ULM falls on senior night

MONROE, La. - In ULM's final home game of the 2013 season, the Warhawks fell to Arkansas State 42-14 on Senior Night on Saturday evening at Malone Stadium.

Rashon Ceaser highlighted the ULM (5-5, 3-2 SBC) offense with 118 receiving yards and a pair of touchdowns. The sophomore from Clinton, La., caught five passes with a long of 59 yards which accounted for his first score.

Kolton Browning threw for 191 yards and went 17-for-37 on the game. He tossed a pair of touchdowns and interceptions. Browning also rushed for a team-high 72 yards on 13 attempts.

Defensively, Hunter Kissinger registered a career-high 13 tackles including a pair in the backfield. Cody Robinson and Gerrand Johnson also posted double-digits in tackles with 11 and 10, respectively. Cordero Smith tallied eight tackles and forced a fumble in the first quarter.

Adam Kennedy led ASU (5-4, 3-1 SBC) with game-highs of 235 passing yards and 107 rushing yards. He went 16-for-23 in the air with a touchdown and ran for two scores. Michael Gordon ran for three touchdowns and 78 yards on 17 attempts.

Gordon also caught a touchdown pass for 51 yards to begin the scoring in the first quarter. After three consecutive running plays, Kennedy found Gordon on a quick screen pass on the right with blockers in front. Gordon dashed down the right side and cut back down the middle for the score on the ninth play of the drive with 49 seconds left in the quarter.

On the final play of the first quarter, the Warhawks leveled the score, 7-7 on a 59-yard pass to Ceaser. ULM started the drive on its own 29-yard line and advanced to the 41-yard line after a completed pass to Tre' Perrier. Browning found Ceaser for the score on the next play.

ASU responded with a two-play drive of its own to start the second quarter as Gordon found the end-zone with a one-yard touchdown run to make it a 14-7 game. The Red Wolves started the drive at midfield after a big kick return by J.D. McKissic. ASU used a trick play to gain 49-yards on the next play as Kennedy, who was set up at the wide-receiver position, found Julian Jones deep down the field after a reverse.

The end of the second quarter ended in similar fashion to the first as Browning found Ceaser again for a touchdown pass with eight seconds remaining to even the score, 14-14. The Warhawks worked their two-minute drill to success as the 10-yard touchdown capped off a 10-play, 90-yard drive. Browning scrambled four times on the drive including a 26-yard run along the right-side to get ULM down to the 10-yard line.

ASU re-gained the lead, 21-14, in the third quarter after a one-yard run by Gordon. The Red Wolves started the drive on ULM's 36-yard line after an interception by Sterling Young. McKissic ran for 15 yards to the one-yard line to setup the score.

With 3:58 remaining in the third, ULM had a chance to put points on the board but Manton's 39-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Ryan Carrethers.

The Red Wolves scored on the following possession on a quarterback keeper from eight yards out by Kennedy to extend their lead to 28-14. The run capped off a five-play, 56-yard drive. Kennedy's 36-yard pass to McKissic on the first play of the series highlighted the drive and moved the ball up to ULM's 21-yard.

In the fourth quarter, Girley Charleston blocked a punt to setup the Red Wolves on the ULM two-yard line. Two plays later, ASU increased its lead to 35-14 on a rush by Kennedy with 9:26 remaining.

Gordon scored ASU's final touchdown of the game on an 8-yard rush with 4:33 left. It concluded a 10-play, 31-yard drive that started after an interception by Artez Brown. Sirgregory Thornton rushed on eight of the 10 plays for 21 yards.

ULM will be back in action on Saturday, Nov. 23 at 6:00 p.m. when it travels to Mobile, Ala., to take on South Alabama. The game will be carried on the Sun Belt Network / ESPN3.