The new intersection connecting East Kentucky Avenue with Cedar Creek Road will open for traffic on Tuesday.
By Malcolm Butler
City of Ruston Public Works Utility Manager Andrew Halbrook said that the newly constructed intersection at East Kentucky Ave and Cedar Creek Road will open for traffic starting Tuesday morning.
The contractor, Regional Construction out of Natchitoches, has been working on the new intersection for months and spent the weekend preparing for traffic to be swapped over. The new intersection is approximately 300 feet to the east of the existing one.
“We are going to go to sleep Monday using the current intersection and we are going to wake up Tuesday using the new one,” said Halbrook.
The existing intersection will then be closed to traffic said Halbrook as the contractor has some demolition work to complete.
“We are going to keep the bridge in its place (on the existing one),” said Halbrook. “We haven’t fully developed a plan of what our future use of it is. It will be a connection to our pedestrian and active transportation infrastructure along East Kentucky Avenue. But for the most part the (existing) road will be removed, and it will be turned into a green space.”
Once traffic is swapped to the new intersection Regional Construction will continue to make progress bringing the roadway to its final orientation, with Cedar Creek Road transitioning from the original road location to the new intersection near the entrance Foxx Creek Drive.
The $1.7 million project will be completed by November of this year.
Patrons were evacuated from the Ruston Wal-Mart Sunday evening when a fire broke out. (Photo by Emma Stone)
by Malcolm Butler
Local Wal-Mart patrons got a little excitement Sunday night when they were forced to evacuate the store due to what was at first believed to be a fire.
At approximately 7:35 p.m., shoppers were notified to evacuate by Walmart staff who were stating there had been “a small fire.”
However, Ruston Fire Department personnel arrived on the scene minutes later and determined that the smoke was caused by a wire that had short circuited in the grocery section.
The event still caused some excitement said Camryn Tucker, who was in the store with her friend Emma Stone.
“We arrived at Walmart at 7:30 p.m.,” said Tucker. “I was on the aisle alone and could hear someone calmly evacuating customers. At first, I thought it was someone playing a joke since I didn’t see them wearing a Walmart vest.”
Both Tucker and Stone were among the Sunday night shoppers that left the store at the direction of the employees.
“The employee approached me and stated to leave my groceries where they were,” said Stone. “She told me the fire department was on the way.”
Just minutes later two Ruston Fire Department trucks arrived on the scene, according to both ladies.
Ruston Fire Department District Chief Tom Leith confirmed that no actual fire had started, but that the smoke was from a faulty wire in a freezer.
“We had to get the electricity to that door cut and secured,” said Leith. “That was really about it. We got everything back on. We were afraid we were going to have to shut off all the power to the back part of the store because we had trouble finding it because they have probably 15,000 breakers.”
Stone said that many of the shoppers hung around for 20 to 30 minutes but then began to depart as grocery carts were placed in front of the doors to the store to prevent customers from entering.
Two Texas Southern band members were injured after a Grambling State student lost control of a golf cart following Saturday’s football game between the two schools.
GSU were notified of the accident near Eddie Robinson Stadium at about 7:00 p.m. Saturday night. Police arrived to find the golf card had flipped, striking a Texas Southern band member and landing on another band member.
One victim sustained a contusion on the left arm and pain on the left side, while the other suffered injuries to the mouth, nose, and head. Both band members were taken to the Northern Louisiana Medical Center for treatment and released the same night. The driver of the golf cart refused treatment.
The accident occurred after GSU’s 35-23 victory over Texas Southern.
Ruston Community Theatre will hold auditions this weekend for the upcoming show, “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever,” directed by Tami Alexander and sponsored by Century Next Bank.
This beloved Christmas show has become a staple for many communities, and RCT hopes to welcome a new wave of children into this holiday tradition.
The play is written by Barbara Robinson based on her best-selling young adult book. This show will be presented along with a Christmas concert of carol medleys and holidays favorites lead by Dee Alexander.
The show will take place Nov. 30 through Dec. 3.
In this comedic Christmas classic, a couple struggling to put on a church Christmas pageant is faced with casting the Herdman kids–probably the most inventively awful kids in history. Mayhem – and fun – ensue when the Herdmans collide with the Christmas story head on.
There are plenty of roles for adults and children alike:
Week #5 of the Karl Malone Toyota College Football Pick’em Contest presented by Heard Construction and Martin Presence is underway.
One lucky winner will claim $200 … with the potential to make it $400 if they are perfect on the week (including predicting the No. 1 tiebreaker exactly right).
The Week #4 winner will be announced in Wednesday’s Lincoln Parish Journal.
This week YOU could be our lucky winner. It just takes a few minutes to click on the link above and fill out a form for FREE. It could mean $200 in your pocket if you choose wisely.
Anyone is eligible to participate for FREE and each week’s winner will go home with a $200 cash prize. Each week the winner will be the participant with the best record out of 13 selected college football games (ties will be broken by two separate tiebreakers consisting of guessing the total points scored in two other games).
The Karl Malone Toyota College Football Pick’em Contest presented by Martin Presence and Heard Construction will be conducted over the 13 regular season weeks of the college season starting with Week 1 games (Sept. 2) and running through the end of November.
There is no entry fee, just like there is no cost to subscribe to the Lincoln Parish Journal.
All contest decisions by LPJ management are final. Weekly winners will be notified Monday and will be requested to take a photo that will run that week in the LPJ.
Every participant will receive a FREE subscription to the Journal, if you’re not already signed up for the easily-navigated, convenient 6:55 a.m. daily e-mail. Enjoy it all, for FREE, and enter each week’s contest. You could collect $200 each week (or $400 if you can have a perfect week with the correct tiebreaker).
Grambling Police arrested a Homer man Wednesday afternoon after a high-speed chase that reached speeds over 90 miles per hour.
Jermund C. Curry, 30, was clocked on radar at 79 miles per hour in a 35 mile per hour zone on Clark Street in Grambling. The officer proceeded after Curry who refused to stop, reaching speeds of 85 to 90 mph. Curry allegedly passed numerous vehicles causing them to run off the roadway. He reportedly abandoned his vehicle in Mansfield Estates and fled on foot.
