The Troy Trojans tried, but failed to send head coach Larry Blakeney out with a final win against UL Lafayette, losing 42-23 at home on Saturday, Nov. 29.
After serving for 24 seasons, Blakeney ended his final season with a 3-9 record.
“Although we were not able to win the game, we had guys that played hard and any time you face a good football team like UL Lafayette, you have to play near perfect to win and we certainly were not perfect,” Blakeney said. “We did hang in there with them and I was proud of our kids and their effort, trying to match UL Lafayette’s physicality. They are a good team.”
Troy came out in the first half with determination to win the game for it retiring coach, scoring 23 points. However, the Trojans lost steam after halftime and the Ragin’ Cajuns prevented the team from scoring during the third and fourth quarters.
ULL was the first to score in the first quarter with sophomore running back Elijah McGuire making an eight-yard dash into the end zone.
Troy worked its way up the field, all the way to the Ragin’ Cajuns’ two-yard line, but was unable to score, and had a turn over after going for it on fourth and one.
When ULL took over the ball, senior quarterback Terrance Broadway was sacked in the end zone with 0:50 on the clock, giving Troy two points and possession of the ball to close out the first quarter.
The second quarter was a back and forth battle of touchdowns between the Cajuns and the Trojans. Redshirt freshman Brandon Silvers threw three touchdown passes to three different receivers, including junior wide receivers Bryan Holmes and Teddy Ruben, and senior wide receiver B.J. Chitty.
Silvers passed for 272 yards and made 29 complete passes out of 34 attempts while Broadway passed for only 142 with 14 complete passes out of 19 attempts.
ULL had two rushing touchdowns during the second quarter, with one two-yard run from senior running back Alonzo Harris and a 75-yard rush from McGuire.
The Trojans headed into the locker room leading, 23-21. The Cajuns took control of the game after that, keeping the Troy offense on the bench as they took the lead, with another rush from Harris to make the score 28-23.
ULL had a total of 260 offensive yards in the second half while it kept Troy to a mere 52 total yards, compared to the Trojans’ 342 in the first half.
Troy failed to convert in the third quarter and ULL took possession again and Broadway didn’t waste any time moving down the field to score again.
The fourth quarter was fairly uneventful with both teams having to punt before the Cajuns were able to score again with 3:48 left on the clock.
Silvers fumbled with a little less than two minutes and ULL recovered the ball and finished the game 42-23.
Along with Blakeney, 20 seniors participated in their final game for the Trojans.
“We all wanted to end on a good note for coach Blakeney and ourselves; to kind of lighten this season for us, cause it has been a long season,” senior wide receiver Chandler Worthy said. “It was a big thing. We just couldn’t come away with it today.”
According to ESPN, Kentucky offensive coordinator Neal Brown has accepted an offer to become the new head coach at Troy. A press conference will be held on Monday, Dec. 1, to formally announce the new head football coach.
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