Bears fall to Cowboys in Southland battle
LAKE CHARLES, La. — Gunnar Raborn booted his third field goal of the evening in the final quarter to give McNeese State a 2321 victory over Central Arkansas on Saturday night to claim the top spot in the Southland Conference standings.
Raborn, who had connected from 34 and 33 yards earlier, booted a 24-yard field goal with 7:27 remaining to reclaim the lead. The Bears answered with a six-play,
50-yard drive to set up Matt Cummins, but he missed the 43-yard attempt with 5:11 left.
McNeese (6-2, 5-1) and Central Arkansas (5-3, 4-2) entered the contest tied for the conference lead.
The Cowboys led most of the game until Carlos Blackman broke for a 39-yard touchdown run late in the third quarter to give the Bears their only lead of the evening, 21-20.
Central Arkansas tied the game at 7-7 when Luke Hales hit Jakari Dillard on a 75-yard scoring strike early in the first quarter.
David Hamm and Cody Orgeron had touchdown runs for McNeese.
Hales led the Bears, throwing for 290 yards and two touchdowns, but he was intercepted twice. Central Arkansas was 0-for-10 on thirddown conversions.
The win was the first in the series for the Cowboys since 2015 and pulled them within 6-4 in the annual Red Beans and Rice Bowl trophy game that began in 2008.
Central Arkansas will return to Conway on Saturday at 6 p.m. when the Bears host Lamar (4-4,
3-3).
Louisiana-Lafayette 47, Arkansas State 43
LAFAYETTE, La. — Trey Ragas ran for the winning score and Louisiana-Lafayette beat Arkansas State, 47-43, on Saturday night.
The Ragin’ Cajuns (4-4, 3-1 Sun Belt Conference) trailed, 43-40, when Ragas capped an 11-play, 55yard drive with a four-yard run to give them a 47-43 edge with 1:18 to play. The defense shut down the Red Wolves (4-4, 1-3) after that to preserve the win.
Andre Nunez threw for 295 yards and two touchdowns. Raymond Calais ran for 121 yards and a score.
Nunez threw a 64-yard touchdown to Elijah Mitchell, capping the game’s first drive. Mitchell followed with a 65-yard scoring run and later, Calais exploded from the backfield and ran untouched 72 yards for a 21-14 edge. But Arkansas State kept pace, scoring three times in the half and Louisiana held on for a 31-21 lead at halftime.
The back-and-forth continued in the second half and Arkansas State scored twice in the fourth to take a 43-40 lead with 5:48 to play.
Justice Hansen threw for 270 yards and a touchdown and ran for another score for the Red Wolves.
Arkansas State will be at home on Saturday at 2 p.m. to host South Alabama (2-6, 1-3).
Princeton 66, Cornell 0
PRINCETON, N.J. — John Lovett spearheaded a Princeton offense that gained more than 500 total yards and the Tigers matched their season high point total in a 66-0 rout of Cornell in an Ivy League showdown Saturday.
A year ago, Princeton rolled into this game with a 5-1 record, having scoring 50 points in three straight games only to have Cornell eke out a 29-28 victory. The Tigers did not win another game.
This time Princeton improved to 7-0 for the first time since 1995 and extended its win streak to seven games for just the second time in the last 23 seasons.
Princeton has scored at least
48 points in every home game this season, and against the Big Red (3-4, 2-2) it used 13 players in a running game that racked up
358 yards and seven touchdowns. Lovett rushed for 159 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries while completing 12 of 16 passes for 133 yards and a score. Charlie Volker had 10 carries for 30 yards and three touchdowns.
Princeton faces fellow unbeaten Dartmouth (7-0, 4-0) Saturday. Cornell will next host Penn (5-2, 2-2) on Friday in Ithaca, N.Y.
Grambling State 45, Arkansas-Pine Bluff 38, OT
GRAMBLING, La. — Geremy Hickbottom connected with Darrell Clark for a 25-yard touchdown in overtime and Grambling State beat Arkansas-Pine Bluff, 45-38, on Saturday.
Trailing, 38-35, with 46 seconds to play in regulation, Grambling’s Marc Orozco tied it at 38-38 with a 20-yard field goal. Hickbottom hit Clark on Grambling’s opening play of OT and the Tigers (4-4,
3-2 Southwestern Athletic Conference) stopped the Golden Lions on downs.
Hickbottom was 18 of 26 for
217 yards and also threw touchdown passes to Dorrell James and Quintin Guice. LaDarrian Ellis scored on a 74-yard run and Lyndemian Brooks scored on a
44-yarder.
Taelyer Porter ran for 226 yards and three touchdowns, and Skyler Perry threw two touchdown passes for the Golden Lions (1-7, 0-4), who took a 31-28 fourth-quarter lead on Porter’s
3-yard run. Linwood Banks recovered a fumble in the end zone for a 35-31 Grambling lead, but Perry responded with a five-yard pass to Dejuan Miller before Orozco’s game-tying kick.
Pine Bluff will be at home on Saturday at 2:30 p.m. for senior day against Alabama A&M (4-4,
3-2).