 second-half deficit to pull off a 14-13 win against the Blue squad.
Gold running back Justin Pratt was named the game’s MVP after he led all rushers with 89 yards on seven carries, including a 61-yard sprint up the middle after breaking multiple tackles, to give the Gold the game-winning score.
The defense on both sides dominated for most of the game, tallying 14 sacks between the two teams.
The offenses came to life in the second half, especially with under 10 minutes to play in the second half of the two 20-minute frames.
Quarterback Joe Lissard led the Blue team as he completed 9 of 17 passes for 102 yards and a touchdown. He also threw an interception late in the game while trying to move his team into field goal range for a game-winning try.
The Blue quarterbacks combined to complete 15 of 29 passes for 181 yards and a score.
Parker Orgeron led all receivers with five catches for 88 yards. He had a 64-yard catch and run from Lissard early in the second half that set up a 2-yard touchdown catch by Darious Crawley to give the Blue a 13-0 lead with 14:45 remaining.
On the Gold’s ensuing possession, quarterback Cody Orgeron marched the Cowboys 70 yards down the field, capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass to Nick Edwards, to put the Gold on the board and cut the margin to 13-7 with 10:30 remaining.
The big play that helped set up the score was a 46-yard pass by Orgeron to Tavarious Battiste, who made a one-handed catch.
The Gold defense forced Blue into a three-and-out, and three plays later, Pratt burst through multiple would be tacklers and outran the rest of the defense for a 61-yard score to give Gold a 14-13 lead.
Gold starting quarterback James Tabary completed 5 of 13 passes for 26 yards and threw an early interception after his pass in the flats was tipped by Micah Udeh and picked off by Marcus Foster. Orgeron finished 5 of 9 passing for 71 yards and a score for the Gold, while Tyler Gaspard completed 2 of 5 passes for 17 yards.
In addition to Lissard’s passing for the Blue, Matt Keller hit 5 of 11 targets for 51 yards, while Parker Orgeron completed his only pass for 28 yards, that coming off a lateral pass completion to Crawley for a 28 yard gain.
Patterson High alum Deondre Skinner had one reception for 0 yards for the Blue team.
Foster led the Blue team with seven tackles, while Chris Livings topped the Gold squad with four of the team’s nine sacks.
The Cowboys did suffer a huge blow when running back Ryan Ross injured his ankle on a play in the first half. Ross was carted off the field and did not return.

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