Evans with the ball. Handoff to Josh. Or was it a pass to “other” Josh? Either way, same result, another first down and eventually a touchdown.
The ULM Warhawks (2-2) opened up conference play at home Saturday and beat the South Alabama Jaguars (1-4) with a score of 30-17.
ULM is now 1-0 in the Sun Belt Conference.
With Saturday’s victory, ULM leads South Alabama in their all-time series 4-2. They are also now 3-0 at home against the Jaguars.
Matt Viator, ULM head coach, praised the South Alabama team for stopping the Warhawks running game but then praised his team for finding a way to win in the end.
“I think their game plan was obviously to run right at us and try to take advantage of their size,” Viator said.
Junior running back Josh Johnson had another good game alongside junior tight end Josh Pederson. Both players gave senior quarterback Caleb Evans options in getting the ball up the field.
Like every other game this season, the Warhawks were haunted by the ghosts of a bad first quarter. Evans showed improvement in his first quarter performance completing three of four attempted passes.
The defense, especially fifth-year senior linebacker Cortez Sisco Jr., stepped up and kept the Jaguars offense in check.
Sisco Jr. had seven tackles in the first quarter alone. He ended the game with 13.
After the Jaguars scored first, ULM was fortunate enough to score and end the first quarter 7-7.
“That’s the game of football sometimes the defense is going to be down, sometimes the offense is going to be down. It’s a reverse road, we just got to come together and fight to finish,” Sisco said.
The Warhawks’ running game was stalled throughout the game by a tough Jaguars’ defense.
Josh Johnson was held to 93-yards rushing for the night, 49-yards came from one run.
Going into the game he was averaging 128.7 rushing yards per game. The Warhawks offense was forced to heavily rely on Evans’ throwing arm to get some yards. Evans threw for 286-yards.
“We as an offense just kept saying our defense keeps getting us stops so we got to come through for the defense,” Evans said.
Another high point of the game was junior cornerback Corey Straughter had another interception.
His interception in the second quarter marked his third consecutive game this season with an interception.
After Pederson scored the next ULM touchdown came courtesy of fifth year senior wide receiver Marquis McCray.
He scored off of a 48-yard touchdown pass from Evans in the second quarter.
A 21-yard touchdown pass from Evans to redshirt junior wide receiver Jonathan Hodoh sealed the game for the Warhawks at the beginning of the fourth quarter.
The Jaguars made it back on the scoreboard but not before another Warhawks touchdown courtesy of a 13-yard run by Evans.
The Warhawks will next play Saturday at home against the University of Memphis. Kickoff is slated for 2:45 p.m.