LAFAYETTE – Effrem Reed and Walter Williams each rushed for a touchdown while Dylan Scheurich and Aaron Bird each booted fields late to lead the Louisiana Ragin’ Cajuns (White) offense to a 20-17 win over the (Red) defense in the annual Red-White Spring Game on Saturday at Cajun Field.
 
Torrey Pierce and Montrel Carter each rushed for 39 yards with C.J. Bates catching a game-high four passes as the White team scored on its opening possession before the Red team scored 17 straight points off a pair of first-quarter turnovers.
 
Brooks Haack, who went 6-for-13 for 52 yards, led the White team down the field on a six-play, 73-yard drive to start off the scrimmage. Pierce rushed for 32 yards to the Red 41 on the game’s first play, and after a 15-yard penalty by the defense moved the ball to the 26, Haack completed passes of 6 yards to Pierce and 9 yards to Bates before Reed scored on a 7-yard run up the middle.
 
The Red team got on the board on the fourth possession of the game on a White turnover when T.J. Posey forced a fumble by Williams and Darzil Washington scooped up the loose ball and returned it 60 yards for an 12-7 lead.
 
Dominick Jones increased the Red team’s lead to 17-7 on the following series when he picked off Jalen Nixon at the Red 48 and returned it 26 yards.
 
Williams, who led the White team with 65 yards on six carries, cut the White team deficit to 17-14 in the second quarter when he capped a three-play drive with a 66-yard touchdown run.
 
The White team tied the game at 17-17 at the end of the half as it used a 10-play drive that resulted in a 47-yard field goal by Scheurich. A pair of penalties by the defense and a 10-yard run by Carter on fourth-and-1 kept the drive alive as Haack connected with Lance Pace (7 yards), Reed (3 yards) and Bates (15 yards) on the final drive of the half.
 
Patrick Morton and Dion Ray directed the White team in the fourth quarter with Morton scampering for runs of 12 and 14 yards before finding Matthew Barnes for a 9-yard pass to the Red 19. After the defense held the offense in check, Bird split the uprights from 41 yards to give the White team the win.
 
Darius Hoggins rushed for 29 yards on four carries for the White team with Morton adding 26 yards on a pair of attempts. Nixon went 2-for-5 for 27 yards for the offense with redshirt freshman Jordan Davis completing three of five passes for 22 yards.
 
Travis Crawford led the Red team with five tackles with Washington, Posey, T.J. Worthy, Otha Peters getting three stops each.
 
Louisiana, which finished the 2014 season with a 9-4 record and a fourth straight win in the R�L Carriers New Orleans Bowl, will open the season on Sept. 5 at SEC opponent Kentucky before opening its six-game home schedule on Sept. 12 against Northwestern State in the 15th annual Herbert Heymann Classic.