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Louisiana Tech football players celebrate with the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl trophy in Fort Worth, Texas, Friday. Louisiana Tech upset No. 25 Navy, 48-45, via a game-winning field goal by Jonathan Barnes. (Submitted Photo/Courtesy of Donny Crowe, LA Tech Communications)

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Lloyd Grogan
(Submitted Photo/Courtesy of LA Tech Communications)

Barnes lifts Louisiana Tech to 48-45 bowl win

Staff Report

Jonathan Barnes’ 32-yard field goal as time expired gave Louisiana Tech a storybook ending as the Bulldogs clinched their third consecutive bowl championship, this time against No. 25 Navy, Friday in the Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl at Amon G. Carter Stadium.
Tied at 45, the junior kicker’s game-winning field goal capped a wild, back-and-forth affair between the Bulldogs and Midshipmen that came down to the final three seconds in the fourth quarter.
With the win, Louisiana Tech recorded its third straight nine-win season as the squad ended its 2016 campaign 9-5 overall. Navy fell to 9-5.
The teams combined for nearly 1,000 yards Friday night, with the Bulldogs edging the Midshipmen with 497 yards of offense.
“To come in here and beat a No. 25 team like Navy is big for our program,” Louisiana Tech Head Football Coach Skip Holtz said in a news release. “It took us a while to get going offensively, and we had some sacks early, but Jarred Craft got our run-ning game going and opened up the pass. This was a tremendous win, and everyone contributed. I’m proud of this team, and that was a really clutch kick to win it by Jonathan (Barnes) to get the win.”
Louisiana Tech senior quarterback Ryan Higgins set new bowl records for completions as he ended the night 29-of-40 passing for 409 yards and four touch-downs.
Louisiana Tech’s Trent Taylor earned Armed Forces Bowl Most Valuable Player honors with 12 receptions for 233 receiving yards and two touchdowns. The senior receiver broke bowl records for receptions and receiving yards in a game.
In the quickest start in Lockheed Martin Armed Forces Bowl history, Louisi-ana Tech’s Carlos Henderson returned the opening kickoff 82 yards, and the Bulldogs never slowed down.
Henderson’s shifty return set up Higgins’ quarterback keeper for a 7-0 lead for the Bulldogs less than 90 seconds into the game.
Henderson ended the night with 266 all-purpose yards — 129 receiving and 137 kick return yards — and two touchdown receptions.
On Navy’s first offensive possession, the Midshipmen fumbled, and Louisiana Tech’s Prince Sam recovered the loose ball to set up Barnes’ 22-yard field goal to extend LA Tech’s lead to 10.
Midway through the first, the Midshipmen settled in and forced a LA Tech punt.
The defensive stop set up an eight-play, 55-yard drive by Navy to cut the lead the three with a 3-yard rushing touchdown by quarterback Zach Abey.
The Bulldogs responded on the next drive when Higgins completed a 19-yard touchdown pass to Taylor to put Tech up, 17-7, with just 18 seconds left in the first quarter.
Navy had an answer on the first play of the second quarter as Abey completed a 64-yard touchdown pass to Darryl Bonner to cut the Midshipmen’s deficit to 17-14.
The Midshipmen took their first lead on the next drive thanks to Abey’s rushing efforts. After a 30-yard rush and a facemask penalty against the Bulldogs, a 2-yard quarter-back keeper gave Navy a 21-17 lead against LA Tech in the second.
Later in the first half, the Bulldog offense scored on a nine-play, 65-yard drive capped by a 3-yard touch-down reception by Henderson for a 24-21 lead against Navy midway through the second quarter.
After Navy tied the score at 24 on a career-long 40-yard field goal by Barrett Moehring, Louisiana Tech answered with a 51-yard touchdown pass from Higgins to Taylor to send the Bulldogs into halftime with a 31-24 lead.
Navy opened the second half with a 14-play drive that drained seven-plus minutes off the clock and spanned 90 yards before knotting the game at 31 with a 24-yard rushing touchdown by Chris High.
At the beginning of the fourth quarter, LA Tech moved 70 yards on a drive that included a 41-yard reception by Taylor across the middle of the field to set up Boston Scott’s 12-yard rushing touchdown and give the Bulldogs a 38-31 lead.
Navy’s Chris High tied the game at 38 midway through the fourth with a 9-yard touchdown run, his second of the game, but Henderson once again took the stage later in the quarter to give Louisiana Tech another lead.
With just more than four minutes left, Henderson caught his second touchdown to give the Bull-dogs a seven-point lead.
Navy responded quickly with the game-tying touch-down, a 30-yard rushing score by Malcolm Perry to knot the game at 45-45, before LA Tech orchestrated a nine-play, 70-yard game-winning drive that drained the final 3:40 off the clock.
Locally, Louisiana Tech redshirt senior Lloyd Grogan played his final game as a Bulldog.
Grogan finished third on the team in tackles as a senior with 76 total (45 solo and 31 assists). A team captain who played in 14 games and started 10, Grogan recorded 1.5 tackles for a loss of four yards, five pass breakups and five passes defensed.

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