After a brief search, Curry was found in a backyard and apprehended. He was booked at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center for speeding, aggravated flight from an officer, driving under suspension, and resisting an officer.
Curry’s bail amount was not available at press time.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
File Photograph by Emerald McIntyre/Louisiana Tech University
The newest 2024 college rankings from Niche, a platform designed to provide current and prospective college students nationwide with university data, has placed Louisiana Tech University as the number one public university in the state of Louisiana. Additionally, Niche has Louisiana Tech ranked first in the state in Best Value Colleges and Best Colleges for Business.
Niche utilizes a number of sources to compile data for their rankings, including the Department of Education and the Integrated Postsecondary Education Data System (IPEDS), as well as millions of reviews from students of the colleges for which they assemble profiles.
Louisiana Tech’s Top Public University ranking in the state has the institution ahead of Louisiana State University (#2) and University of Louisiana Lafayette (#3) in the podium positions. Tech also ranked second overall out of all colleges in the state, which includes private universities.
“These recognitions could not be achieved without the hard work of our dedicated faculty,” said University President Les Guice. “They are responsible for creating the learning environment and unparalleled educational experience that leads to these successes, and their impact is evident on our campus every day.”
The University’s Best Value College ranking was calculated with factors like net price, alumni earnings, graduation rates, and student debt, allowing Tech’s strong showings in these areas to contribute to the number one spot in the state.
Also ranking at the top is the Best Colleges for Business distinction, another first overall standing in a field that includes both public and private universities in the state. Niche’s methodology for this ranking is based on academic, admissions, financial, and student life data analysis.
“We are honored to be considered the top business school in Louisiana,” said Dr. Chris Martin, dean of the College of Business. “The Niche rankings are particularly important because of the high emphasis placed on student satisfaction in their methodology. Our mission centers on a student-focused culture that prepares graduates who are innovative, entrepreneurially minded, and analytically and technologically skilled for a globally competitive marketplace. Each day, our faculty and staff ensure our students are taught and mentored to become our state’s next generation of business leaders.”
Niche placed Tech highly in several national rankings, including in the top 12% of all colleges in the country and the top 12% of Colleges with the Best Academics in the country.
Our good friend Trey Hanna at Ruston Smiles is a dentist by day and a chef by night!
Trey is providing the Lincoln Parish Journal a cooking column/recipe each month. This month Trey’s menu includes venison gyros . You won’t want to miss it.
Just click on the link below for ingredients and direction.
It had been nearly three weeks since Ruston High’s cross country had run an official race.
They more than made up for it this weekend, with good showings at both the Southlake #2 XC Invite in Texas on Saturday and the Cedar Creek Wallace Martin Invitational in Ruston on Friday.
The Bearcats totaled 140 points (6+7+31+46+50 (71+75)) for fifth in the Elite Boys run and third in the Open Boys run with 95 points (7+9+19+29+31).
“Texas is a different animal when it comes to racing, so we went over with the intention of going out hard early in the race and seeing where we’re at at this point of the season,” Ruston head coach Dustin Cochran said. “Thomas (Rogers) and Taylor (Roller) ran amazing in the front to lead our team. I think both of them went in nervous because they’ve never had to run this fast before, but they both walked away saying I can definitely go faster. They ran times that not many people from Louisiana have ever run, and we were still able to cut our 1-5 spread by over 30s in comparison to what we did in Mississippi.
“So as a team we are really happy with where we are to end September, but our eyes are on November. We will celebrate this one, but next week we will get back to work and make sure we’re even better come November.”
On Friday, Ruston’s girls took fourth overall, while the boys finished tenth.
“We’re still running without three of our best runners, but we’re moving in the right direction,” Cochran said about the girls squad. “We had some huge PRs from Emmersyn and Aydan this weekend. I think when we look up in November, this girls team will be a very competitive team. We had a time average goal that we wanted to beat based on the group we had running this weekend, and we absolutely shattered it.
“Right now, we aren’t the state trophy contenders we want to be, but we still have a Bearcat on our chest, and the standard is still high. This group of girls is making strides in the right direction every day, and as we go along and fine tune things throughout the season, it should turn out pretty good.”
For the boys, it was runners that did not compete at the Southlake #2 XC meet that competed at Lincoln Parish Park.
“I’m beyond proud of the group of guys we had running at Cedar Creek this weekend,” Cochran said. “Every one of these guys ran substantially faster than they did at the opener three weeks ago. All of these guys are young and haven’t done a lot of racing, so I was very impressed with some of the times they threw down on Saturday.
“Wyatt Hancock had an enormous PR. Wyatt didn’t run cross country in junior high and ran just under 22 minutes in the opener. He’s learning every day and figuring out that he can run fast. I don’t want to say I was surprised at all he cut three minutes off his last race time, because I’ve seen it all in practice. I can’t wait to see how this group improves as they go along this season.”
Ruston will return to action Saturday, Sept. 30, in Baton Rouge for the St. Joseph’s Invitational.
Southlake #2 XC Invite 2023 Results
Elite 6 – Thomas Rogers 14:57 7 – Taylor Roller 14:57 34 – Landon Byrd 15:48 50 – Al-Amin Wilson 16:08 55 – Joshua Daulton 16:11 83 – Liam Lowe 16:55 87 – Taylor Huddleston 17:06
Open 7 – Tyler Roller 16:32 9 – Cole Magee 16:36 19 – Preston Parker 17:01 29 – Ben Boudreaux 17:15 31 – Noah Holland 17:17
Catholic-Baton Rouge (2-2) lost to St. Thomas More, 35-28
West Monroe (4-0) beat Scotlandville, 30-12
Acadiana (3-1) beat Lafayette, 63-12
St. Augustine (2-1) plays Saturday
Others receiving votes: Airline (4-0) beat Benton, 60-35, East St. John (4-0) beat Thibodaux, 49-14, Dutchtown (3-0) did not play, Southside (3-1) beat New Iberia, 49-26, Brother Martin (3-1) beat Ouachita Parish, 31-14, Mandeville (2-2) lost to Northshore, 23-16.
