Troy not only earned its way into the Sun Belt Championship Game for the first time, but the Trojans have the opportunity to host the game.
The Trojans claimed their spot with a 48-19 Sun Belt Conference win at Arkansas State at Centennial Bank Stadium. Running back Kimani Vidal rushed for 208 yards and four touchdowns in the win for the Sun Belt West champions.
Earlier in the day, James Madison whipped Coastal Carolina, 47-7 to end the regular season. Coastal Carolina, which had already clinched the Sun Belt East, also lost a chance to host the championship game. Coastal Carolina will visit Troy next Saturday to play in the championship game with kickoff slated for 2:30 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
“I'm proud of our guys," first-year Troy head coach Jon Sumrall said. "It's been a goal since January to compete for a championship, and I'm proud to see that goal through; we still have work to do, but we are not done yet. Once we got in a rhythm and in sync, we were rolling. We have been behind before, but going into halftime, I knew we would win the game. I didn't doubt our guys stepping up. To be able to host the Sun Belt Championship Game in Troy, Alabama, is incredible, and everybody needs to be there."
Vidal continues his hot streak. The 5-foot-8, 215-pound sophomore rushed for more than 200 yards for the second consecutive week. On the season, he now has 1,006 yards and nine touchdowns. His touchdown runs on Saturday came from 1, 7, 12 and 39 yards.
Troy struggled to get going for most of the first three quarters and trailed, 19-14, heading into the fourth quarter. Vidal’s 7-yard scoring run gave Troy a 20-19 lead on the first play of the fourth quarter. Two minutes later, Troy defensive back Reddy Steward ended a long Arkansas State drive with an interception that he returned 67 yards for a touchdown.
The Trojans dominated the remainder of the game, scoring 34 points in the fourth quarter overall.
South Alabama 27, Old Dominion 20: Troy’s win ensured that South Alabama won’t play in the Sun Belt Championship Game, but the Jaguars did claim a share of the SBC West title. Troy had the tiebreaker because of a win at South Alabama earlier this season.
The Jaguars scored 14 second half points and shut out the Monarchs after halftime. South Alabama pulled even at 20 on a 30-yard pass from Carter Bradley to Jalen Wayne late in the third quarter. The game-winner was a 2-yard scoring toss from Bradley to DJ Thomas-Jones with 6:40 remaining.
Old Dominion appeared to score the tying touchdown with 2:40 left, but the play was negated by a chop block penalty. The threat eventually ended on a fourth down sack by Jamie Sheriff.
South Alabama running back La’Damian Webb rushed for 74 yards on 18 carries. He has 1,016 yards on the season, becoming just the second runner in school history to eclipse the 1,000-yard mark. Tra Minter holds the school record with 1,057 rushing yards.
To connect with the author of this story, or to comment, email steve.irvine@1819news.com.
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