The Red Wolves keep their Sun Belt West hopes alive with a 31-17 win over the Warhawks of Louisiana-Monroe. Arkansas State will travel to Texas State for the season finale next week.

“I’m really proud of how the guys played in all three phases. We took a step forward and put ourselves in a position to finish 8-4 and hopefully get some help to get into (the Sun Belt Conference Championship),” said Arkansas State head coach Blake Anderson. “I think we’re a better team than we were a month ago. I’ve got to give the guys credit for continuing to work and not giving up.”

Justice Hansen followed up his great effort against Coastal Carolina with another big night, going 21-for-27 passing with 246 yards and three touchdowns. His 25 passing touchdowns this season is the second-most in a season in A-State history, 12 short of the record he set a year ago.

“All the credit to the defense. (ULM) is really good, especially offensively. Holding them to 17 points was a great job by the defense. Offensively we made some plays throughout the game that allowed us to get some points.”

The defense was the focal point of the team’s effort tonight. Justin Clifton took an interception 43 yards for a touchdown early in the second half to give the Red Wolves a 24-7. That interception was forced by Ronheen Bingham, as he smashed into ULM quarterback Caleb Evans as he was throwing the pass. The ball landed in Clifton’s hands, and the rest was history.

“Ro (Bingham) made a tremendous play getting back there and hitting the quarterback and the ball just basically fell in my lap. It wasn’t even really anything I did, it was everybody else,” Clifton said.

Clifton also stripped the ball from the Warhawks inside the five-yard line, but the play was negated by an inadvertent whistle. Let’s not talk about all of that. He also had another pick late in the game to seal the deal for the Red Wolves.

Bingham had a monster night as well, picking up two sacks and seven total tackles. Most of his big night won’t be seen on the stat sheet, but he was an unstoppable force all night for the Red Wolves.

“Sometimes I feel like they’re trying to not let me be great. It worked itself out though,” Bingham said jokingly on his sack that was taken away in the first half. “It feels great to win. We prepared all week in practice. We had a group of guys that took pride in making sure the seniors left on a good note. It was amazing to leave with a win.”

“They’re just pissed off, to be honest with you. Tired of being raked over the coals, people talking about how bad they are, whatever else they read. We’ve got really good senior leadership in Bingham and Clifton. (ULM) has an offense that can score against anybody and they struggled today. We put a lot of pressure on the defensive line to play the run game and they did that flawlessly,” said Anderson on the A-State defense.

The offense only managed 24 points on the night after averaging 44 over their last four games, but when it mattered most, they showed up. Late in the third quarter, the Red Wolves held a slim 24-17 lead and started on their own seven-yard line. That drive went nine plays for 93 yards and a touchdown from Hansen to Justin McInnis. Merritt had a couple great catches on that drive, as did Kendrick Edwards in his first game back in several weeks.

“How about that? (Edwards) hasn’t played in a month and a half. He’s been frustrated. He was playing well before he got hurt, couldn’t get completely healthy. Then today on senior day, in front of his family he steps up in a huge way. Just a great lesson learned. Don’t quit fighting,” Anderson said. “Justice doesn’t mind getting the ball to anybody. He does have a tendency to look for number 13 though it looks like. He came up with some huge plays today. That one drive alone, nothing went like it was drawn up. Just guys making plays. They make me look good sometimes.”

Merritt finished the contest with six catches for 89 yards and two scores. McInnis had the only other offensive touchdown of the game to go along with 41 yards on three catches. Edwards hauled in three passes for 68 yards.

“I guess you could say that the receivers were in our bags today,” said Merritt. “Just make a play. Rip the ball out of the air. That’s what we do.”

With a win, the Red Wolves (7-4, 4-3 Sun Belt) keep their hopes of a Sun Belt West title alive. Now, they just need a win over Texas State and a loss by Louisiana to represent the West in the Sun Belt Championship Game. It all starts next week in San Marcos. Kickoff is slated for 3:00 P.M. on ESPN3.

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