Class 4A
St. Thomas More (4-0) beat Catholic-Baton Rouge, 35-28
Lafayette Christian (3-1) lost to Ruston, 29-26
Neville (4-0) beat North Caddo, 53-0
Westgate (4-0) beat St. Martinville, 49-32
Warren Easton (1-3) beat B.T. Washington-NO, 28-6
North DeSoto (3-1) beat Minden, 51-0
Lutcher (2-1) beat Vandebilt Catholic, 18-0
West Feliciana (3-1) beat Tara, 41-14
Teurlings Catholic (3-1) beat Notre Dame, 34-14
Opelousas (2-2) lost to St. Amant, 28-22
Others receiving votes: Leesville (2-2) lost to Catholic-New Iberia, 31-14, Archbishop Shaw (2-2) beat Bonnabel, 34-0, Evangel Christian (2-2) beat Bossier, 49-0, Cecilia (3-1) beat Crowley, 65-14, Tioga (4-0) beat Marksville, 42-14, Vandebilt Catholic (2-2) lost to Lutcher, 18-0, Plaquemine (3-1) beat Istrouma, 20-15, De La Salle (1-3) lost to St. Charles, 32-14.
Class 3A
University (3-1) beat Helix Mentorship, 55-0
St. James (3-1) beat Assumption, 33-20
E.D. White (4-0) beat Woodlawn-Baton Rouge, 57-7
Sterlington (3-1) beat Carroll, 46-6
Madison Prep (2-2) lost to Parkview Baptist, 28-21
Jena (4-0) beat Winnfield, 32-20
Union Parish (2-2) beat Bastrop, 41-14
Parkview Baptist (3-1) beat Madison Prep, 28-21
John F. Kennedy (3-1) won via forfeit
St. Louis (3-1) beat Kinder, 45-20
Others receiving votes: Amite (2-1) beat Country Day, 39-0, Carroll (3-1) lost to Sterlington, 46-6, Bogalusa (2-2) lost to John Ehret, 49-39, Lake Charles Prep (2-2) beat South Beauregard, 20-14, Iota (3-1) beat Ville Platte, 49-8, Iowa (2-2) beat Jennings, 35-28, Kinder (3-1) lost to St. Louis, 45-20, Marksville (3-1) lost to Tioga, 42-14, Wossman (3-1) lost to Calvary Baptist, 21-6.
Class 2A
Calvary Baptist (4-0) beat Wossman, 21-6
St. Charles (4-0) beat De La Salle, 32-14
Newman (4-0) beat Many, 49-31
Notre Dame (2-2) lost to Teurlings Catholic, 34-14
Dunham (3-1) beat Ascension Catholic, 29-28
Oak Grove (2-2) beat Rayville, 63-26
Many (2-2) lost to Newman, 49-31
Episcopal-Baton Rouge (3-1) beat Port Allen, 55-19
Northlake Christian (4-0) beat Hannan, 23-10
Loreauville (3-1) beat North Vermilion, 17-10
Others receiving votes: Catholic-New Iberia (3-1) beat Leesville, 31-14, Ascension Episcopal (2-2) lost to Breaux Bridge, 51-16, Oakdale (4-0) beat Grand Lake, 44-38, South Plaquemines (2-2) beat Sarah Reed, 57-13.
Class 1A
Ouachita Christian (4-0) beat Tensas, 59-0
Kentwood (3-1) lost to Walker, 30-8
Vermilion Catholic (4-0) beat Erath, 38-14
Southern Lab (2-1) beat Opelousas Catholic, 60-35
Homer (4-0) beat Magnolia Charter, 48-12
St. Martin’s (3-0) did not play
Riverside Academy (3-1) beat Houma Christian, 40-7
Haynesville (4-0) beat Glenbrook Academy, 34-14
Ascension Catholic (3-1) lost to Dunham, 29-28
St. Mary’s (4-0) beat DeQuincy, 21-12
Others receiving votes: Glenbrook Academy (3-1) lost to Haynesville, 34-14, Logansport (3-1) beat Mansfield, 32-24, St. Frederick (2-2) beat Delhi Charter, 43-8.
A man and woman were arrested Monday morning after police responded to a call of a protective order violation on Kennon Lane.
Ruston officers responded to the home of Jennifer Lowery, 41, regarding a person violating a protective order. When Ruston officers knocked on the front door, Taylor M. Williams, 35, left through the rear door and was arrested for violating a protective order prohibiting him from having any contact with the resident.
Lowery was not in the home at the time of the arrest, but Williams admitted being outside when Lowery was present. He allegedly entered after Lowery left the residence.
When Lowery returned to the location, she was also arrested on a warrant for failure to appear in Ruston City Court on a theft charge. Both were booked at the Lincoln Parish Detention Center.
Bail for Williams was set at $2,500.
This information has been provided by a law enforcement agency as public information. Persons named or shown in photographs or video as suspects in a criminal investigation, or arrested and charged with a crime, have not been convicted of any criminal offense and are presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
BATON ROUGE, La. – The State Library of Louisiana Board of Commissioners voted 6-0 to name Meg Placke as State Librarian.
Following her appointment, Placke addressed State Library staff members and promised to make sure the State Library is a “premier agency” and increase public awareness about the library and what it does.
“I’m honored. I really am going to work my hardest to do what’s best for the State Library. The staff here is wonderful. They all have been so supportive,” said State Librarian Meg Placke. “I just hope I can live up to and exceed everybody’s expectations. I’ll work at it day by day to make sure I do.”
Placke, who most recently served as deputy state librarian, was named interim state librarian in April when the board began a national search for the next state librarian.
“I appreciate the attention you gave (to the process),” Board Chairman James Lee told his fellow commissioners.
Placke began her career at the State Library in 2008, where she has also served as a library consultant and associate state librarian.
Placke is the fifth person to be named state librarian since the State Library began operating in 1925 as the Louisiana Library Commission.
Each Monday and Friday, the Lincoln Parish Journal will post a list of non-for-profit upcoming events happening in the parish. If you would like to add your event to this list or advertise your for-profit events, please email us at lpjnewsla@gmail.com.
