Louisiana Ragin' Cajuns vs Appalachian State Mountaineers Match Player Stats On Dec 07, 2019

Running back Darrynton Evans scored three touchdowns as No. 21 Appalachian State repeated as Sun Belt Conference champion by defeating visiting Louisiana 45-38 in the league title game Saturday afternoon at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, N.C.

Quarterback Zac Taylor threw for two touchdowns as the Mountaineers built a big early lead and were never seriously threatened until the Ragin' Cajuns scored two touchdowns in the final 4:18, but an onside kick after the final score went out of bounds.

Appalachian State (12-1) is the first Sun Belt Conference team to reach the 12-win mark.

The Mountaineers played the title game at home for the second year in a row, coming up with the same result against Louisiana (10-3), which was unable to add to its school-record win total but will have another chance in a bowl.

Louisiana quarterback Levi Lewis threw for four touchdowns and was intercepted once. He completed 24 of 46 passes for 354 yards, hitting Peter LeBlanc for a 38-yard score with 1:19 left.

Evans rushed for 73 yards and a touchdown on 19 carries and gained 63 yards on two catches, both going for scores.

Appalachian State won a regular-season matchup at Louisiana in October by a score of 17-7, but the Mountaineers exceeded that point total in a hurry. They led 21-0 less than 14 minutes into the game.

Taylor's 58-yard pass play to Evans started the scoring to complete a game-opening 75-yard drive that took less than two minutes. Evans ran in from 8 yards for the next touchdown.

Thomas threw to Evans for a 5-yard touchdown late in the first quarter.

The Mountaineers also received second-quarter touchdown runs from Marcus Williams from 29 yards and Daetrich Harrington from 25 yards.

Louisiana's Stevie Artigue kicked a 53-yard field goal in the final seconds of the first half to cut the lead to 35-17. Appalachian State then tacked on another touchdown on Josh Thomas' 15-yard interception return in the third quarter.

Lewis threw touchdowns of 37 and 38 yards to LeBlanc, 1 yard to Elijah Mitchell and 2 yards to Ja'Marcus Bradley. Mitchell also gained 85 rushing yards on 18 attempts with a 1-yard touchdown run.

This was the first Sun Belt game with two teams holding double-digit win totals.

--Field Level Media