By T. SCOTT BOATRIGHT, Lincoln Parish Journal
LAFAYETTE — It was a tale of two halves for Grambling State Saturday night in the Tigers’ season opener against Louisiana-Lafayette at Cajun Field.
After finding themselves in a deep hole by halftime, the Tigers fared better in the second half before falling 40-10.
A 30-0 halftime deficit, built on a 23-point second-quarter, was simply too much for GSU to overcome even though the Tigers played the Ragin’ Cajuns to 10-10 in the second half.
ULL scored on its first offensive possession, marching 82 yards to paydirt on eight plays that culminated with Dry’Lyn Washington’s eight-yard dash to the end zone 5:56 into the opening stanza.
The Ragin’ Cajuns took over in the second quarter, with quarterback Ben Woolridge firing two scoring strikes, a 13-yarder to Harvey Broussard and a 56-yarder to Tavion Smith.
UL-Lafayette added a defensive score for its second touchdown of the quarter when Caleb Kibodi picked off a pass thrown by GSU quarterback Myles Crawley and returned it 50 yards.
ULL’s final score of the half came on a 41-yard field goal by Kenneth Almendares that pushed the Cajuns to a 30-0 halftime advantage.
The Ragin’ Cajuns pushed their lead to 37-0 midway through the third quarter on a 10-yard touchdown pass from Woolridge to Terrance Carter.
Grambling’s lone touchdown came with 4:35 remaining in the third quarter as K’Travion “Bull” Hargrove powered his way to paydirt from one yard out.
Hargrove, a Ruston High School product, may have been the brightest spot of the day for the G-Men, rushing for 61 yards on 12 attempts.
The teams traded fourth-quarter field goals, with ULL’s Tony Sterner making a 27-yarder before Grambling’s Reed Harradine blasted a 50-yarder through the uprights.
Crawley finished with 19 completions on 28 pass attempts for 166 yards.
Receiver Nicholas Howard was another offensive bright spot for the G-Men, leading Grambling with five catches for 68 yards.
Blake Davis was the defensive standout for the Tigers, leading GSU with eight tackles while adding an interception.
The Cajuns dominated in overall offense, totaling 481 yards total while Grambling only managed 241.
Heading into the game, new GSU coach Mickey Joseph was focused cutting down on penalties.
Joseph saw his team get better in that category. After giving up 82 yards per game last season, against the Ragin’ Cajuns the Tigers were only penalized for 25 yards on six calls.
Next up for the Tigers will be the home opener as they play host to Tuskegee at 7 p.m. Saturday at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium.
Contact Scott at tscottboatright@gmail.com