The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns had a score to settle with the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers that was years in the making. The Vermilion and White came out swinging early on Saturday morning and came out on top 34-24 to improve to 6-1 on the season.
HOW IT HAPPENED:
Coastal Carolina received the ball to begin the game and punted after the Louisiana defense forced a three-and-out. Chanticleer quarterback Ethan Vasko threw a couple of incomplete passes including one a couple of yards in front of a receiver’s feet on third down after getting pressured rolling out to the left.
Louisiana on their first possession got down to Coastal’s 35-yard line. Quarterback Ben Wooldridge completed passes of 13 yards to tight end Terrence Carter and Rob Williams and running back Bill Davis had an 11-yard run. Wooldridge checked down to Jacob Bernard for a gain of four on third down and Kenneth Almendares lined up for a field goal. The 52-yard attempt was wide right and the Chanticleers took control of the ball.
Braydon Bennett had a 16-yard and a six-yard carry to begin the drive but Vasko threw two more incompletions and Coastal punted back to Louisiana.
Wooldridge connected with an open Carter for a pickup of 23, then Davis got three consecutive touches for 38 yards to set up 1st & 10 inside the Coastal 35-yard line. On second down, Wooldridge found a wide-open Lance Legende running a crossing route and he went untouched into the endzone for the 33-yard touchdown. The Cajuns took the first lead with 4:09 remaining in the opening quarter.
Jameson Vasko was called for holding the play after making a first-down catch. That penalty stalled the Chanticleer offense as Vasko threw three more incompletions. That led to another scoring drive for the Cajuns.
Wooldridge began the drive with first down passes to Bernard and Harvey Broussard and moved the offense into Coastal territory. Dre’Lyn Washington picked up the first down on 3rd & 6, then two plays later Wooldridge rolled right and completed his pass to Davis for the nine-yard touchdown. Louisiana was up 14-0 less than three minutes into the second quarter.
Following the touchdown drive, Coastal Carolina changed quarterbacks from Vasko to Noah Kim. Bennett benefitted from the change with five carries for 45 yards, including a two-yard run on 4th & 1. On the next play, Kim completed an 11-yard pass to Kendall Karr for the touchdown.
The Cajuns responded with an 11-play, 47-yard drive that took 5:39 off the clock and resulted in a 45-yard field by Almendares.
Coastal started at their 10-yard line and methodically moved down the field. Kim went deep to Bryson Graves for a 43-yard completion to the Cajun four-yard line. Kim found Bennett for the easy score and made it a three-point game.
Louisiana headed into the half with a 17-14 advantage.
The Cajuns began the second half with the ball and neither team could get any offense on the first three drives. Coastal tied the game on the fourth possession with a 29-yard field goal by Kade Hensley. Kim had a 19-yard completion to Cane Berrong and Tray Taylor ran for 26 yards to the Cajun four. On offensive pass interference set the Chanticleers back and set up the kick.
After that, Louisana drained half a quarter’s worth of time on a 12-play drive. Davis had a 12-yard run on the first play then Carter made a 36-yard catch to Coastal’s 30-yard line. Davis’ three runs in the redzone set up a one-yard touchdown run by Wooldridge to give the Cajuns the lead early in the fourth quarter.
Coastal Carolina responded with another scoring drive. Karr made a 23-yard catch and Bennett broke loose for a 49-yard score. It was a 24-24 tie with 10:52 left to play.
The Cajuns moved the ball 55 yards in nine plays as Wooldridge’s pass on 3rd & 4 fell incomplete. Almendares knocked through a 38-yard kick to give the Vermilion and White the three-point lead with under six minutes remaining.
Louisiana’s defense forced a three-and-out and Wooldridge made it a two-score game with a 59-yard touchdown pass to Carter at the 2:34 mark of the quarter.
The Chanticleers opted to kick a 50-yard field on fourth down with a minute to go. The kick was wide right and the Cajuns went into victory formation as the Vermilion and White improved to a 6-1 record with the 34-24 win.
BIG NUMBER: 38
Louisiana dominated in time of possession on the road, having control of the ball for 38:32 while Coastal Carolina only had the ball for 21:28.
PLAYER OF THE GAME: Ben Wooldridge
Wooldridge was efficient on Saturday as he completed 27 out of 36 pass attempts for 373 yards and three touchdown passes as the Cajuns defeated the Chanticleers 34-24.
UP NEXT: The Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns will stay on the road for their next game, heading to San Marcos to take on the Texas State Bobcats. Kickoff inside Bobcat Stadium is scheduled for October 29th at 6:30 p.m. The game can be seen on ESPN+.