Monday, September 25 10 a.m.: Let’s Get Batty storytime (Lincoln Parish Library) 11:30 a.m.: Lunch on Us (Presbyterian Church, 212 North Bonner Street., Ruston) — everyone welcome 6 p.m.: Toastmasters International meeting (Louisiana Center for the Blind, 101 South Trenton Street)
Tuesday, Sept. 26 7-9 p.m.: “Misery” play production; GSU Conrad Hutchinson PAC Floyd L. Sandle Theatre
Wednesday, September 27 7-8 a.m.: Veterans Coffee Club (PJ’s Coffee) 7:45-9 a.m.: Food For Thought: A Business Educational Series (Lincoln Parish Library Events Center) 11:30 a.m.: Lunch on Us (Presbyterian Church, 212 North Bonner Street., Ruston) — everyone welcome 7-9 p.m.: “Misery” play production; GSU Conrad Hutchinson PAC Floyd L. Sandle Theatre
Thursday, September 28 10 a.m.: Ribbon Cutting for Conville, Smith and Associates Wellness Management of Raymond James (207 W. Alabama Ave., Ruston) 4 p.m.: Crafternoon: Make a mushroom house (Lincoln Parish Library) 7-9 p.m.: “Misery” play production; GSU Conrad Hutchinson PAC Floyd L. Sandle Theatre
Friday, September 29 34th annual Louisiana Chicken Festival (Dubach) 7 p.m.: Cedar Creek football game 7-9 p.m.: “Misery” play production; GSU Conrad Hutchinson PAC Floyd L. Sandle Theatre
Saturday, September 30 34th annual Louisiana Chicken Festival (Dubach) 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.: Ruston Farmers Market 10 a.m. to noon: “Misery” play production; GSU Conrad Hutchinson PAC Floyd L. Sandle Theatre 7-9 p.m.: “Misery” play production; GSU Conrad Hutchinson PAC Floyd L. Sandle Theatre
Willie Roberts (1) sacks Nebraska QB during Saturday’s 28-14 loss to the Cornhuskers. (Photo by Josh McDaniel)
Staff Reports
LINCOLN, Neb. – Louisiana Tech was knotted up with Nebraska at halftime, but the Cornhuskers used the ground game to pull away from the Bulldogs for a hard-fought 28-14 decision in front of 87,115 fans on Saturday inside Memorial Stadium.
Louisiana Tech (2-3) and Nebraska (2-2) went scoreless in the first quarter and then traded touchdowns in the second quarter to make it 7-all at the midway point. However, the Cornhuskers scored 21 unanswered points in the second half, 14 in the fourth quarter, to subdue the upset-minded Bulldogs.
Nebraska finally broke through after a fake field goal to pick up a first down. Two plays later, a jet sweep went nine yards for the first touchdown of the game with 11:31 to go in the second quarter.
Cyrus Allen appeared to tie the game with a 94-yard kickoff return, but a holding penalty erased the touchdown and put the Bulldogs back at their own 12. The flag was one of 12 marked off against the visitors for 100 yards.
The plucky visitors overcame that cancelled TD to tie the game on the ensuing possession and it was a big third down version from midfield that made it happen. Making his first career start at quarterback, Jack Turner dropped in a dime to Allen up the left sideline for 28 yards. The completion set up a 14-yard Jacob Fields touchdown run off left tackle, making it 7-7 with 6:07 remaining in the half.
The Bulldog defense stood tall again late in the second quarter, and when a 41-yard field goal attempt missed the score stayed deadlocked at halftime.
After the Cornhuskers recovered their own fumble on the second-half kickoff, they drove 85 yards on nine rushing plays to retake the lead, 14-7 five minutes into the third period.
A pivotal moment came later in the period.
A questionable spot on a potential first down catch by DeColdest Crawford was not changed by a replay and made it 4th-and-1 from the Nebraska 28-yard line. The Bulldogs attempted a quarterback sneak but did not pick up the first down, and were spurned in a bid to draw even.
The Cornhuskers cashed in a short field later in the quarter, resulting in a 29-yard touchdown pass from Heinrich Haarberg to Thomas Fidone II early in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs looked primed to slice into the deficit, getting a 35-yard Smoke Harris catch and run, one of his game-high 10 receptions. Harris then drew a pass interference on a third-and-long, but the flag was waved off to the justifiable dismay of Tech coach Sonny Cumbie and the Bulldogs were forced to punt.
“It wasn’t a great explanation,” Cumbie said. “They thought both guys were going up for the football at the same time. That was a tough one. If we get a first down (by penalty), it’s 21-7 with a chance to make it 21-14. (Instead) it’s 28-7 pretty quick, so that part was disappointing.”
Three plays later, Haarberg shook off an ankle tackle at the line of scrimmage and dashed 72 yards to put Nebraska up 28-7.
After a 55-minute lightning delay midway through the fourth period, the Bulldogs found the end zone on another Turner-to-Allen connection, a 20-yard grab in the corner of the end zone with 5:17 remaining.
Nebraska outgained Louisiana Tech, 419-338, with 312 Cornhusker yards coming on the ground. Turner finished with 292 passing yards with his two favorite targets being Harris – 10 receptions for 73 yards – and Allen – six catches for 102 yards.
While the Bulldog offensive line allowed no sacks, the Bulldog defense racked up nine tackles-for-loss, including three sacks. Nebraska entered the contest third nationally in making QB sacks.
“I was really proud of our offensive line. It did a nice job of protection, and Jack did a good job of extending plays late,” said Cumbie.
Asked what he will take forward into the return to league play, which comes on the road next Friday night at UTEP, Cumbie had a short hit list.
“The penalties, and execution on offense was sloppy today. Special teams, we knew we had a chance to impact the game, and the penalty hurt us. We had a touchdown. Defensively, we’ve got to stop the run. We gave up three plays for 150 yards. We’ve got to eliminate the explosive plays.”
He had a message he shared with his players before kickoff, and reinforced it afterwards.
“We started the day 1-0 in Conference USA, we finished the day 1-0 in Conference USA. We have seven (CUSA) games ahead of us, everything that we want to accomplish,” said Cumbie. “I think they should take a lot of confidence from this game. We have to apply it in the right way as coaches and as players.”
Pictured is Grambling State receiver Lyndon Rash (10) hauling in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Myles Crawley late in the first half of a 35-23 win over Texas Southern on Saturday. (Photo by T. Scott Boatright)
By T. Scott Boatright
GRAMBLING – In a game that at times resembled a heavyweight slugfest, Grambling State won by unanimous decision.
