ULL football is headed to conference championship game

CHAMPIONS!!
Louisiana football (7-5, 5-3 SBC) won the Sun Belt Conference Western Division Championship Saturday afternoon with a 31-28 win against the ULM Warhawks (6-6, 4-4 SBC) at Malone Stadium, and the Ragin’ Cajuns will be heading to the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Championship Game.
Louisiana’s defense came up big in the second half, causing two turnovers on back-to-back red zone visits by ULM to help secure the win. And sophomore running back Trey Ragas powered the Ragin’ Cajuns to victory, eclipsing 1,000 rushing yards on the season. He finished with a team-high 115 rushing yards on 23 carries.
Senior quarterback Andre Nunez tossed three touchdowns and finished 11-for-15, while senior wide receiver Ryheem Malone led Louisiana in the air with 91 yards on six receptions, catching one touchdown.
Louisiana will play Appalachian State Dec. 1 at 11 a.m. in Boone, North Carolina. The game will be broadcast on ESPN.
Louisiana opened the game, after taking the opening kick, by quickly driving down the field for a touchdown. The drive, which went 75 yards in four plays, was capped by senior Ryheem Malone’s 40-yard touchdown reception from Nunez.
After holding ULM to a 6-play drive that only went 12 yards, Louisiana got the ball back and once again marched down the field, going 90 yards in 11 plays in just under six minutes, finished off by senior wide receiver Ja’Marcus Bradley’s 10th touchdown reception this season, to quickly take a 14-0 lead with 4:41 left in the first quarter.
ULM then began a scoring drive that began near the end of the first quarter and concluded early in the second quarter.
With only 35 seconds gone in the second quarter, ULM scored when Austin Vaughn caught a 13-yard pass from Caleb Evans to cut Louisiana’s lead to 14-7.
Keeping with the game’s tone, Louisiana answered right back as Nunez continued his torrid start to the game, taking the Ragin’ Cajuns down the field for a score.
Louisiana’s seven-play, 65-yard drive was capped with a six-yard pass to Ragas to extend Louisiana’s lead to 21-7.
ULM answered the third scoring drive by Louisiana on its next drive as the back-and-forth first half continued. The Warhawks went 54 yards in five plays to pull back within seven points of Louisiana.
On the next drive and for the first time in the game, Louisiana failed to score a touchdown when its drive stalled at the ULM 22-yard line, but senior kicker Kyle Pfau nailed the 37-yard field goal to keep Louisiana on its scoring fix as the Ragin’ Cajuns went back up by 10 points at 24-14 with 4:22 remaining in the half.
ULM then got a big play and a momentum turner in the first half when on Louisiana’s next drive, Malone slipped and Nunez threw his first misfire after starting the game 9-for-9. The pass went to ULM’s Corey Straughter, who returned the interception 66 yards for a touchdown, ending the first half with Louisiana ahead 24-21.
While neither team scored in the third quarter, Louisiana’s next scoring drive began in the third quarter and concluded in the fourth.
With Lewis at quarterback, he orchestrated a 79-yard 10-play scoring drive capped by a 40-yard toss by Lewis on a screen play to Mitchell for a 31-21 Louisiana lead with 11:49 remaining.
But the Warhawks would not go quietly, and with a 76-yard, five-play drive that lasted only 1 minute and 37 seconds, ULM got within three points of Louisiana when Evans hit Marcus Green on a 30-yard to pass to make it 31-28 with 4:47 remaining.
ULM had one final drive in the game in which the squad moved the ball inside the Louisiana 20-yard line with less than 30 seconds remaining.
However, shortly after, Craig Ford’s 36-yard field goal attempt was wide right, securing Louisiana’s victory.
In the win, Central Catholic alum and Louisiana sophomore linebacker Tanner Wiggins had two solo tackles.
Fellow Central Catholic alum and Louisiana redshirt freshman defensive back Ja’len Johnson received playing time but did not record any statistics.