The G-Men kept swinging — and scoring — until the very end as Grambling State held on for a hard-fought 35-23 win over Texas Southern Saturday afternoon at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium.
While it certainly didn’t come easily, GSU head coach Hue Jackson was simply pleased to walk away with the win.
“I’m excited for our players, our fans, our supporters to be able to watch us get the first win against Texas Southern at home,” Jackson said. “We knew it was going to be a dogfight. That’s a good football team regardless of what their record is. I think our guys battled extremely hard. We understand the momentum in games and how it comes and goes.
“There are some things we know we have to continue to clean up and get better at, but I’m excited because we’re winning. We’re starting to stack wins together and that’s what you have to do in this conference. These conference games mean a lot, so to open at home with a victory was very important.”
Grambling went to a double-barrelled, ground and pound offensive attack with sophomore running backs Chance Williams and Floyd Chalk IV attacking the TSU defense right from the opening kickoff.
The G-Men took their second possession and marched 49 yards on seven plays with Chalk plunging to paydirt from one-yard out to put Grambling up 7-0 at the 7:34 mark of the opening stanza.
Texas Southern landed its first big punch in the second quarter as Jace connected with AJ Bennett on a 41-yard touchdown pass Bennett hauled in right as he crossed the goal line to tie things up at 7-7 with 9:54 left in the stanza.
But the G-Men would move on top 14-7 at intermission thanks to quarterback Myles Crawley firing a 17-yard touchdown to Lyndon Rash, who outbattled a TSU defensive back for the ball, with seven seconds left in the second quarter.
Rash led GSU on the day with four catches for 58 yards and two scores.
“Lyndon is one of those guys who doesn’t complain, doesn’t say give me the ball,” Jackson said. “He’s always about the team. Every now and then I want him to be selfish, because he’s that kind of player.
“He’s going to make plays for you. And today he made two huge touchdown catches with a guy draped all over him. That’s what type of player he is. He’s a tremendous football player, he’s an unbelievable person and he’s an unbelievable teammate.”
But TSU again battled back to open the second half, marching 49 yards and kicking a 41-yard field goal that cut Grambling’s lead to 14-10 only 4:09 into the third quarter.
Grambling quickly landed a counterpunch, pushing its advantage to 21-10 on an 11-yard scoring scamper by Williams at the 7:27 mark of the third stanza.
Williams finished the day with 174 yards on 19 rushing attempts as part of a GSU rushing attack that totaled 282 yards on 48 carries. Chalk also had a strong game, totalling 88 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 17 touches.
“I think we can run the football,” Jackson said. “I’ve always said that. We have good backs. We have a good offensive line. We work at it. But we miss some things, too, at times, but we have some good runners and they know how to run the football and I think we’ll continue to get better at it.”
Texas Southern battled back with Wilson hitting Eyan Means on a 34-yard touchdown pass that cut GSU’s lead to 21-17 with 1:37 left in the third quarter.
But once again GSU quickly landed a big counterpunch as Crawley connected with Rash on a 10-yard scoring strike to put the G-Men up 28-17 at the 11:27 mark of the final stanza.
Texas Southern followed that blow with one of their own as Wilson fired his third scoring pass of the game, hitting Jyrin Johnson on a 25-yard to shrink Grambling’s lead to 28-23 (TSU missed the point after) with 8:12 left on the clock.
And again Grambling was ready for a counterpunch, this time for the knockout, as Chalk again scored on a one-yard run with 3:25 remaining to seal up the win and move the G-Men to 2-2 on the season.
Jackson was pleased to see how his team consistently responded to TSU scores, crediting Crawley for leading that charge.
“Those were very important,” Jackson said of GSU’s last two touchdown drives. “When you have an offense that can answer, a quarterback with that kind of calmness. His whole thing was, ‘Don’t worry about it Coach, we’ll take care of it.’ And that’s what you want. There was never any doubt on our sideline, and that’s because we have a quarterback that you believe and who’s going to go and take the team down the field.”
“So I’m excited about what he’s doing, but I’m also excited about what he’s becoming, because I think he’s becoming a leader. I see him going and telling the defense, ‘Hey, get me the ball back. Just get me the ball back and we’ll find a way to score.’”
Defensively, Grambling was led by Lewis Matthews with 11 tackles on the day.
“I can’t say enough about Lewis,” Jackson said. “Lewis told me yesterday, he said, ‘Coach, I got you tomorrow.’ I know when he says that he means it because he comes to play. I was worried at one point when he came out of the game because I thought he was hurt, but he said, ‘Coach, it’s just my socks. I’ve got to change my socks.’ But we’re a really good football team when he’s out there and he makes a difference for our team.”
While relishing the win, Jackson admitted concern after the game over the fact his team was again hit with a plethora of penalties as the G-Men were flagged 11 times for 98 yards.
“That’s my fault — I take full responsibility,” Jackson said about his team once again being hit with a number of penalties. “It’s called discipline. It’s something we talk about as a football team — we talk about our personal discipline, our team discipline, our football discipline, and our football discipline has to catch up with the other side of it. That’s important to do in that area.
“I told the team that after the game. I’m proud of them, but at the same time, we know what we need to do.”
McNeese (26), ULM (49), LeTourneau (90), St. Thomas (103), Prairie View A&M (123), Southern University (148), Northwestern St. (165), LA Tech (196)
Jayce Wimbish finished 35th (22:34.32)
Kenneth Smith finished 36th (22:42.07)
Dillon Moree finished 37th (22:44.67)
Arie Linton finished 48th (23:56.35)
Micah Pernetter finished 49th (24:10.56)
Brayden Prichard finished 50th (24:20.28)
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Louisiana Tech Women
McNeese (21), ULM (38), St. Thomas (Tex.) (101, LA Tech (128), Texas Southern (167), Southern University (182), Prairie View A&M (188), LeTourneau (192), Spring Hill (211)
Carol Wiley June 22, 1972 – September 21, 2023 Services pending
Donnie Brown August 5, 1945 – September 18, 2023 Visitation, Tuesday, September 26, 2023, 1:30 PM – 3:00 PM, Owens Memorial Chapel Funeral Home Memorial Service: Tuesday, September 26, 2023, 3:00 PM, Owens Memorial Chapel Funeral Home
Willie Roberts (1) sacks Nebraska QB during Saturday’s 28-14 loss to the Cornhuskers. (Photo by Josh McDaniel)
Staff Reports
LINCOLN, Neb. – Louisiana Tech was knotted up with Nebraska at halftime, but the Cornhuskers used the ground game to pull away from the Bulldogs for a hard-fought 28-14 decision in front of 87,115 fans on Saturday inside Memorial Stadium.
Louisiana Tech (2-3) and Nebraska (2-2) went scoreless in the first quarter and then traded touchdowns in the second quarter to make it 7-all at the midway point. However, the Cornhuskers scored 21 unanswered points in the second half, 14 in the fourth quarter, to subdue the upset-minded Bulldogs.
Nebraska finally broke through after a fake field goal to pick up a first down. Two plays later, a jet sweep went nine yards for the first touchdown of the game with 11:31 to go in the second quarter.
Cyrus Allen appeared to tie the game with a 94-yard kickoff return, but a holding penalty erased the touchdown and put the Bulldogs back at their own 12. The flag was one of 12 marked off against the visitors for 100 yards.
The plucky visitors overcame that cancelled TD to tie the game on the ensuing possession and it was a big third down version from midfield that made it happen. Making his first career start at quarterback, Jack Turner dropped in a dime to Allen up the left sideline for 28 yards. The completion set up a 14-yard Jacob Fields touchdown run off left tackle, making it 7-7 with 6:07 remaining in the half.
The Bulldog defense stood tall again late in the second quarter, and when a 41-yard field goal attempt missed the score stayed deadlocked at halftime.
After the Cornhuskers recovered their own fumble on the second-half kickoff, they drove 85 yards on nine rushing plays to retake the lead, 14-7 five minutes into the third period.
A pivotal moment came later in the period.
A questionable spot on a potential first down catch by DeColdest Crawford was not changed by a replay and made it 4th-and-1 from the Nebraska 28-yard line. The Bulldogs attempted a quarterback sneak but did not pick up the first down, and were spurned in a bid to draw even.
The Cornhuskers cashed in a short field later in the quarter, resulting in a 29-yard touchdown pass from Heinrich Haarberg to Thomas Fidone II early in the fourth quarter.
The Bulldogs looked primed to slice into the deficit, getting a 35-yard Smoke Harris catch and run, one of his game-high 10 receptions. Harris then drew a pass interference on a third-and-long, but the flag was waved off to the justifiable dismay of Tech coach Sonny Cumbie and the Bulldogs were forced to punt.
“It wasn’t a great explanation,” Cumbie said. “They thought both guys were going up for the football at the same time. That was a tough one. If we get a first down (by penalty), it’s 21-7 with a chance to make it 21-14. (Instead) it’s 28-7 pretty quick, so that part was disappointing.”
Three plays later, Haarberg shook off an ankle tackle at the line of scrimmage and dashed 72 yards to put Nebraska up 28-7.
After a 55-minute lightning delay midway through the fourth period, the Bulldogs found the end zone on another Turner-to-Allen connection, a 20-yard grab in the corner of the end zone with 5:17 remaining.
Nebraska outgained Louisiana Tech, 419-338, with 312 Cornhusker yards coming on the ground. Turner finished with 292 passing yards with his two favorite targets being Harris – 10 receptions for 73 yards – and Allen – six catches for 102 yards.
While the Bulldog offensive line allowed no sacks, the Bulldog defense racked up nine tackles-for-loss, including three sacks. Nebraska entered the contest third nationally in making QB sacks.
“I was really proud of our offensive line. It did a nice job of protection, and Jack did a good job of extending plays late,” said Cumbie.
Asked what he will take forward into the return to league play, which comes on the road next Friday night at UTEP, Cumbie had a short hit list.
“The penalties, and execution on offense was sloppy today. Special teams, we knew we had a chance to impact the game, and the penalty hurt us. We had a touchdown. Defensively, we’ve got to stop the run. We gave up three plays for 150 yards. We’ve got to eliminate the explosive plays.”
He had a message he shared with his players before kickoff, and reinforced it afterwards.
“We started the day 1-0 in Conference USA, we finished the day 1-0 in Conference USA. We have seven (CUSA) games ahead of us, everything that we want to accomplish,” said Cumbie. “I think they should take a lot of confidence from this game. We have to apply it in the right way as coaches and as players.”
Pictured is Grambling State receiver Lyndon Rash (10) hauling in a 10-yard touchdown pass from Myles Crawley late in the first half of a 35-23 win over Texas Southern on Saturday. (Photo by T. Scott Boatright)
By T. Scott Boatright
GRAMBLING – In a game that at times resembled a heavyweight slugfest, Grambling State won by unanimous decision.
The G-Men kept swinging — and scoring — until the very end as Grambling State held on for a hard-fought 35-23 win over Texas Southern Saturday afternoon at Eddie G. Robinson Stadium.
While it certainly didn’t come easily, GSU head coach Hue Jackson was simply pleased to walk away with the win.
“I’m excited for our players, our fans, our supporters to be able to watch us get the first win against Texas Southern at home,” Jackson said. “We knew it was going to be a dogfight. That’s a good football team regardless of what their record is. I think our guys battled extremely hard. We understand the momentum in games and how it comes and goes.
“There are some things we know we have to continue to clean up and get better at, but I’m excited because we’re winning. We’re starting to stack wins together and that’s what you have to do in this conference. These conference games mean a lot, so to open at home with a victory was very important.”
Grambling went to a double-barrelled, ground and pound offensive attack with sophomore running backs Chance Williams and Floyd Chalk IV attacking the TSU defense right from the opening kickoff.
The G-Men took their second possession and marched 49 yards on seven plays with Chalk plunging to paydirt from one-yard out to put Grambling up 7-0 at the 7:34 mark of the opening stanza.
Texas Southern landed its first big punch in the second quarter as Jace connected with AJ Bennett on a 41-yard touchdown pass Bennett hauled in right as he crossed the goal line to tie things up at 7-7 with 9:54 left in the stanza.
But the G-Men would move on top 14-7 at intermission thanks to quarterback Myles Crawley firing a 17-yard touchdown to Lyndon Rash, who outbattled a TSU defensive back for the ball, with seven seconds left in the second quarter.
Rash led GSU on the day with four catches for 58 yards and two scores.
“Lyndon is one of those guys who doesn’t complain, doesn’t say give me the ball,” Jackson said. “He’s always about the team. Every now and then I want him to be selfish, because he’s that kind of player.
“He’s going to make plays for you. And today he made two huge touchdown catches with a guy draped all over him. That’s what type of player he is. He’s a tremendous football player, he’s an unbelievable person and he’s an unbelievable teammate.”
But TSU again battled back to open the second half, marching 49 yards and kicking a 41-yard field goal that cut Grambling’s lead to 14-10 only 4:09 into the third quarter.
Grambling quickly landed a counterpunch, pushing its advantage to 21-10 on an 11-yard scoring scamper by Williams at the 7:27 mark of the third stanza.
Williams finished the day with 174 yards on 19 rushing attempts as part of a GSU rushing attack that totaled 282 yards on 48 carries. Chalk also had a strong game, totalling 88 yards and a pair of touchdowns on 17 touches.
“I think we can run the football,” Jackson said. “I’ve always said that. We have good backs. We have a good offensive line. We work at it. But we miss some things, too, at times, but we have some good runners and they know how to run the football and I think we’ll continue to get better at it.”
Texas Southern battled back with Wilson hitting Eyan Means on a 34-yard touchdown pass that cut GSU’s lead to 21-17 with 1:37 left in the third quarter.
But once again GSU quickly landed a big counterpunch as Crawley connected with Rash on a 10-yard scoring strike to put the G-Men up 28-17 at the 11:27 mark of the final stanza.
Texas Southern followed that blow with one of their own as Wilson fired his third scoring pass of the game, hitting Jyrin Johnson on a 25-yard to shrink Grambling’s lead to 28-23 (TSU missed the point after) with 8:12 left on the clock.
And again Grambling was ready for a counterpunch, this time for the knockout, as Chalk again scored on a one-yard run with 3:25 remaining to seal up the win and move the G-Men to 2-2 on the season.
Jackson was pleased to see how his team consistently responded to TSU scores, crediting Crawley for leading that charge.
“Those were very important,” Jackson said of GSU’s last two touchdown drives. “When you have an offense that can answer, a quarterback with that kind of calmness. His whole thing was, ‘Don’t worry about it Coach, we’ll take care of it.’ And that’s what you want. There was never any doubt on our sideline, and that’s because we have a quarterback that you believe and who’s going to go and take the team down the field.”
“So I’m excited about what he’s doing, but I’m also excited about what he’s becoming, because I think he’s becoming a leader. I see him going and telling the defense, ‘Hey, get me the ball back. Just get me the ball back and we’ll find a way to score.’”
Defensively, Grambling was led by Lewis Matthews with 11 tackles on the day.
“I can’t say enough about Lewis,” Jackson said. “Lewis told me yesterday, he said, ‘Coach, I got you tomorrow.’ I know when he says that he means it because he comes to play. I was worried at one point when he came out of the game because I thought he was hurt, but he said, ‘Coach, it’s just my socks. I’ve got to change my socks.’ But we’re a really good football team when he’s out there and he makes a difference for our team.”
While relishing the win, Jackson admitted concern after the game over the fact his team was again hit with a plethora of penalties as the G-Men were flagged 11 times for 98 yards.
“That’s my fault — I take full responsibility,” Jackson said about his team once again being hit with a number of penalties. “It’s called discipline. It’s something we talk about as a football team — we talk about our personal discipline, our team discipline, our football discipline, and our football discipline has to catch up with the other side of it. That’s important to do in that area.
“I told the team that after the game. I’m proud of them, but at the same time, we know what we need to do.”
(Bearcat Zheric Hill returns an interception for a touchdown. Photo Credit: Reggie McLeroy)
By Kyle Roberts
It’s not often an offensive pass interference penalty effectively ends a football game.
But for the Ruston Bearcats, it came at the perfect time as a long drive by Lafayette Christian Academy that could have seen the Knights take the lead in the waning seconds instead ended with a 29-26 victory locked up for the home team, making Ruston officially 4-0 this season following Warren Easton’s forfeit of week one’s contest the night before.
“They were a really good football team,” Ruston head coach Jerrod Baugh said about LCA in a postgame interview. “Their quarterback (Ju’Juan Johnson) made some big plays at the end of the game. We couldn’t get our hands on him. But out guys found a way to make plays when we had to, and that’s the main thing.”
Trailing 29-12 going into the fourth quarter, LCA scored two touchdowns in the fourth to cut Ruston’s lead to just three points. And Johnson multiple times in the fourth quarter looked like he was going to lead the Knights to a comeback win before the Bearcat defense held on at the end.
“We wanted to keep him off pace,” Baugh said. “We didn’t want him to stay comfortable. And I know it looked he was comfortable back there. That was the biggest difference between this year and last year for him. We flushed him out of the pocket at times and he made some really good throws and got some big runs. But it kept him off beat.”
Johnson came into Ruston already as an LSU commit, leading an LCA offense that averaged over 40 points per game in the previous three. But Johnson was not prepared for a Ruston defense that picked him off five times in the night, with two interceptions being returned for touchdowns.
Despite the picks, Johnson used both an air and a ground attack to give the defense fits through all four quarters.
Following a scoreless first quarter for both teams, junior linebacker Zheric Hill took a 35-yard interception to the house to give the Bearcats a 7-0 lead with 6:27 to go in the first half. Senior cornerback Jacoryian Crowe picked Johnson off on the ensuing drive with 5:51 to go in the first half which led to an 18-yard touchdown run by junior tailback Jordan Hayes to extend Ruston’s lead to 14-0.
LCA would not go quietly into halftime, however, as junior running back Jalen Noel scored from eight yards away to cut Ruston’s lead to 14-6. Senior cornerback Semaj Jones would block the point-after attempt.
Following a Ruston interception, senior LCA quarterback Ju’Juan Johnson rushed a six-yard touchdown in with :22 left to go in the half. The two-point attempt was no good, and Ruston led 14-12 going into the halftime locker room.
Junior cornerback Aidan Anding would grab his second interception of the night with 11:05 to go in the third quarter, and senior defensive back Ronald Findley would return another interception for over 50 yards for a touchdown, which put the Bearcats up 21-12 with 8:48 to go in the third quarter.
The ballgame became more emotional on both sides as the quarter went on, eventually leading to two ejections.
“At the end of the day, you’re talking about teenage kids playing at a very high competitive level, and it’s hard for them to control their emotions,” Baugh said. “Heck, it’s hard for me to control mine. I thought the officials did a really good job of trying to referee that within the ball game. They don’t all go your way. But I think they did a good job on both sides trying to get that back in hand.
“And I think our guys settled back in along with theirs. Coaches on both sides did a good job of reminding them that we’re out here playing football. And that was good to see.”
Junior tailback Dylone Brooks punched in a two-yard touchdown with 32 seconds left in the third quarter. After converting a two-point conversion, Ruston held a 29-12 lead heading into the fourth quarter.
Hayes finished the night with 121 yards and a touchdown. Brooks rush for 70 yards and a score as well.
Ruston returns to action Friday, Sept. 29, at Neville to continue a storied rivalry between the two schools. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m. and will be streamed on BearcatNationNetwork.com and aired on Z107.5 FM.
“Neville’s a really good football team, and we’ll have to regroup after this,” Baugh concluded. “This wasn’t the Super Bowl tonight or the state championship, and we need to keep that in mind. But I want them to enjoy tonight. But when we show up in the morning, we’ll turn the page on this. There’s a lot of things we need to go and correct and work on. We’ll take it for what it’s worth going into the second half of the season after next week.”
James Myers (3) follows his blockers in Friday night’s 22-12 win over Delhi. (photo by Tim Smith)
by T. Scott Boatright
In a gridiron chess match between Cedar Creek and Delhi Friday night at Cougar Stadium, the knight and its jumping ability probably became the most key playing piece..
As momentum moved back and forth between teams as often as yellow flags rained on the field, in-game and halftime adjustments made by Cedar Creek’s coaching staff helped push the Cougars to their first win of the season with a 22-12 win over the Bears.
And that was something Cedar Creek coach William Parkerson knew his Cougars needed.
“It’s nice to finally get a win,” Parkerson said. “We tried our best not to put it away, but we found a way to win. These kids kept fighting and clawing and came out here and got the win.”
It was the Bears who made the opening gambit in this chess match, jumping out to a 6-0 lead at the 6:56 mark of the opening stanza as quarterback Kenyon Cross found a wide-open receiver streaking right down the middle for a 44-yard scoring strike to put Delhi on top by six points after the two-point conversion pass failed.
But the Cougars quickly adjusted to slow down Delhi’s aerial assault from there.
“We just had a bust in coverage,” Parkerson said of the Bears’ opening score. “We got that fixed and I’m just glad we were able to fix that and get things rolling.”
Cedar Creek got its first scoring opportunity late in the first quarter with a first-and-goal situation at the Delhi 8-yard line.
But the Bears made the stop on fourth down from their own 1 to squash the initial red-zone opportunity for the Cougars.
A 65-yard completion by Ross with time winding down in the second quarter made it look like Delhi might take a double-digit lead at intermission, but the Cougars forced a turnover on downs to hold the Bears to a 6-0 halftime advantage.
“The whole defense played great,” Parkerson said. “James Myers had two interceptions, Ladd (Thompson) batted some balls down and we had a bunch of sacks. Outside of the first series, I thought our defense played phenomenal tonight.”
Cedar Creek forced another turnover on downs to open the third quarter and then methodically marched downfield after adjusting its run game toward the outside before going to the air with Thompson hitting Lawson Lillo right over the middle on a 11-yard scoring strike to tie things up with 7:14 remaining in the stanza.
On the point(s) after touchdown, Cedar Creek turned back to its chessboard knight, shocking the Bears as Thompson launched a Tim Tebow-like jump pass to Hayden Durrett to put the Cougars on top 8-6.
Soon it was Noah Durrett’s turn to jump into action as he picked off a pass at the Delhi 21 and returned it for a pick six that pushed the Cedar Creek lead to 16-6 with 5:35 remaining in the third quarter after adding another two-point conversion.
Meyers’ two interceptions after that helped shut down Delhi drives, and trying to run out the clock but facing a third-and-15, Cedar Creek checkmated the Bears when Lillo burst through the line right up the middle and raced 64 yards to paydirt to put the Cougars up 22-6 with 1:23 remaining after the two-point conversion attempted failed.
It looked like Delhi would quickly cut into that lead with time running out with an 82-yard touchdown pass, but that play was called back on a penalty call against the Bears.
Delhi did manage to score as time ran out on a 24-yard touchdown run by Day’Shaun Moss, who earned the game’s 22nd penalty after turning around and backing into the end zone while taunting the Cougars.
Cedar Creek was flagged 11 times for 93, with Parkerson knowing that’s something his team needs to work on.
“We’re young and it shows,” Parkerson said of the plethora of penalties. “There were times we had five freshmen out there on offense, so you can tell at times we’ve got some puppies playing.”
Lillo was a force on both sides of the ball, rushing for 102 yards on eight carries, adding his scoring reception, and leading the Cougars with 15 tackles.
“I don’t have words to describe Lawson,” Parkerson said. “He’s just a football player. If you put him at offensive guard, he’d be a heckuva offensive guard. If you put him anywhere, he’s going to make plays.”
Parkerson was proud of his defense and especially sophomore defensive ends Blake Robinson and Alex Simpson, who both pressured Delhi quarterbacks all game long and made six tackles each while combining for three assisted sacks.
“Two puppies that are finally growing up,” Parkerson said of his sophomore starting defensive ends. “That was good to see, because we’re going to need to see them play like seniors and not sophomores if we want to be pretty good.”
In the end, Parkerson was simply glad to get a win his team can build on.
“I think it was more important to the seniors, to keep them focused,” Parkerson said. “They’ve done everything we’ve asked so it was more important to get those guys a W and let them relax a little bit. I’ve been telling them that we’ve just got to learn to win.
“Once you get that first one, the next one becomes easier. Now that they’ve got that off their back, they can relax and just play football.”
